Lisa Jewell brings us another engaging thriller with Don't Let Him In, a suspenseful story filled with deception, grief, and resilience. In this book, Jewell once again balances multiple perspectives and timelines, immersing you into the layers of a character's dark past. This is a bit less twisty than some of Jewell's previous works, but there's still a steady build with a deeply satisfying resolution. Ash's determined investigation, and the novel’s exploration of manipulation and strength, make for a compelling read. If you're a fan of Jewell’s storytelling and character-driven suspense, you will enjoy this dark and thoughtful thriller as well.

He's the perfect husband. The perfect father. The perfect business man. Plus, he's very handsome. But what is his real name? Which identity is real? House to house he jumps, never giving more of himself than he needs to, but leaving behind mess after mess. Ash is determined to dig into who he really is when he begins dating her mother.

Thank you Lisa Jewell and Atria Books for the eARC in exchange for a thorough and honest review. All thoughts here are mine and mine alone.

It can be very difficult to pull off a book with as many storylines and characters as this book had without leaving the reader confused, but Lisa Jewell does it with efficiency and ease. The voicing for each storyline made it easy to follow and stay engaged in the plot.

This book felt different than a typical thriller. It was not quite as grabby as some thrillers are, but I liked the pacing and execution of the plot. I definitely recommend this book to Lisa Jewell fans and people interested in a dark but not quite as twisty thriller.

The first half of the book seemed really repetitive, and I kept thinking when will there be some big action? Then it gets twisty, and the story quickly gets dark. The lies sure will make a web to get you caught! I thought the ending was so-so, but then there are more twists that make it even better! In the end, I really liked the whole story and how it all came together and wrapped up in the end.

I mean, can Lisa Jewell write anything other than a wonderful thriller??

I LOVED this book. I’ve quite literally recommended it to all of my coworkers already. The way that everyone’s stories tied together along with the strong female main characters… I was SAT.

Thanks to the publisher, NetGalley, and Queen Lisa Jewell herself for this ARC. I will be singing this book’s praises until release day!!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of Don't Let Him In in exchange for my honest review. This one was such a wild ride and I loved every minute of it!

The description from the publisher describes this novel perfectly without giving any spoilers away:
"three women are connected by one man in this kaleidoscopic thriller".

And kaleidoscopic is spot on. I really don't think I could have summed it up any better with its twisty turns and variety of character perspectives. 🙂

The type of villain in this story easily exists in real life, which added an extra terrifying layer to the story. This one also hit close to home for me. I know many women who are similar to some of the women in this novel and it really allowed me to empathize with them in a way I wasn't able to before. Truly how easy it is for some to be gaslit, brainwashed, and manipulated.

Ms. Jewell is a solid storyteller and executed this dizzying puzzle perfectly. She truly never disappoints. Seriously, don't miss picking this one up this summer!

First 5⭐️ read of 2025!

Publishing Date: June 24, 2025

I want to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC of Don’t Let Him in by Lisa Jewell in exchange for an honest review.

Don't Let Him in is a story about the loss of Nina’s husband Paddy to a tragic accident and grief that her and her daughter Ash are sharing. After the accident a gift appears for Nina from “Nick”, an old friend of Paddy’s who sends his condolences. As her mom becomes more friendly with "Nick", Ash becomes more skeptical. Ash does not trust this man and starts to investigate him. By doing so she finds out that “Nick” has a lot of hidden secrets, some that could even be dangerous.

Lisa Jewell has a way of weaving different storylines together to create a nice, puzzling mystery. She has a gift of storytelling that makes the pages of the story come to life. Don’t Let Him in is a light, fast mystery read that makes you want more. Unlike her other works, this book has less suspense. From the beginning of the story, you find the main conflict, however it leaves you wondering how the story will play out. The different storylines are easy to follow and form an entertaining web of connections. The ending in my opinion had closure and I loved the final twist!

Normally I love Lisa Jewell and have read so many of her other books but this one did not do it for me. Honestly, I wanted to rate it 1 or 2 stars but being from LJ, I rounded way up to 3.

I wouldn’t really call this a thriller or a mystery. The whole plot was laid out pretty early on and nothing really shocking or twisty happened. Just a crappy man getting away with things and women suffering from that.

This book will probably be 4-5 stars for others but for someone like me who mostly only reads twisty or dark thrillers, this wasn’t my cup of tea.

What a wild and crazy ride this was. Nina, dealing with her father’s death meets Nick, an old friend of her father’s. When he starts dating her mum, she grows suspicious of him. Martha, a lovely mother of three (one a newborn baby) from a small town who owns a flower shop thinks her his ban is having an affair. And man, does this story spiral and twist and is freaking amazing!

Lisa Jewell never disappoints. This was another page turning thriller, and I liked the subtle feminism of the story. I did think it was a little predictable, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the plot immensely.

Wow! What a way to bring everything together! Make sure you’re not distracted while reading Lisa Jewell’s new novel or you might miss clues to what’s going on. So many twists and turns have your mind leading in all sorts of directions! Little things that I was confused on in the beginning, totally made sense by the end! Her new novel does not disappoint!

Lisa Jewell always offers up an entertaining read and this book was no exception.
The story is mainly from Ash’s pov, Ash is struggling since the recent senseless death of her larger than life father. She’s living at home with her mom and working part time in a local secondhand store.
A few months after Paddy’s death, his widow Nina receives a lovely package in the mail from Nick.
Nick claims to be an old friend and former coworker of a Paddy and has found an old zippo lighter he said belonged to Nina’s dead husband.
Nina starts a friendship with Nick and while Ash wants what is best for mother she does not trust Nick and begins to investigate him along with her Fathers “crazy” ex girlfriend Jane.
There are a LOT of characters to keep track of and multiple Alaiases for our villain. I feel like some of the back stories were filler and not needed to further the story along.
I figured out all the twists early on so I felt it was pretty predictable. It was a good palate cleanser after reading a heavy novel right before this.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this novel.

This is a solid Lisa Jewell story about desperate women who are easily manipulated by a smooth talking psycho. The book swings back and forth between multiple time frames and people - be patient as, of course, it all comes together eventually. The women are all frustrating in their inability to see the character for who he really is, but the interconnecting stories are ultimately satisfying in the end.

Not exactly a flattering view of either men or women. Nor is it much of a "thriller" but really more of a soap opera about a sociopathic con artist and the women dumb enough to fall for a pretty face and ignore a multitude of red flags. You'll want to shake everyone in the book except Ash, who is the only female with a brain.

Lisa Jewell always does a good job of making improbable storylines work and this book is no exception. She is also good at creating disturbing psychopaths who ruin people's lives for no real reason. An entertaining read!

This book was good—a suspenseful and engaging book. It was not my most favorite of Lisa Jewell but it still kept me intrigued throughout.

Feel like an outlier cause there’s so many amazing reviews for this book, but it didn’t do it for me. Although I liked the short chapters, I found the alternating POVs to be confusing for longer than usual, and just wasn’t generally as captivated. I found myself picking it up more just to finish and move on to the next book. Nevertheless, it did have several twists - a strong suit of Lisa Jewell's - that would pull you back in at points.

Not quite up to par for Lisa Jewell, unfortunately.

The prose is lacking, the plot is so-so and the characters do not stand out, all of which are unlike the author I know and love. Nothing surprised me and it doesn't take long to figure out where things are going. A lot of suspension of disbelief and not questioning contrived parts is required.

That said, this was still an easy read that I enjoyed. The book did a great job exploring toxic and exploitative relationships and why it's so hard to leave / easy to be trapped in the cycle. I also loved its central theme of women taking back their power and the ending. Very reckoning and all.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Jewell and Atria Books for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was definitely one of my most anticipated reads for 2025 and it wasn’t even close to what I was looking for. I didn’t connect with this, it didn’t feel like a thriller and I honestly didn’t care what happened.

First of all, I would like to thank Lisa Jewell and Atria books for an advanced copy of this book.

Overall, this book was a solid three stars from me. The beginning pace moved quite slow and honestly I feel like it didn’t pick up until about 60% of the way through.

I love the way that Jewell writes chapters. Her writing style has a way of drawing readers in and leaving them wanting more by the time they get to the end of the chapter. For this specific book, I also enjoyed the beach settings of this book. She didn’t a fantastic job of descriptive details which really transported the reader.

One of the things that I didn’t like about this book is that it could be challenging to follow. We know that one of the MCs is a conman early on into the story. However, you are introduced to so many different personas and cons right away that it was overwhelming to keep track of. I personally would have liked one or two less storylines to keep track of. I was quite sure what the stalking storyline added with the girls on the street. I also was unsure why Martha was so different from the other girls. The MC mentioned it a few times, but there wasn’t much description about their love that made her so special out of all the other cons. Last thing I hated was his “disappearance”. I’m glad justice prevailed in the end, but what you mean he survived the frigid waters? If he was submerged, where did he go?! How did no one see him come up for air?? He either needed to die or be arrested on site.

Overall, this book was solid but could benefit from a few tweaks with the storyline. I will 100% be reading whatever Jewell puts out next.

First read of a Lisa Jewell book and I’m impressed. Although it was hard to keep track of the characters initially, I was able to keep up with the plot after the first quarter of the novel. All of the loose ends were tied up in the end. Very good job and demonstrated the behavior of an individual with narcissistic or psychopathic traits.

Thank you Net Galley for the Advanced Readers copy! Publishing date June 24,2025! I just love Lisa Jewell! A multi point of view suspense when three women are connected by one man. He comes into their lives then leaves them without a trace. Whatever you do, don’t let him in! A must read for all thriller/mystery/suspense lovers!!

Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

A fantastic read once again by Ms. Jewell! This thriller had be hanging on till the very end with all the twists and turns. Absolutely a five star read for me!