It is a slow pace this book, which may put some people off, although I would advise sticking with it as I enjoyed the ending. The author does a good job of creating a creepy and atmospheric sense throughout the book. and you wonder who is playing who.

I had hoped this would maybe a bit of a "you" vibe, and it was.... but just without the wit or charm or charisma and instead with just the deeply unsettling and creepy feeling left over. Maybe just as a woman, I felt deeply uncomfortable since it is all too easy these days to attract the wrong type of attention which soon turns to obsession.... that takes away a lot of the enjoyment or getting lost in fantasy and just makes me think of the creepy guy who keeps hanging around my work! It just made me feel too uncomfortable and the mental issues made me feel some kind of way aswell. There's a lot of trigger subjects and the story overall is quite slow where as I prefer more twists and turns and something that will keep you on your toes. It wasn't really an enjoyable read or something that had me dying to see what happened next, I was more wanting to avoid what seemed to be coming and this ominous, unsettling cloud just loomed over every page. Again, it could just be me and someone who hasn't been around so many creeps and stalkers in relation life, may enjoy it more but yeah, it just left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth..... but that's just me!

I really enjoyed this book, creepy protagonist and without giving the game away I had to keep reading to find out what the outcome would be. It’s written in a different style to what I normally read but it definitely kept me reading way past my bedtime and I read it in two sittings.

I didn't like the choppy writing style. The plot is simple, too simple. I love complex plots. And the ending was rather rushed up and unsatisfactory. I expected much from reading the blurb. But I'm just disappointed. The book seemed to have so much potential.

The girl downstairs by Iain Maitland.
He’s been watching and waiting. And now he’s found her.
I did enjoy this book. I really wasn't expecting that.read in one sitting. Brilliant. 5*.

In the depths of a hard, snowy winter, a lonely older man invites a young homeless girl to live in his cottage. The man has a past. It is obviously a troubled one as he reveals snippets about his wife, his daughter and his struggle with alcoholism and mental health. Throughout the book we are left with questions about his motive for inviting Rosie to stay.

I am not sure how I feel about this book. The author builds up the tension and at one point I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue reading as I dreaded where the story would go. However, the direction it went in wasn’t what I was expecting.

As psychological thrillers go, this is definitely an unusual one. Three stars for enjoyment but four stars for the clever way the author feeds us information and draws us in to the characters.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Inkubator Books for the eARC.
Mr. Adams is a middle aged, mentally unstable man who has lost his wife and daughter and has gone off his meds. If he didn't have his elderly little dog, he would probably have committed suicide. He's looking for a girl among the homeless young girls in his area to replace his dead daughter and he thinks he's found her. Her name is Rosie and he's invited her to stay in his cottage. She arrives in a heavy snowstorm and he believes his dream has come true.
This book made me feel uneasy throughout, my heart was in my mouth most of the time. I was worried about Mr. Adams, the girl and the dog at all times, not knowing where this was going. I did love his relationship with his dog. The end was a shock, though, whoa...
If you like an easy, quick read, this is not for you, but if you enjoy great writing and a creepy, tense story, I highly recommend it!

I had high hopes for this book, but was sadly disappointed. From the start I felt it was written like it was a children's book (although the story itself was far from it). I felt quite detached from the characters, and almost gave up reading it several times. However, I stuck with it and it did get better. I liked the ending, as I really thought it was going to be a happy end, but there was one final twist.

I’m really not sure what to make of this book. It was easy to read but also very slow and I found on many occasions I lost interest, however there were then moments where it picked up slightly and caught my interest again.

Mr Adam’s is a lonely man who sees a homeless woman named Rosie on the street and tries to help her. He takes her in and puts a roof over her head and basically tells herself to make herself at home. I had hoped that once Rosie had moved in with Mr Adams that the book may pick up a bit as it was very slow in getting going but sadly this was not the case.

I did get rather excited around half way through the book when something unexpected happened and completely changed the relationship between Mr Adams and Rosie who both have their own secrets they need to keep hidden and now have a huge problem on their hands and even though they need to work together to solve this neither one of them knows each other that well and neither one of them can trust each other. A recipe for disaster.

I also found this book was very predictable there was only one thing I didn’t see coming which as mentioned above was just over half way through the book. I was hoping the ending would answer a lot of questions I had from throughout the book however I found the ending left me with even more questions which needed answering.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book. Sadly not for me but hopefully many others out there will enjoy it.

I'm sorry but I didn't like this. It's so frustrating! Most part of the book was focused on the main character's creepy thoughts and behaviour and it was so uncomfortable. Like, I was waiting for the main event to take place and it only happened after I've exhausted all my interest and curiosity. By that time, I was already bored out of my wits, I didn't care. The ending was abrupt and hurried, almost like a tedious but necessary task which was too underwhelming.

The story is about Philip, a middle-aged widower who was transfixed by Rosie -a homeless girl. He invited her to stay at his cottage, fed and gave her clothes. What could go wrong? I think everything went wrong in this book.

The only good thing about this is Fluffy.

Thank you Netgalley and Inkubatorbooks for the ARC.

The Girl Downstairs
Ian Maitland
⭐️⭐️

"He’s been watching and waiting. And now he’s found her.

Rosie is homeless and winter is closing in. So she can’t believe her luck when a total stranger, Mr. Adams, invites her to stay.

But Mr. Adams has a secret. He has chosen Rosie because she reminds him of someone very special from long ago. Maybe she can even help him recapture that distant happiness.

Of course, she might need a little encouragement, but that’s fine…"

Thank you to Inkubator Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I think this is a type of psychological thriller that is just not my cup of tea. I had a similar experience with The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swann (which I know people raved about), so it might be a “it’s not them, it’s me” situation, but I just did not enjoy this book at all.

👍🏼

• The premise for me was interesting - a man who invites a young woman to live with him and both of them hold secrets.

👎🏼

• I felt that the writing was stunted and the story really dragged on for long periods of time without any action happening.
• The last few chapters of the book were so confusing to me and felt like a totally different reality than the rest of the book. Again, this just might be a style of story-telling that is not for me.
• The epilogue was just abrupt and unsatisfactory in my opinion (VERY reminiscent of TKWK for me).

‼️

Suicide, depression, alcoholism, sexual assault/child abuse (mentioned)

Apologies but this was a DNF for me,the book was just not for me as I realised fairly quickly re the subject and the writing style,again apologies

Thanks to netgalley for the advanced ebook to review.
I liked the writing style and the slower pace didn't bother me, but the ending felt rushed and rather abrupt, it left me with more questions than answers!

This book was not what I was expecting. I was intrigued by the plot summary and some of the reviews on net galley.

At the beginning of the book I thought it was a little cringey and I felt like putting it down a few times and not finishing it. The detail way he talked about everything Phillip was thinking and planning made my stomach turn; however it slowly developed and you started putting the story together and more facts and story are revealed- enough to keep you hooked until the end.

The only reason I gave this book four stars is because it was so slow. Time wise the book develops in a few weeks but it took me a few weeks to finish it because of the slow moving plot and lots of details.

Finishing the book is worth it - specially the end. It will keep you thinking for a few days.

The Girl Downstairs
by Iain Maitland

I really dislike not giving shining reviews....BUT, it was a real incredibly Slow and not fully making sense, then it just ends. I would with all due respect pass on this.

I didn’t enjoy this book at all. I found it to be boring, and couldn’t connect with the choppy writing style. The story centers on Philip, who lost his wife and daughter years ago, and is lonely. He becomes obsessed with a homeless girl, Rosie, that he sees around town, and asks her to come stay with him to get out of the cold. She comes, and while there is a major event that finally occurs, much of the narrative is about the daily monotony of their existence.

The book is told entirely from Philip’s POV and is primarily an internal monologue. This is not a style I greatly enjoy. The writing itself was choppy, with short and often repetitive sentences. There isn’t much going on until about 3/4 way through the book; when the incident happened I found myself needing to suspend my disbelief as to how it was handled.

The end was somewhat abrupt but I thought was ok, and honestly I was just glad the book was over.

Overall, this was not the book for me, but maybe others will enjoy the writing style and pacing more. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Is Mr. Adams a creep or a good guy? Rosie is homeless and it is freezing outside. Mr. Adams offers her a place to stay in his home. Is this out of the goodness of his heart or does he have ulterior motives?
I really enjoyed this story because it isn't like so many others that start out the way this one does. The only thing I would have changed is the ending. It left a lot of questions unanswered. All in all it is a great story and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes this genre. You won't be disappointed.
Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to read this amazing ARC for my honest opinion.

The Girl Downstairs, is an extremely wild ride that will have you questioning everything you once believed in. Lain Maitland, really knows how to tell a story and pull you right in from the beginning.

Rosie is homeless and also very cold. When what seems like a good Samaritan comes along and offers her a place to stay for the winter, Rosie happily accepts. Mr. Adams is just so sweet! The thing is, Mr. Adams has been watching her, and he didn't randomly help, out of the goodness of his heart.

Rosie reminds Mr. Adams of someone special, someone he is dying to recapture in his present day . Mr. Adams does not know he isnt the only one keeping a secret. Rosie has secrets of her own as well. Soon, Mr Adams is in the fight of his life to escape Rosie.

Find out what happens on November 21, 2021!

With apology, I simply did not care for this book.

The pacing is incredibly slow. Nothing happens until about the 74% mark. Until then, it basically creepy guy thinking creepy thoughts. That’s fine as long as other things actually happen in between the creepy thoughts – but nothing (absolutely nothing) does.

After the one thing that happens, nothing else happens until a rather rushed ending to the novel. And what happens there is really very unsatisfying.

While I’m sure the psychological aspect of this will work for some, I dearly missed any semblance of suspense.

Not for me.

*ARC via Publisher

Mr. Adams is a lonely older man, who has lost his daughter and wife. He sees Rosie at the promenade and wants to help her. Does he have good intentions? Is he really just a helper? Does he want to harm her? Is Rosie a good person?

I enjoyed the easy reading of this book. It was easy to read and went fairly fast. There was some suspense about what happened to his family. What happened to the wife and daughter was explained in time. However, I did feel like it was fairly boring. Not a lot went on. It was a lot of rambling about the day-to-day existence of Mr. Adams and the things he and Rosie did. This was a story about a lonely man who wanted companionship on his terms. He could have found friendship and belonging with his neighbors had he wanted to.

Because this was an easy read, but I was also slightly bored with it, I rate it 3 stars.