A therapist with a faltering career and rocky marriage buys a Murder House to flip. What could go wrong?

I had a good time with this. It had many of my favorite things in a thriller - an unlikeable main character, unreliable narrator, and a creepy setting. This required a great deal of suspension of disbelief, but if you're able to do that, it was a fun read. I think it was a bit heavy-handed on the plot twists, and there was a character introduced that we never really had closure on what happened to them. I was left with other questions too, like what sort of background checks do they have in place for therapists in Australia? Anyway, for what it was, I enjoyed it.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and author for the ARC.

The Stranger Upstairs completely pulled me in. The atmosphere is chilling in the best way, and I found myself flying through the chapters, needing to know what was going to happen next. There’s a perfect balance of psychological tension, slow-building dread, and truly unexpected twists.
The main character is complex and often unsettling, which only adds to the story’s suspense. I really appreciated how the plot kept shifting—just when I thought I had it figured out, it took another turn. It’s dark, gripping, and so well-written. If you're into thrillers that get under your skin and keep you guessing, this is one I’d definitely recommend. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while—and absolutely looking out for whatever the author writes next.

The Stranger Upstairs is a thriller/haunted house story set in a town outside of Melbourne. Sarah and her husband Joe purchase the "murder house" where decades earlier a husband bludgeoned his wife to death and almost did the same to his daughter. Sarah planned to remodel the house and sell it while keeping a blog off the experience. Soon after arriving strange things start happening that threaten her plans. Is someone just trying to get her to move or is this person out to kill her?

The premise of this book is interesting but the execution is not great. Sarah is such an unlikable character that I really do not care about what happens to her. This also causes nothing to really be suspenseful which is not what you want for a thriller. The structure of the story did not help either. One of the reasons I did not like Sarah has to do with how annoying she becomes over the 3/4 of the book where everything is slow and repetitive. This is a structure issue. Do not give me 75% of a story where nothing really develops and then have everything happen in the last quarter. Maybe this would work if the character was not so flawed that you wished for bad things to happen to them.

Maybe there are some people that would not find this a problem but I could not recommend this book to anyone.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of The Stranger Upstairs in exchange for an honest review. So many twists and turns for me with this one, as it all came together at the end, points throughout the book left me confused at times and questioning what I’m reading. Overall, was just alright for me.

Lifestyle Blogger Sarah Slade buys Black Wood House, a former murder house, so she and her husband can renovate it live on her lifestyle blog. The further they get into the renovation, the creepier things get. Sarah talks to her neighbors about the previous owner and finds out she disappeared suddenly, along with her dog. There is a crazy twist at the end of the book. You won't believe it until you read it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Stranger Upstairs had an intriguing premise, but I could never get fully into it as I felt it a bit too predictable. I felt like the twists were easy to see coming, and the suspense I craved never quite delivered.

Let me be real with you: "The Stranger Upstairs" was... not good. I went into it hoping for a gripping thriller, something to keep me up at night, but instead, I mostly just wanted to throw the book across the room.
First off, the main character? Ugh. I know we're not supposed to like everyone, but she was just... infuriating. Like, [insert a specific, relatable example of the character's annoying behavior, e.g., "when she kept ignoring obvious red flags, I wanted to shake her!"]. I couldn't connect with her at all, and that made it so hard to care about what was happening.
And the twists? Oh my goodness, the twists. It felt like the author was just throwing them in there to see what would stick, and honestly, none of it did. It was like they were trying too hard to be clever, and it just ended up feeling ridiculous. I was rolling my eyes more than I was biting my nails, that's for sure.
Honestly, the whole thing just felt like a slog. It was slow, and boring, and I kept waiting for something exciting to happen, but it never really did. I hate to say it, but I really wouldn't recommend this one. There are so many better thrillers out there, save your time and pick something else. Trust me on this one - 1 ½ stars, rounded to 2.

I thoroughly enjoyed the unrelatable narrative in this story. It really fits the scenario it’s creating and really brinfs you more into the storyline. I found this to be a fun and quick read and highly recommend to those who like quick reads.

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin - This book was SO good. Fast paced, page turner.. it was really everything you want in a thriller. The twists were so good, I did not see them coming. The ending tied everything together. READ this book and MAKE SURE TO LISTEN TO THE AUTHORS NOTE! One of the best I have ever read!

Honestly I would have passed on this if I knew how meh it would be. The main character was just so unlikeable I could hardly care or finish it but i did.

The premise of this book was so promising! As we're heading into the fall & spooky season, I figured this would be a perfect appetizer to start the autumn off right. A house with a grisly murder is bought by a couple running from a past riddled with secrets. When Sarah learns the previous owner disappeared and was never found, she feels the house telling her it doesn't want her there and doesn't want her to renovate.

It had all the good makings for a great read but fell short for me. Once the story got deeper, it lost some of the appeal and most of the haunted house angle. It had the plot twist, but it wasn't at all what I was hoping for.

This one creeped me out!!! Honestly, I hated the influencer part of it but I loved everything else about it. This bordered on thriller/horror for me (which I loved!) I was fully immersed in this book from the very beginning. I loved the complexity of the characters & how well the writing was. Look forward to the next book by this author.

While this book kept me engaged, I personally have an issue reading a story where the main character is so unlikeable. But stick with it…

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
2.5 STARS
The Stranger Upstairs had an intriguing premise, but the storyline that felt a bit too predictable. While the creepy house setting had potential, the twists were easy to see coming, and the tension never fully delivered. Overall, it fell flat for me, lacking the depth to make it a truly memorable.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa Matlin in exchange for my honest review and opinion. The cover alone makes you want to read this book as it's absolutely stunning THEN you read the description and can't wait to dive in. This one is a wild and crazy ride that will now make me question buying a house from this point forward. Great book with lots of mind blowing twists and turns. Just wait for the ending is all I'm going to say.....

Meh... it was good at times and disjointed others, but honestly I already have trouble remembering most of it.

I really flew through this one! There was so many twists and turns to keep my attention. My only note is that the drunk unreliable narrator trope can get kind of old.

A good thriller with no characters to like really...well except you know that one, haha. I loved that the house was its own character too. Interesting past about the house and then the present homeowner...well, she's a mess. A great fun read!

3 stars

This book started out great and I really wanted to like the last few chapters, but I just got so confused what the actual point of the story ended up being. This story has great potential and I will probably pick up another book by this author because the writing was actually good. I just wasn’t a fan of the “wrap up” at the end.

***Thank you NetGalley for an ARC copy in return for an honest review***

I really liked The Stranger Upstairs. Sarah is the perfect extremely not perfect narrator. She's such a mess but captivating. I liked how the relationship between her and her husband played out, the reveal was a bit much but also built to. I hate that she killed the one good person in the book though!