I'm always a sucker for a good murder house tale. This narrative flows quickly and easily, and makes you feel as though you've always known Sarah: there are bits of snarky commentary about social media, her clients, and observations about the world at large.
The plot speeds along, with the house terrifying Sarah and the author keeping things pretty close to the vest UNTIL we are tossed a news article, seemingly out of nowhere, revealing that two bodies had been found near the property, unidentified. I'm okay with this as a device and it was certainly shocking, but for some reason it felt a bit jarring as a reader...and I think the author could have held this information back a BIT longer rather than a natural, shocking progression
Once the next set of reveals happens though, this book TRULY turns from a 'things that go bump in the night murder house thriller', into PURE psychological thriller territory.

This book was a little spooky, but ended up with a quite anticlimactic ending.
It was twisty and kept one guessing to the end.
Good debut novel, just not my favorite

One murder house, one social media influencer, one rocky marriage and a neighborhood of people that hate you. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?!

Well......... A lot it seems.

Sara is a bestselling author and therapist and also a social media influencer who promotes wellness, when she decides to buy a murder house and renovate it to sell for a profit with her husband, she thinks she has everything in hand. Little does she know that her whole life is about to be turned upside down. Strange noises, intrusive thoughts, menacing neighbors and a marriage that is on the verge of imploding. Sara is keeping too many secrets and she may have finally run out of luck.

I was really excited to read this book, but I will admit I was left disappointed. I really liked the premise and it's why I wanted to read the book but unfortunately, I found myself not being able to invest in the story. There really isn't one character I could find myself rooting for and the one sympathetic character that was in the book wasn't fleshed out enough for me to form an emotional connection with. The writing style was enjoyable but there was too much exposition for my liking and not enough actual pivotal action scenes that propelled the plot forward and the ending left me feeling kind of unsatisfied.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine group for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
*
Okay so this might be one of my favorite books of this year! This one kept me guessing the whole time and kept my heart racing! It was so perfect for spooky season and I didn’t want to put it down! I can’t even believe that this is a debut novel because of how amazing it is and how captivating the storyline is. It reminded me of The Amityville Horror movie (which is one of my favorites and I rewatched this weekend). Overall, this is one that I would DEFINITELY recommend and cannot wait to see what Matlin comes up with in the future!

Think you know dark, psychological thrillers? This one put me on my backside. We follow Sarah, a successful writer and wannabe influencer, who is running, along with her reluctant husband, Joe away from her hometown and something she carries guilt over. Unfortunately, they are running toward Black Wood House which was the scene of a murder and most recently, a mysterious disappearance. The neighbors resent them and believe no one should have bought the house; some want it torn down as it’s bad for property values. Sarah is losing it. She’s under pressure to flip the house, build her following, save her marriage and her sanity. It’s a lot and her coping mechanism of falling into the bottle isn’t going well. She’s seeing things, hearing things and is increasingly becoming isolated as Joe spends more time away from home. It’s a recipe for disaster and I did not see the ending coming.

I loved the twists and turns of this book. Definitely kept me on the edge of my seat and entertained. I'll be looking for more from this officer.

Not sure what I was expecting from this book, but what I got was vastly different. The Stranger Upstairs is about Sarah who is running from her past and determined to start anew, so she purchases an infamous murder house to renovate. Unfortunately, Sarah seems to be the only one that wants to turn this house around and forget the past, not even the house wants her to rewrite what has been done. Soon the renovation project becomes a mess because of strange things happening inside the house and Sarah herself starts to lose control of what is really going on.

It was a fun read with great plot twists. Well done!

I’ll be honest. I went in expecting to dislike this one because of other reviews I’ve read. But this one surprised me. I was hooked from page one. Perfect book for spooky season. The ending had my jaw dropping.

Wowzers y’all! This book caught my interest from the first page! “Don’t kill me. Don’t kill me. Don’t kill me.”

An influencer therapist and her husband take a chance and move in to a murder house. But things start to fall apart right after moving in. Sarah’s past is deep and dark and it seems as though someone knows things about her and begins leaving her notes. Is the house haunted, is it really alive?

I really loved this read. I was consumed from the beginning and I enjoyed the writing style. The details gave the book the eery feeling that’s perfect for the autumn season we’re in right now, with Halloween right around the corner. Mental health is a big part of this story and I was to tell the author I APPLAUD her for speaking her truth at the end. The way it can sneak upon us and hold us tight is so true. This book is an absolute MUST READ!! Five stars!!

This was marketed as gothic, which made me a little nervous. But I would call it more of a “light gothic” as it wasn’t too creepy or gory. Sarah and her husband buy a murder house in a neighborhood where they are not welcome. Sarah is convinced the house is speaking to her and telling them to get out. The secrets of Sarah and her husband slowly unfold as the stress of this move and circumstances weigh on her. I found the ending a little lackluster.

Black Wood House has stood empty since the infamous murder in the 1980s, blood still staining the floor in an upstairs bedroom. The place is a bargain and Sarah Slade, a therapist and author, plans to restore and flip it. Between the material she'll get for her blog and the profit she'll make from reselling the house, it seems like a great plan. Unfortunately, it's not.

I was immediately hooked, but about halfway through the plot took a twist and completely lost me. I went from racing eagerly through the pages to not caring what happened next.

In The Stranger Upstairs, lifestyle instagrammer Sarah Slade's newest gimmick: she's bought a haunted house and is going to renovate it with her online audience. Also, her marriage is floundering. Maybe this project will bring her and Joe closer together.

But from the first moment things don't go well. The house seems to have a mind of its own. It doesn't want to be improved or renovated. And Sarah's husband hates the house and has zero interest in improving the house or the marriage. There was a terrible murder in the house years ago and the neighbors would like to just bulldoze it down. Sarah feels a lot of pushback on her quest to renovate.

Then strange things start happening. Sarah begins to hear sounds and have weird experiences in the house. And she starts to change. After a few weeks she doesn't know what's real and what is in her imagination.

A lot of reviewers have detailed the plot, so let me tell you my impressions as I read. Like a couple of others have mentioned, I wasn't really totally into the story the first third of the way through. The incidents happening in the house seemed to be repetitive. I didn't really like the main character, and this is often an impediment to me in getting engrossed in a story. But at about the half way point, the action really picked up. And the main character Sarah, we discover, has been a very unreliable narrator, with a lot of secrets of her own. Sarah starts totally losing it, as in going a little crazy. It was very uncomfortable reading this, as she is relating the story in a first person point of view. I felt very immersed in her madness, and I actually had the thought, how did the author do this?

At the end of the book I got my answer. Author Lisa Matlin talks about her own mental health struggles, and how she was suicidal for a period of time during the writing of the book. All is well now, thank goodness. But let me say she was really able to channel that angst and pain into her story.

This is an intense read at times, and I didn't love the ending although it was a brave ending, I think. But overall, I found this a great spooky read for the month of October, This is an admirable debut book and I'm eager to see what the author comes up with next!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Lisa M. Matlin, and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm unsure why I continue to choose books with "social influencers" as the main character - my own personal character flaw I guess. Sarah's character was tolerable at best. She started out likable enough, but as the book progressed she just wore on me. Her relationship (or lack of) with her husband felt like a missing piece of the puzzle, and the absence of any character development or meaningful storyline for her husband caused a bit of a hole in the story. While the reasoning for that became clearer as the story evolved, it didn't help things flow.

What saved this book for me was the plotline surrounding the house - it's history, its current status, and what was causing all the issues for its owners. My need to reach a conclusion and figure out what was up with the house forced me to slog through Sarah and her narcissism. Although the conclusion fell flat for me, I anticipation leading up to it was great.

So, bottom line, the house was the best character of the story.

This was the perfect eerie seasonal read. Mysterious, creepy, haunting... and leaves you wanting more. I definitely recommend this read for Halloween season!

THE STRANGER UPSTAIRS began promisingly, immersing you in the chilling atmosphere of Black Wood House. The Australian setting added a unique touch, with a history of murders & disappearances, creating a foreboding backdrop.

The MC, Sarah Slade's attempt to revamp the house & monetize it was an intriguing premise. However, Sarah felt unlikable due to her desperation, & the overused unreliable/alcoholic protagonist trope was a drawback IMO.

One redeeming aspect was the alternating timeline with future news articles, which added an element of suspense & kept me questioning the story's outcome. The ending left me somewhat confused, as it didn't provide the clarity I craved.

Overall, it started strong with an eerie atmosphere & a unique setting but fell short due to the unlikable protagonist & a somewhat perplexing conclusion. It's a decent thriller but didn't fully deliver on its early promise. If you've read it, lmk so we can chat, I'd be keen to discuss the ending further

Such a great thriller! I really enjoyed this. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Every word made me feel like I was in the story and such detail. I will defiantly be reading more by Lisa Matlin!

Sarah and Joe just bought a new home to fix up. A murder house. A house that doesn’t want to be fixed and is going to make them pay. To make matters worse, Sarah is keeping a deeply held family secret that somebody knows about, she’s also living a life that’s a complete lie, and her livelihood may now be threatened.

This book was really good. I fished it in one day and kept rapidly flipping pages to see what happens next. It’s the perfect book to read around Halloween because of the haunted house aspect. The book reminded me a lot of the Netflix series The Watcher, so if you liked that series, you will like this book. I will say, I felt the end of the book left me hanging a little with unanswered questions that I need answers to, so I was a tad unsatisfied with that. Don’t let that stop you from reading it though. The end gets really intense and interesting and it’s well worth the read because you will be scratching your head wondering what the heck is happening! I probably would have given this one five stars if it wasn’t for my lingering questions.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam Books and @NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

This was a great story with a lot of unique twists and turns. I would’ve loved a little more closure on some parts. While the main character was the absolute worst (and for good reason), I really was captivated by how things would play out the whole book. Definitely a little spooky and a quick-paced story!

This is a story about things hiding in plain sight.

This was an interesting read and I’m solidly split on how to rate it. It leaned into one of my least favorite tropes, BUT it did so in a unique way. I enjoyed the twists, BUT didn’t enjoy a single character. I thought the end was surprising, BUT it didn’t feel satisfying.

All of this being said I cannot wait to talk about it!

Thank you so much @prhaudio & Ballantine for the e & audio copies!

The Stranger Upstairs is unlike any other thriller I have ever read. It's a wild ride that keeps you guessing over and over again. At times you are frustrated with the main character, Sarah, (if that's really her name...) but other times you are feeling sympathy for her. There are so many layers to this creepy story. I could not put the book down until I knew the true story of what happened at the famed Black Wood House.