Thank you for the ARC @Harper Collins. I have enjoyed reading Lisa Unger books and this was no exception. I love how her books start with so many questions and then you start feeling like something is not right. As you start putting the pieces together and almost have it figured out, BAM, plot twist. Must read.

I really liked the premise of this, which is based on several apartment complexes in NYC that are rumored to be haunted and feels slightly like Rosemary's Baby.
The deep, disturbing gut feelings from RB are absent here, though. Murders feel glossed over and the narrator doesn't seem nearly as afraid as she should be. There's a whole paranormal theme that feels only touched on.

Lisa Unger created a world where the reader was held captive by a propulsive plot to decipher reality from paranormal. I thoroughly enjoyed toying between the two worlds until the book started piecing the puzzle together. However, I felt the story presence of the paranormal spirits was an added element to the plot that had the opportunity to be showcased here. In the end I was left confused between the purpose of the spirits and how the author wanted to equally portray the evil behaviors amongst the living and the dead.

Who doesn’t want to inherit a beautiful apartment on Park Ave? Would you still want it if I told you it was haunted and the building is famous for being the place of several murders? Chad and Rosie are all in - welcome to apartment 5B.

I started this book with high hopes, but somewhere along the way, my excitement fizzled out. By the time I hit around 40% of the story, I was struggling to stay engaged. The characters and plot just didn't grab me like I wanted them to.

The main character had her moments, but overall, she felt a bit flat, and her backstory kept popping up, almost like a broken record. Her husband and friend Max were pretty one-dimensional.

The idea of an eerie, haunted apartment building sounded intriguing, but it didn't come to life in the writing. There was one spooky scene early on, but after that, it lost its creepy vibe. For a mystery-thriller, it took too long to get things rolling.

I've enjoyed Lisa Unger's other books, but this one fell a bit short for me. It's not terrible, and the concept is cool, but it needed a more captivating main character, a faster pace, and a spookier atmosphere. If I had to rate it, I'd give it 3 stars out of 5. It had potential but didn't quite live up to it.

I was tepid on this to begin with. Seemed like an interesting start but then got bogged down around the middle. It definitely picked up when more weird stuff started happening. I didn't have the right villain at all. I did feel like the last part of the book was rushed as with 30% left no one had started really moving towards the climax.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review, all opinions are my own.

Lisa Unger's New York novel explores the secrets of an old building that is home to a group of long-term residents. When Chad, an actor, and Rosie, a writer, inherit an apartment from Chad's uncle, secrets unravel and ghosts appear. Unger's latest will give readers a good creepy feeling. It is ideal escape reading. In the notes, Unger, a Florida resident, explains the novel is a tribute to both her fascination with New York City and also a nod to the classic thriller Rosemary's Baby.

Do I love Lisa Unger’s writing style? Yes very much. However this wasn’t a favorite for me, I think the story was composed well but there were a couple plot holes for me that didn’t live up to expectations.

For the style of writing I will still give this a 4

Nice variety of characters. Reminded me of Rosemary's Baby (author inspiration). Took a bit to get into but relatively quick read. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book and provide a review.

This was my first novel from Lisa Unger but likely will not be my last! Twists after twists after twists with subtle breaks and hints to what was going on behind the scenes did not prepare me for the ending. I will say when the book of officially published there should be a few trigger warnings as this book delves into murder and suicide throughout. Overall, I really enjoyed this mystery!

Another page-turning psychological thriller from Lisa Unger. Loved the twists and turns and how I constantly wondered who was doing what to whom! This book reminded me of Rosemary's Baby and I was glad to see in the author's notes that she was inspired by that book. Highly recommend

Lisa Unger never disappoints on plot. This novel ventures into ghost story territory, and Unger's prose is at its best when she is exploring the lives of the previous inhabitants of Apartment 5B. The vignettes from the past are compelling and add tension, while the present-day central characters leave a bit to be desired. It's interesting that the woman killed back in the 30's had more of a sense of self than the present-day protagonist, who is just waiting to get pregnant and have a baby, despite her ongoing mental health challenges and her lying husband, but I digress. While the ending was not shocking, it was (perhaps too) neatly resolved. Unger's strengths are her plotting and her character development -- in this case, though, she fell back on evil or weak women, and while there is a lot to mine there, for me the human characters fell a bit flat while the places came alive.

Thank you @netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This book was the perfect thriller. It combined true crime with spooky so well. I was definitely on the edge of my seat, and loved the writing so much. I also enjoyed the setting of the story. This was a great read!

I loved this book! I will definitely recommend it. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Pretty engaging read, though I felt like the plot was kind of going in circles for a bit there. The ending had some great twists, though! And as always, I do love reading thoughts about living in NYC!

Notable lines:

“New York City, as much as I love it, is an assault, a daily punch in the face. You do have to shut down a bit to survive its noise, odors, catcalls, lurking predators, its violence.”

“And me, I don’t come alive until I’m out in the world . . . the city-with its nightclubs and bars, its stages and bright lights, fancy restaurants and glittering people-it calls to me, especially when the sun goes down.”

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What a great book! It’s one of my few 5 ⭐️reads of 2023. I almost DNF’d it at the first hint of supernatural because that’s not really my thing, but I’m glad i stuck with it. The plot will keep you guessing. You’ll be pretty sure you know who the bad guy is, but you should be surprised by the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of “The New Couple in 5B” in exchange for an honest review. The book did keep me going. I read it relatively quickly so I was compelled by the plot. It felt like an attempt at a spookier version of “Only Murders in the Building.” The ghost element to me seemed random and unnecessary. I liked how it was separated into “acts” and the organization felt like it added to the experience.

Not to be hyper critical, but I had a bit of a hard time getting into the story in the beginning. There are SO many em dashes.
Additionally, there’s a very repetitive structure of [adjective] [adjective] [noun]: “lustrous dark hair,” “striking redhead,” “strong arms,” “fat tears,” “dim yellow light coming in from the thin frosted bathroom mirror.” It just felt like the style initially served as a distraction rather than helping me dig into the setting. There were also a couple of times that it felt like the reader was really being aggressively reminded that this couple is young when words like “woke” and “slay” were used and it felt awkward.

The last piece is a bit of a spoiler, so if anyone is actually reading this don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Max being fired from his job because of a non-consensual interaction with a woman and then being comforted by Rosie felt gross and like a loose end. He says that he “thought” she wanted it but that he had also been drinking a lot. Rosie says the classic bit that she’d “believe it if it was just about any other man but not this one.” He is then morose, moping and disheveled for much of the book. It also feels really improbable that the lawyer, Olivia, would give him the advice to “learn from his mistakes” (e.g. no means no pal) and turn around and hook up with him?? Then at the end of the book Rosie is feeling sorry for him about his love life and promising him love is coming. It feels gross. Either this woman in his office lied about him making unwanted advances (if this is the case…what a random thing to so cavalierly include without any thought whatsoever) OR we are supposed to feel like a predator is a victim?

This review is really long, but I had a lot of thoughts while reading it. I’m having a difficult time rating this one because it did keep me going and I finished it really quickly but it’s a bit like eating one too many brownies and you feel a little unsettled afterwards.

Take my thoughts with a grain of salt. It’s just one person’s opinion, so pick up the book and see what you think for yourself!

Wow! What a book! About three quarters of the way through, it had me on the edge of my seat. It's the story of Rosie, a writer, and Chad, an actor. They inherited apartment 5B from Chad's uncle. When they moved in, they befriended their neighbors, Ella and Charles. Apartment 5B had once been a part of Ella and Charles's apartment. Originally, the apartment was supposed to go to Chad's cousin, Dana. But Chad's uncle changed his will, willing the apartment to Chad and Rosie.

Dana, wanted to tell Rosie all about the darkness that was inside Chad, so she invited Rosie to her photography studio. When Rosie got there she found Dana dead, hanging from the rafters. The police investigated and had questions for Chad. It seems Chad had had a girlfriend years ago who turned up dead. Chad was accused of the murder but was found innocent. The police had done a deep dive on him and learned about the murder.

Rosie was writing a tell-all about the Windermere, the apartment building in which they lived. She had done her research and learned of the murders and suicides that had happened earlier.

Chad had left town to go upstate to film a television show that he was starring in. Rosie had agreed to meet him later. The police wanted to talk to him and learned that he never made it, nor had he made it to his hotel. Rosie had no idea where he was. Also, Rosie and Chad's attorney, Olivia, told them not to talk to the police without her present. When Chad went missing, Rosie went to Olivia's apartment and it turns out she was missing too. Eventually, Rosie went back home. Not long after she arrived, Ella and Charles came over.

The rest of the book is about the the lengths that Charles and Ella would go to get apartment 5B back. That was their end goal, after all. I'd love to go into great detail about what happened next, but I don't want to spoil it. The book was really good and I didn't see the ending coming.

The characters were well developed and I had absolutely no problem following the plot. I gave this book five stars.

This book hooked me from the first page. I had no idea what the next page was going to bring. The amount of gasps I made was a record for me. I would love to give examples of what I loved about this book but I can't without giving away secrets. This whole book is secrets and it really keeps you guessing. Everything you thought you knew, wrong, you we're wrong. Then you might guess right, but for the wrong reasons.

I'd love to know more about Willa. And even Ella/Charles' past. I'd love to have a prequel and see into Rosie's childhood.

Absolutely fantastic book. Will be recommending to adult friends (can't recommend this to my kiddos as much as I'd love to).

When Rosie and her husband, Chad, unexpectedly inherit an apartment in an upscale Manhattan building called the Windermere, they jump at the chance to move in and hopefully start a family. The building, however, has a storied past, and Rosie soon begins to wonder about a recurring apparition, the mysterious and ever present doorman, the plethora of cameras, and a creepy intercom system. As Rosie researches past deaths that took place in the building, the death toll continues to rise in the present day, and Rosie is determined to get to the bottom of it all.

This was a fun one! I couldn’t get enough of the creepy atmosphere of the Windermere. The story was full of surprises, and although the ending was a little predictable, it was exciting to read how it all played out. I am always up for a good ghost story. 4.5 stars.