Lisa M. Matlin’s debut novel has one of the most exquisite book covers.

The narrative revolves around Sarah Slade and her husband, who acquire an ageing Victorian residence in Beacon, Australia, with the intention of renovating it for a profitable resale. Situated in a neighbourhood where home values soar to over a million dollars each, the couple views this purchase as a lucrative opportunity. However, as Sarah immerses herself in the renovation process, she begins to unravel the eerie history concealed within the home’s dark past.

Without delving into further details to avoid spoilers, I must mention that this book offers a great blend of horror and mystery. In sum, it’s an ideal read for the spooky season, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall I rated this one 3.5 and will round up to 4 for this review. I absolutely loved the premise of this. Old murder house? Social media influencer wanting to renovate and document the process? Sleeping in the bedroom that still has the blood stains from the murder-suicide? Count me in for all these things and more!! Unfortunately, after the initial setup, I was left wanting more and feeling unfulfilled. I could have done without the relationship challenges as I feel that took away from the storyline.

A beautiful cover by any other name means a terrifically chilling debut novel. Take a social media influencer with some mental health issues, a broken marriage, and a home renovation project at their new house meant to bring them closer together and you have a terrific premise for a thriller. THEN, toss in to the mix the fact that the new house is actually a murder house and no one has lived in it for years after the murders and you have the makings of a great novel. Thanks to Goodreads and NetGalley for this chilling novel….. not sure I’ll be turning out the lights anytime soon.

This was an interesting thriller, some twists. Sarah Slade and her husband buy a house where a murder previously happened. Once they move in, strange things happen. Sarah is trying to keep her husband and also has a pet cat involved in this story as well. The first twist was interesting. As it unfolded it was an interesting concept for the book. It moved a little slow, but overall was entertaining.

Sarah and Joe buy a house where years ago a man murdered his wife and attempted to kill his daughter. Everyone in town hates the house and want Sarah and Joe gone. They want to renovate the house but struggle to find anyone who will come there to work on it.

It becomes obvious that Sarah, an influencer and therapist, has some deep issues of her own.

This story sucks you in immediately and there are some twists you don't see coming, and one I didn't love.

This was a great book heading into fall and spooky season.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

There’s a lot I really liked here, and some major glaring issues I didn’t. I was certainly engaged throughout and wanted to know the ending. For the most part, I liked Sarah (she’s horrid, yes, but entertaining). Loved Reaper. Part of the story were also downright scary.

However, while I love jumping between timelines usually, it was kind of messy here. And the end section with changing narrators was hard to read. Finally, the ending… good lord. Much of it was good and the END END scenes were good (not sure we needed an epilogue, though). However, the answer to the mystery was kind of stupid. And I can’t say that ending with such a dumb concept makes the book memorable in a good way.

Still it was fun for most of

Creepy and incredible best describe this book. The cover grabbed my attention, but the dark and twisted story kept me engaged until the very end. I read this book in one day…it’s that captivating.

I got sucked into the drama of this book, the creepy factor of the house and the horrible main character. I truly did not like the main character, but I also could not stop reading this book. It felt similar to many thrillers that I have read, but was still creepy and enjoyable to read. The main character was dark, impossible to trust and an overall unlikeable character. I wanted a little more action in the book - it felt like a lot of the story was centered around one person and a very creepy house. But, if you are looking for a book that brings the spooky factor, I would absolutely give this one a try.
Sarah purchases Black Wood House, the scene of a horrible murder-suicide and is determined to fix the house up and document it on her lifestyle blog. As time goes on, Sarah is convinced that there is someone in the attic of her home - and finds it harder and harder to ignore the house's past. As Sarah loses control of her life, her marriage and her career - the notes that are hinting at the secrets Sarah is desperately trying to hide start showing up all over the house. Who is trying to kill her? 
Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

This is a fantastic debut novel, that is captivating and thought-provoking. It challenges you, making you question everyone and everything.

The twists and turns, throughout created a sense of suspense and intrigue.

The story revolves around Sarah a social media influencer and her husband, who buy a murder house for cheap in hopes to flip it and sell it for alot more money. Residents of
this ritzy community have been wanting it demolished for years, after a gruesome murder over 40 years ago.

As the story unfolds, strange occurrences and unexplained phenomena plague Sarah, causing her to question her sanity.

However, what sets this book apart is its unique twist, towards the end.

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #RandomHousePublishingGroup for the ARC #TheStrangerUpstairs by #LisaMatlin. I thoroughly enjoyed this book with the strange things going on in the house, the secrets and the crazy ending. Definitely recommending this book!

Sarah Slade is starting over. Her numbers as a social media influencer are dwindling. She hopes that in purchasing an infamous murder house to fix it up, her followers will gain a new interest in her.

She then discovers that the previous owner disappeared suddenly and that things in this small town are not what they seem. Is she being paranoid or is she hearing noises in her house? They do say it’s haunted after all…

This book is full of twists and turns and will have you trying to put the pieces together- all while feeling the creeps about his spooky house!

Thanks to Bantam Books for the gifted copy!

This book was good but I think I had it more hyped up in my mind. I liked it but felt like it was missing something.
I think I figured from the start that Sarah was actually the main characters sister and was impersonating her life.. I was hoping for a good old haunted house and this wasn't it. More of a thriller to me. I just wasn't in the mood for it at the time I read it.

This was a fun little dark read. Sarah has just bought THE murder house. It's an upscale neighborhood with a cheap house because. . .the murders were gruesome. Unexplained and bloody, the murders marred the house with stains and the neighborhood with the lingering questions - what happened all those years ago? But Sarah doesn't care. It's was a no-brainer because she's going to do a murder-house-home-improvement blog and influence her way into selling this for hundreds of thousands over what she bought it for.

I loved how unapologetic Sarah was, to start. She was all about getting her life on track. But, it just takes a chapter or 2 to really start to see the cracks in her life. With the murders still unexplained, the house really was creepy and a whole character in the book all its own. I liked the twists and turns as it all slowly went off the rails. It kept me guessing and wondering what was going on. I really loved the last few chapters. Such a fun, perfect fall read!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Interesting premise but the story just doesn’t deliver. I made it to about 33% before I gave up on this. The main character was unlikeable. I was hoping for a haunted house-type vibe and it seemed like it had the potential to be there but it was more focused on the rantings and actions of a wannabe influencer. I wish I had liked this more.

The Stranger Upstairs is one of those super hyped Booksta books that everyone raved was so shocking and twisty, so it was no surprise this one left me...not shocked. With an unlikeable FMC that showed me some of my own bad traits amplified, reading it made me uncomfortable, but probably not for the intended reasons.

Sarah Slade is a quasi-celebrity therapist, fresh off the high of a best selling self help books, and Instagram wellness influencer. Always one to look for a way to make a buck and get an endorsement, she buys the infamous murder house, Black Wood House, along with her husband, with the intention to flip it for a profit and post her progress along the way. But some houses don't want to be fixed, and soon Sarah is plagued with headaches, strange noises and notes being left for her in the night, and her past catching up with her. She tries to discover the fate of the previous owner of the house, a young woman who looked mysteriously like herself who disappeared without a trace, but is thwarted at every turn by neighbors who have made it very clear that she isn't welcome. Sarah devolves into a haze of alcohol and delusions as the house continues to take its revenge on her, but as we come to find, sometimes there is a logical explanation for things that go bump in the night.

If you like to be paranoid, grab this book 🫣

Sarah is a main character that not only is unreliable, but that you just love to hate. I really enjoy stories where you can’t trust ANYONE.

The ending was so unexpected and not even on my radar! And I always love when there’s an epilogue that smacks you in the face!

I loved this one and even had to pick it as my #botm for September!

For a debut novel, I thought this was a decent thriller. There were a few parts that moved a little slow but there were also parts that were pretty fast paced. The story was definitely engaging and had an interesting premise. However, the twists were not as exciting as I was expecting and felt a little anticlimactic. Overall, it was still a good story.

* 3.5 stars *
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M Matlin is about Sarah Slade, Author, Blogger and Therapist. She has it all... right? In hopes to save her failing marriage and get blog content Sarah buys an old murder house that no one wants for good reason and plans to renovate it. After 40 years with no occupant the house was a steal and nothing could go wrong.
I enjoyed this thriller novel and all of the twists and turns it lead me down. However I did not like the main character. I don't know if we weren't supposed to like her or if it was just me but day one I did not like her. She was mean and uncaring about anything but herself. It was hard to be worried about what could happen to this character when I felt like she wasn't a good person herself.
The house storyline was creepy, especially with the town's involvement. The twists and turns were crazy and I felt like I was going mad with the main character. The story felt all over the place which makes sense with a character driven mad if that was the intention.
Overall I enjoyed this book and will be looking out for future releases by this author.

Sarah is a self-described therapist and blogger with a dark past. She leaves her past to buy and renovate a "murder house" (a house in which a murder occurred). She is psychologically troubled, ends up fulfilling the advice Emily, her therapist colleague, warns of: "you repeat what you don't repair." Interesting twists, and transparent author note at the conclusion set this book apart.

This is such a thrill and twisty story. Sarah and her husband Joe decide to buy a house that has been sitting in the market for years. It has a deep past with two murders. Sarah is a social media influencer and knew the house needed work. She plans to remodel the house and document the journey online. the story grabbed your attention early on and I was hooked into what would happen next after moving into the house. It’s a quick easy read. Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.