I really wanted to like this book more than I did, but I struggled with too many things.

There were too many POV switches & it was very hard to keep track of all the flashbacks to other years vs present. Maybe if there had been a timeline to refer to that would’ve been helpful to better follow the book.

The book dragged on & at 30% through I found myself already wondering when this book would be done.

Also, I was expecting more of a thriller than just a mystery.

Pub Date: June 24th, 2025

Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books, & Lisa Jewell for my #gifted eARC!

I have to say that I expected more from this book, especially as it's by Lisa Jewell. Three different narratives take a bit to get used to but once you have the characters and locations straight, it's not hard to follow. Ash is upset about the new man in her mother's life following the death of her restauranteur father, Paddy. Martha's husband Al is never around, always away working as she raises the kids and manages her florist shop. And the third narrative that gives everything away so that you know what's going on from the start and can't do much but sit back and wonder how long it will take the women to figure everything out. And that's not a spoiler because it's completely obvious from the beginning.

So I'm not sure what Lisa Jewell was going for here - did she really think readers wouldn't make the connections? Was it not supposed to matter? There are literally no twists or surprises, except for how clueless all the women are. I don't think the theme of 'even intelligent women get duped' works here because if they had half a clue, they wouldn't have been. Sorry, but no, these male characters are completely obvious in their duplicity. They are terrible liars, not convincing in the least, and the few characters that see through them are blown off and not given any credence. The title itself tells you right there that the men are nothing but trouble. It's not even a mystery, the book is more like chick lit (I wish there was a better term for that). A warning to keep your elderly female relative from being scammed, thinly disguised as a work of fiction.

If it wasn't written by a celebrated author, then maybe it wouldn't be so upsetting. Maybe. But you can't hype this as a mystery/thriller when it's just not. You know who the bad guy is, that he's getting away with it, and no one is stopping him. Seeing if he'll be stopped just isn't enough of a reason to fly through the story. I kept hoping there would be some crazy turn of events where it wasn't what you thought all along. But it doesn't come. If that's ok with you, go ahead, you'll enjoy the story. I just hope this was a one-off and her next book will be more like her previous offerings.

Lisa Jewell has done it AGAIN! Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early!

Lisa Jewell is one of a few authors whose books are automatic must reads for me. I mainly read thrillers and mysteries and she is one of the modern greats of the genre. This book pulls you in a bit quicker than her others that can sometimes be a slow burn. Although that might be because I have read so many of her books so I know that there is a good twist or several coming! Ms. Jewell is an excellent writer and she gives us a complicated tale of love and betrayal in Don't Let Him In.

"Restauranteur Paddy Swann was the life of the party until the day a man pushed him in the path of an oncoming train, leaving his twenty-something daughter Ash and wife Nina devastated. Shortly after Paddy’s funeral, the two women receive a surprise in the mail: a note and package from Nick Ratcliffe, an old friend of Paddy’s, and a nondescript lighter that once belonged to him decades ago. This unexpected gift draws Nick and Nina closer together—much to Ash’s dismay.

Martha is a small-town florist with dreams of expansion. She lives with her second husband Al, her baby, and two sons from her prior marriage. But they never seem to have any money, and with his constant traveling for work, she feels like a single parent—especially when an emergency makes her realize something needs to change.

But Nick and Al may not be who they say they are, leading these three women on a shocking collision course, wishing they had heeded a warning: Don’t let him in."

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I absolutely love Lisa Jewell and all of her books. I was so excited to get this copy!
I finished the book a few days ago and took time to think before writing this review.
The only way I can describe this is I hated it...but I couldn't put it down! It may have been the whole con man angle that was a turn off. I'm really not sure. The story was suspenseful and compelling but the characters were awful. The women portrayed came off as pretty dumb and gullible in my opinion. Overall though, it was a good read. I'm still conflicted

Honestly, this book was just not it for me. This is my first Lisa Jewell book and the first 75% was incredibly slow. I literally had to make myself read this book and that rarely happens for me. I know that the larger picture had to be created for the ending, but I saw the plot and ending coming from the first few chapters. This book was incredibly predictable for me and not very “psychologically thrilling.” However, I am giving this two stars due to the amount of detail gone into creating the main character and his depth.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Another FIVE STAR book by Lisa Jewell

Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors, and once again she did not disappoint. This is an excellent thriller that left me on the edge of my chair. There are a lot of twists and turns you don't expect. You will definitely not be able to guess what's coming next. My favorite kind of book. I devoured this book in just a few days.

Expected Release Date - 06/24/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest review. I absolutely devour Lisa Jewell's books and this one was no exception! It was so good and addicting, I read it in 2 days, did not want to put it down. Lots of different characters keep you on your toes and you have to pay close attention. There were some crazy twists, some obvious but others weren't. I will always recommend her books and can't ever wait for the next one.

The way it started I was a little iffy thinking “please Jewell don’t do this to me” because I always have high hopes for her books. They’re always immediately intense and full of twists. This is my first book by her that didn’t immediately get into the suspense. I wasn’t disappointed though. Everything fell into place. You may have questions! But the turn of it all was mind blowing.

This book was so unhinged in the best of ways! The number of POVs might possibly make it confusing at times, but once I got to know all of the characters, it was easier to follow the story. You will absolutely love to hate the main male character... seriously, his antics stressed me out. The short chapters and fast pace of the story make this a fairly quick read. I went into this one blind (I just knew that I really wanted to read anything written by Jewell), and I honestly think it made the story better. If you're looking for a dark, psychological thriller or you love everything Jewell writes, you'll definitely want to pick this one up!

Wow wow wow. Lisa Jewell does it again! While I felt the transition between POVs a bit confusing at times, it all summed up into one big shocking twist! This book kept you guessing and when I say Jewell took a dark twist, she definitely went DARK. I really enjoyed this read and would recommend to fans of psychological/domestic thrillers

Lisa Jewell has written this book like a conductor directing the pieces of an orchestra. So many individual strands must be woven together to make a whole interconnected story. It is a shocking, absorbing and twisted thriller. We meet three women: Nina is a wealthy wife of a restaurateur (Paddy) who was killed by being pushed in front of a train, Aisling (Ash) her daughter who has moved home after suffering a nervous breakdown, and Martha who is a florist with children and whose husband is rarely home. Nina is contacted by the handsome and kind Nick Ratcliffe who knew her husband Paddy many years ago. The book is written from different POVs and in different timelines. The storylines intertwine in disturbing and outrageous ways, and one is left with the overwhelming fear that this could happen in real life! I highly recommend Don’t Let Him In. With thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for this ARC. My opinions are my own. @AtriaBooks

JEWELL HAS DONE IT AGAIN!!! I have always been a fan of Lisa Jewell but NONE OF THIS TRUE was on another level and this is in the same league.

This is one of the most anticipated reads of 2025 and for good reason!

Nina Swann and her daughter Ash are mourning their husband and father Paddy Swann. Paddy was gregarious and the life of the party. After the funeral Nick Ratcliffe sends a gift and note stating he was Paddy’s friend from the past. Nick unexpectedly enters their life and starts getting closer to Nina. Ash is more hesitant about the situation.

Martha is a florist owner and mother of three. Two from a previous marriage and her baby with Al. Lately she feels like a single parent- Al always have to leave for work at a moments notice and never responds when away. She has to take care of the shop, the kids, and there never seems to by any money.

Three women tied together by Nick and Al, who may not be who they think.

DON’T LET HIM IN will keep you on the edge of your seat. I could not put this down and needed to know what was happening next. High anticipation, deception and non stop cleverness is done so well in Lisa Jewell’s writing. If anything this book just left me wanting more and left me with some questions.

If you have this on your radar you are in for a wild ride!

Thank you @netgalley
Have you read this? Are you ready of this one?

Lisa Jewell does it again! Don't Let Him In is a fantastic thriller. The plot is twisty and interesting. The characters are flawed in relatable and engaging ways. The ending is kind of always known but it is still a great read.

I dropped everything to read one of my favorite author’s newest novels. Lisa Jewell can weave such an interesting story. I felt like I knew what was happening without the MC knowing but it’s the journey to get there that keeps you reading.

Nick Radcliffe shows up in a widows life soon after her husband dies in a terrible accident and her daughter just knows something isn’t right about him. He’s too good looking, always says the right thing and just gives her a weird vibe. Lesson learned, always trust your gut.

Wow! Just Wow! Although at first I was confused. I had a hard time keeping track who was who. Because of the multiple characters telling their stories and the jumps in timeline it took a minute to figure it out but once I did I was hooked. This novel is about how one man known by many different names touched and ruined so many women’s lives. A con artist, a snake, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A liar and a cheat!
Lisa Jewell, you had me flying through the pages - or touching my screen with each page on my Kindle - with many aha moments. What a ghastly, nasty, truly entertaining story with vivid characters and an amazing ending!

Jewell never seems to disappoint. I truly enjoyed this face paced read about a con man that targets well to do women. Told from different points of view over an eight year period will keep the pages turning!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and fairly rate this book.

I want to preface this by saying: this was not a bad book, it was just not *my* book. That is the case with all of my non-glowing reviews, but extra so here.

That said, this was not at all what I was expecting, and sadly not in a good way. If/when you all read this book (because let's be real, it's a Lisa Jewell book--so many people are going to pick this up), go into it knowing that it is not a thriller, and honestly not even really a mystery. I guess there are a few unknowns, but for the most part everything is revealed to you in the blurb and very early on in the actual novel. I would characterize this as more of a highly dramatic character study. Unfortunately for my reading experience, I did not care about the character we were following enough to enjoy studying him, and I certainly did not care enough about him to enjoy the confusing AF timeline going on in this book.

Which leads me to my next point--I HATE when a book makes me feel stupid, and for the first while, this book was doing a great job at that. I didn't have a clue what was going on POV and timeline wise for the first probably 30%. Sometimes this is intentional in books and meant to be mysterious--I didn't feel like it was here. It felt like I was supposed to understand, but was left out of something that allowed me to understand. Why could there not have been chapter titles with the POV character's name even? It wasn't a secret who we were reading from at any point, so make the readers' lives a little easier and specify who they are reading about, because there were WAY too many characters in this with relatively mundane lives that are all similar to just not specify. Please don't make me read a full chapter just to come out on the other side like who even was that speaking? By the time I started understanding, I was too annoyed to care.

All of that said, the early reviews of this are glowing thus far so I am clearly an outlier. Perhaps if you go into it with more patience than I did and not expecting it to be thrilling or mysterious really, you will like it more than I did. I will definitely still try more Lisa Jewell books in the future, and this was still an easy to blow through, well-written story, but it definitely didn't do it for me. 2.5 stars rounded up.

Thanks so much to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Don’t Let Him In starts on the slower side, but it picks up nicely about halfway through. This will be an excellent beach read when it releases in the summer!

Rating 4/5 ⭐️

Okay, Lisa Jewell you have done it again!

This book had me feeling so emotional! I wanted to cry, scream, and rage! It could have been like watching a true crime documentary! It felt so realistic to me with how she sets up the plot and characters and then the evolution of it all.

This was such a good heart-pounding, twisty, edge of your seat thriller. It really kept me engaged and wanting to keep reading. Was definitely a long game and we can see how it unfolds with how Lisa has it plotted.

I did guess a few twists but not all of them, and the ending what a nice surprise!

Highly recommend to those who like realistic thrillers.
Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Lisa Jewell for the ARC!

I wasn’t sure about this for the first 50%. It was easy to put down and walk away. But once I hit the halfway mark, I didn’t stop until I was done. The twists in this book were amazing.