I originally saw this book posted in the UK version and was happy to find it on here. It sounded so good. The suspense and writing were awesome...until about the last 20%. Extremely disappointed in the ending and who the new granny was. Like lost my attention and i skimmed the last part of it. I feel like this was a great book at the beginning and could have had an awesome ending, but it fell flat.

The Woman Outside My Door is a psychological thriller by Rachel Ryan. When Georgiana’s seven year old son begins talking about New Granny she thinks that is his imaginary friend. But Georgiana soon believes that maybe New Granny is an actual person who is watching them and teaching her son to lie to his parents. This story had lots of twists and turns and I couldn’t put it down till I finished it. This is the authors first book can’t wait to see what she writes next. Thanks Netgalley for my ARC.

This is such an amazing debut thriller!!! Once I started I could not stop! I give this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'s, The Woman Outside My Door is a psychological thriller about a mother worried about her son's new imaginary friend "New Granny". I had so many theories, but none of them were even close to being correct. Thank you so much Netgalley for providing me with this advanced copy of this book.

Spooky vibes and creepiness throughout, but just one too many red herrings for me. It's a personal pet peeve of mine when someone tells their partner or parent over and over and over that they are scared...and that person dismisses them. I will say that I did enjoy the story enough to keep turning the pages to see what happened.

2.5 stars

When Georgina’s son comes out the woods at the park with a lollipop that he says his new granny gave it to him she’s not sure what to think. She lost her mom not that long ago so she wonders if it’s his way of coping. Then other odd things begin happening. Her husband, Bren, is worried she may be losing her mind and Georgina sets out to prove she’s right but it may be too late.

This was an easy read with a creepiness that made me unable to put down. I enjoyed this book and look forward to more from Rachel Ryan!

The Woman Outside My Window by Rachel Ryan 🏠

I raced through this thriller in almost one sitting! Set in Dublin, Ireland, Georgina’s young son has a new imaginary friend that he claims is his new Granny, except his real grandmothers are both dead. Sounds reasonable for a 7 year old child, until he starts speaking to a mysterious person on the phone and receives notes and sweets out of the blue. Perhaps this new Granny isn’t so imaginary after all.

Filled with lots of suspense and every character seems like a suspect. If you are looking for a quick thriller, give this one a go!

Special thanks to netgalley and Gallery Books for an ARC of The Woman Outside My Door in exchange for my honest review.

This book is every mothers worst nightmare! Someone is stalking your child, leaving him messages and candy, even calling him on the phone or are they? Rachel Ryan has done an excellent job with her debut novel The Woman Outside My Door. I was hooked from the very beginning. The story takes place in Dublin. Georgina is a young mother of her 7 year old son Cody and she can't shake the feeling that her son's imaginary friend, New Granny, is putting him in very real danger and she will do everything it takes to keep him safe. It doesn't help matters that her husband Bren thinks she is being paranoid and exaggerating the whole situation.
This book is about how we all as mothers can talk ourselves out of things, or tell ourselves that we are being silly or paranoid. Mother's have a gut instinct. This is about trusting your gut and stopping at nothing to protect the ones we love.

When families choose to keep secrets, things can only go bad. Someone comes into your life and tries to make friends with your child behind your back. At first everyone thinks you are crazy. This person is so good at hiding that you cannot find any evidence of their existence. As time passes, things get weirder and more dangerous. If secrets had not been kept then maybe a family could heal instead of become a headline.

Thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author for the free copy of this book. This is a new author for me. I really liked it. It kept me interested from the beginning and I would recommend this title to my loved ones. I look forward to read more from this author.

During an outing in the park Georgina's seven-year-old son, Cody, disappears for a moment only to return from a wooded area eating candy. When Georgina questions him, Cody says it was a gift from and old woman calling herself his "New Granny". Georgina, dealing with the recent loss of her mother, initially believes Cody has turned to an imaginary friend for comfort. As more events unfold, Georgina becomes more paranoid believing that "New Granny" may be a real threat to her son.

The Woman outside My Door is a debut thriller from author Rachel Ryan. The premise for this novel in which a child's imaginary friend might be an actual predator drew me in. The novel has a nice suspenseful quality to it which continues throughout the plot. We soon learn about secrets causing marital discord, as meet some unusual neighbors that help lure the reader into believing something more sinister could be at work. Although this novel had an intriguing plot I just couldn't seem to get into the story. I think many readers will still enjoy this suspenseful tale but it just wasn't a great fit for me.

4+ Yep a Great psychological thriller read!
When 7-year Cody and his friends are playing outside and called in, it takes Cody longer than the others. His mother states she will come and get him if he doesn’t come out of the bushes. He appears with candy and says “an old lady” gave to him. Mom doesn’t see anyone and believes Cody took the candy and is ‘telling a story’. Soon mom finds Cody talking on the phone which is something he often did with his Granny, however Granny died 6 months ago. Cody is talking to “New Granny”!

Does Cody have an imaginary friend as it is not unusual for young children to have imaginary friends or is Georgina Cody’s mom still experience her own grief and is paranoid and over reacting?

Awww the situation soon develops into something fast paced and heart pounding.

This is Ms. Ryan debut novel and I certainly look forward to her next story.
BTW: When I started to read this I wanted to know more about this author. I checked author’s info. but Goodreads had nothing. I Googled and got that Rachel Ryan is a pen name of author, Sandra Brown.
I read the author’s info at the end of the novel. This Rachel Ryan is from Dublin and can be found hanging out writing in coffee shops in Dublin!

Want to thank NetGalley and Gallery for this early release granted in exchange for an honest professional review. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 5, 2021.

This was an entertaining suspense story with all the usual elements. An unreliable main character, unexplained events, a kid acting spooky, no one believes the unreliable main character. It was a quick read, I did not see the twists coming, and wrapped itself up in a neat little package. A fun ride.

Creepy mystery! Lots of plot twists and different paths that lead to a surprising end. I was up too late last night finishing it - got to the point where I had to know everything!

First of all I LOVE the cover, it is spooktacular and really went with the theme of the story.

I really enjoyed the writing style as it made it easy to read and I can't believe this is a debut author. The plot line was pretty exciting and original...What's scarier than realizing your seven year old kid is talking to an imaginary friend that he claims is his "New Granny" after his grandmother has died!?

There are a few twists and turns in this character driven story, I love books like that as it makes you care about the people you are reading about and I so worried for Cody and Georgina, her husband Bren though I didn't like so much.

Overall a tense and compelling thriller and one of the better ones I have read this year.

This book was an advanced copy from net galley. A story about a woman who lost her mother who s hug e was close to. Georgia was married to Been and they had a seven year old son Cody. Georgia didn't have siblings and her father was aging. The only other relative that she thought she had was an uncle Billy that has Alzheimer's. Be was in a nursing home. He is her father's brother. Cody was an active seven year old who liked to play make believe. Georgia had emotional problems after giving birth. Post partum depression. TBE depression came back after her mom died and her husband cheated on her one time and lied about it. Things started to unravel when Cody met an older woman during recess in the woods who introduced herself as his new granny. I good read with secrets and mysterious twists.

I really enjoyed The Woman Outside My Door. This story had just the right amount of characters. If you are following my reviews you know my pet peeve is when you need a chart to keep up with characters in a book. This was a very eerie read- which I loved.
Does the little boy have a harmless imaginary friend? Or something much worse? Read this book to find out!

Still reeling from the death of her mother and attempting to recover her marriage after her husband admits to being unfaithful, Georgina has one constant in her life: her love for her son, Cody. However, when Cody begins talking about an imaginary friend named New Granny, Georgina begins to question whether her son is trying to cope with his grandmother's death or if something more sinister is happening under her nose. When Georgina takes a closer look, she discovers that her neighbors, friends, and even family may not be who she thought they were.
I was pleasantly surprised by Ryan's debut novel, The Woman Outside My Door. While entertaining her readers with mystery, she also provides commentary on how the modern woman can deal with grief, infidelity, gaslighting, and the never ending struggling that is motherhood.
I never once found myself questioning the validity of Ryan's characters. It wasn't hard to immediately sympathize with Georgina and join her on her mission to discover what exactly is happening with her son. However, while this novel can be a real page turner, I found myself taking breaks to fully feel everything that Georgina was going through. Ultimately, it was everything I want in a suspense novel: mystery, high stakes, and a good amount of social commentary.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

THE WOMAN OUTSIDE MY DOOR is a psychological thriller and the debut novel of Rachel Ryan. From the first page to the dramatic ending, I couldn’t stop reading.

Georgina is the protagonist in this unforgettable story. She and Bren have a seven year old son, Cody. When she finds that Cody has some chocolate, he tells her that New Granny gave it to him. Then she finds him talking on the phone. Is it New Granny or a school mate? Bren thinks it’s just a game where Cody is dealing with the grief of recently losing his grandmother, but Georgina isn’t sure. What is real and what is her imagination? Is New Granny an imaginary friend or is something else happening? Is Cody in danger? Bren starts to question Georgina’s behavior and thinks she is being irrational. Is Georgina being paranoid? Is she having an emotional breakdown?

Georgina was a flawed protagonist, lacking confidence and having trouble communicating with her family. Despite getting aggravated at her several times, I continued to root for her. Her goals were clear and her motivations seemed believable. Her character felt realistic in the sense that she is struggling with work-life balance and wants to protect her child. Many of the secondary characters enhanced the story, but they were not always likeable nor did they have the depth that I would have liked. However, the characters acted or reacted to events in a plausible and believable way.

The internal and external conflicts arose out of characterization and circumstance rather than feeling contrived or forced. The stakes were extremely high and so was the tension, making this a page-turner. There were a couple of plot twists that were believable, but unexpected. Most of the subplots tied together well, but there was one that was not resolved to my satisfaction. The prose flowed well and the emotions of the characters came through vividly. One downside is that the premise did not totally avoid clichés as it related to the relationship between Georgina and Bren. Also, the revelations in the last part of the book would have benefited from a little more development. Themes include child safety, family dynamics, infidelity, secrets, lack of communication, mental health, stress, grief and much more.

Overall, this was a suspenseful, chilling, unsettling and definitely somewhat creepy thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. It had a good pace from scene to scene and had a dramatic ending that caught me by surprise. What an amazing debut novel! I’m looking forward to Ryan’s next novel. If you enjoy psychological thrillers, then I recommend you check out this one.

Thanks to Gallery Books and Rachel Ryan for a digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for January 05, 2021. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

I'm in the middle on this one. The Woman Outside My Door has two paths. On the one, mother Georgina is worried when her son starts communicating with a "new granny" shortly after his actual grandmother passed away. Is "new granny" real or a figment of Cody's imagination. Georgina's husband, Bren, thinks it's just his son with an imaginary friend and shows no concern whatsoever. On the other path, Georgina's and Bren's marriage is in trouble after Georgina discovers that Bren has been unfaithful. It's this second path that I found boring. We've read it many times before, and the author spends too much time on this storyline, in my opinion.. The "new granny" storyline is much more interesting and provides the only drama in the novel.

The book is well-written and a fast read, so I see potential from this debut novel's author. Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Woman Outside My Door will be published in January 2021.

I received an advance copy of, The Woman Outside My Door, by Rachel Ryan. This book was creepy, and not in a good way. I did not care fr this book I did not like the characters, they were weak, cheating, lying, characters. Others might like this type of book but I did not.