3.5 rounded up. This is a story full of lies, manipulation, callousness, and obsession. I am not a violent person, and rarely get so disgusted with a character, yet I wanted to wring this antagonist’s neck.

I didn’t find any of the characters necessarily likable but rooted for most of them. It took me a hot minute to remember each one, as there are purposefully many, but the author did help with that without being obviously repetitive. The writing flows well and I did like the handful of perfectly placed sections of long, rambling, anxious thoughts.

I didn’t think the ending was that big of a twist but it was ok nonetheless.

And lastly, a big bonus for me were the new words I learned: unguent, gouache, tessellated, and uxorious.

This book’s expected release date is June 24, 2025. Thank you very much to NetGalley and Atria Books for the early e-book.

First, huge Thank You to NetGalley and Aria Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Second Wow, just Wow.
This is my second book by Lisa Jewell and it will definitely not be my last. I'm about to binge.
Expected Release Date: 6/25/25
Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell
I love the cover of the multiple doors, really drives the point across. Of course, you don’t realize this until you’re pretty much done with the book.
At the beginning and throughout, we follow Nina and Ash, Nina’s daughter, as they continue to grieve for their beloved husband and father, Paddy. You also follow other women, Martha, Amanda, Tara, Jessie, and Laura, at the present time and up to four years in the past. Along with the female perspective, we also follow a dominant male perspective, named Nick, Alistair, Damien, and Jonathan. Among others, but only one of the other IDs count in the end
He is a conniving, vindictive, spiteful man to cross. You don’t want to catch his attention in this book. You love to hate him. And hate him you do. I mean, who thinks like this, who?? You have to wonder how he has kept this jig up for such a long time. You wonder how his luck hasn’t ran out. And you think it does in the end. You think……..

Holy bananas this book was good! Lisa Jewel is the Queen of thrillers and this one did not disappoint. It’s been a long time since I have disliked a character as much as I did in this one. The lies and manipulation were just crazy and it is easy to see how a person could easily fall for someone like Nick and all his ways. This will definitely be a huge hit when it comes out this summer. Thank you to Lisa Jewel and Atria books for an advanced copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

Seriously, what did I just read. This book kept me on the edge of my seat. I will be thinking about this book for a long time. I just wanted to finish it so I could have answers. I also hated the villain so much, I really wished I could reach through the pages and punch him. The writing is so good it captivated me. Lisa Jewell does it again with a fantastic twisted thriller.

How could a tall and handsome gentleman be so conniving? He charmed most of the ladies but creeped out a few. Jumping from woman to woman in a tangled web of lies to deceive and get what he wanted to live on day by day. Many characters to keep track of and their loving family members to question his character. Great twists and turns with a powerful ending. #womentakecharge

Hold on to your hats, Lisa Jewell’s “Don’t Let Him In” is a masterpiece in manipulation, lies, and suspense. The main character of the novel, who goes by many names, spends his adult life stealing from and lying to women he’s either married or dated. Al/Nick (his primary names throughout the novel) is a sociopath and master manipulator who steals so much more than money. He weaves incredible stories to cover his tracks as he disappears and further drags these women into debt and at times danger. He finally hits the end of the road when he begins dating Nina Swann, widow of famous restaurateur Paddy Swann. Nina and Paddy’s adult daughter Ash immediately senses something is off about Nick and his attempts to exploit her mother. Ash begins to unravel the decades-old trail of abuse and betrayal of so many women. Lisa Jewell does an incredible job of detailing the inner thoughts of both the women and Al/Nick, with rotating narrators and time frames throughout the novel. I was stunned at how incredible Nick was at maintaining his composure and understanding exactly what the women he was in relationship with needed to hear. I felt so badly for the women, who all seemed to be genuinely swooned by Nick and his manipulations. I really enjoyed reading this book by Lisa Jewel, it’s a 5 star book for me!

I was very lucky to get an arc of this book through Netgalley, and I’m still not quite sure how I feel about it. This book had one twist that got me by surprise, but the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I would have hoped for. I was expecting some big end all, blow my mind. It was definitely a more psychological thriller than anything which is fun. I just would’ve loved an end that had my heart racing more.

This was a good, quick read. If I wasn’t such a huge Lisa Jewell suspense fan I may would say it’s a great read. However, her mystery & suspense books- those are great, immersive, wonderful books that consume you & Don’t Let Him In just wasn’t on par with those unfortunately & only IMO. Again, it’s a good book but not as intricately plotted & “un-put-down-able” as say, Invisible Girl, again, IMO. She is definitely still an auto buy author of mine, this just wasn’t my favorite.

Thanks to Don't Let Him In, I am ending my 2024 reading year on a bang. I have been a bit burned out by thrillers, but let's give a round of applause to Lisa Jewell for reminding me why I love thrillers so much. When Atria Books granted me access to this one just a few days ago, I downloaded it and wanted to start reading it immediately, even though it doesn't come out until June. I know thriller lovers will absolutely devour this one, like I did. This was one of those books that kept me invested from start to finish, and when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about when I could pick it up again. There are 3 main women in this story, who are all married. But the husband is not who he says he is. In fact, he has multiple identities and multiple lives, and each of his wives are blissfully unaware of each other. When Ash's beloved father dies, and a man named Nick enters into her mother's life, Ash immediately feels like the vies are off. I ended up giving this one 4/5 stars. There were 2 main reasons for it not being a 5 star read for me. There was a point towards the end of the story where Ash revealed that she had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. This part of the story/Ash's character seemed kind of pointless, like it was just kind of thrown in. Also, at the beginning of the story, I was a bit thrown off and confused by the characters and the time frame of the back and forth. There are quite a few characters in this story: Martha, Al, Nala, Emma, Tara, Nina, Ash, Arlo, Paddy, Nick, Damian, Amanda, and more. I was trying to keep track of everyone, but once I got into a reading groove, I was able to keep everyone straight, but that initial introduction to everyone and their stories almost caused me to set the book aside for another time. However, I am glad that I decided to push through because it definitely ended up being worth it. I can't wait for others to get a chance to read this book so that I can talk to them about it. Thank you to Atria Books for giving me the chance to read an early digital copy of this book via Netgalley!

3.5 Rounded up to 4 stars. Certainly not my favorite Lisa Jewell joint, but with a publication date in June this promises to be a hot summer read for thriller lovers. The story can be infuriating and I became increasingly annoyed with the women who'd fallen under the spell of the main male character. But that is victim blaming, and also missing the entire point of the tale: even intelligent, successful women fall victim to honey traps. I've listened to the original Dirty John and watched the Tindr Swindler, so I know the plot isn't too far from a disturbing, disgusting reality. This book made me feel gross.

Don’t Let Him In is a kaleidoscopic psychological thriller that connects multiple storylines together in a horrifying way. Restaurant owner, Paddy Swann, was a wonderful businessman and family man until the day a man pushed him in front of an oncoming train, resulting in his death. He left behind his wife, Nina, and his two children, Ash and Arlo. The family receives a surprise in the mail shortly after the funeral from an old friend of Paddy’s, Nick Radcliffe. It unexpectedly draws Nick and Nina closer together, which Ash is not a fan of. A second storyline takes place regarding a woman named Martha who is a florist. She lives with her husband Al and their child, along with two children from her previous marriage. They never seem to have any money, and he’s always traveling for work, so she feels like a single mom. Nick and Al may not be who they say they are, which leads these women finding their stories intertwining in shocking and terrifying ways. They wish they had heeded this warning: don’t let him in.

Lisa. Jewell. YOU CREATIVE GENIUS! You’ve done it again. This book was everything. I was hooked the entire time. I swear my jaw dropped at least once every chapter. The storylines bouncing back and forth make you want more and more from each one, especially as they draw closer to each other. This book holds great character development for several people yet makes you absolutely hate others. And I mean the absolute disgusting-horrific-awful-manipulating type of hate. The twists and turns throughout the story have you on a thrilling roller coaster ride the whole time. Ash, Nina, and Martha are such strong and determined FMCs and Jewell wrote them perfectly. The downfalls of humanity, true emotions, and painful realizations are perfectly captured in each page. Family bonds are everything in this book and that makes you want to pull it even closer.

I’ll start by saying that Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors. I love so many of her books. This one was good, not great. It didn’t really feel like a Lisa Jewell book. There were not any unique plot points, it felt like a classic con man story. Simon kept saying how he knew what the women wanted but he never said how. I also wanted there to be a bigger twist at the end. I guess the twist was that Simon had been writing Ash the letters from her boss but that wasn’t shocking. And the Ash storyline with her boss and mental breakdown could’ve been explored further. Overall, I liked this book and I wanted to keep reading but it won’t be memorable or have the classic “wow” factor that books like the family upstairs, then she was gone, and none of this is true had.

Don’t Let Him In - Lisa Jewell

Wow…. Just wow . The writing was so good I felt physically ill through parts of this. Reading about the con man who destroyed endless lives, and his sick justifications for it all.

Even though I was able to guess the twist at the end, I still enjoyed reading this immensely. A solid 4.5/5 for me.

You really felt for the women. They just wanted to be loved and respected. They got that initially (the “perfect man”) then it all went sideways. I hope other readers don’t judge these women, but have empathy for the victims who experience this in real life.

I like how the story was mapped out, and the progression of knowledge you were given about the main character. It was a lot.

Also a big thanks to Lisa for writing the Epilogue we NEEDED!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Paddy Swan is randomly pushed into a train one day and dies leaving his wife Nina and older children alone. Suddenly a small box arrives with a Zippo in that says was Paddys and he was a friend of Nicks. Eventually Nick starts coming around more and into the Swan family lives including the dates and surprises. While all this is occurring Martha owns a small floral shop in another town and is struggling with a disappearing husband and a new baby. Martha is starting to get fed up with her husband Al and things start to take a bad turn. But then Paddys daughter starts investing Nick and the two women quickly get thrusted into a horrible reality and they realize their partners might not be who they said they are =.

This book was absolutely a wild ride from start to finish! I felt like I was always getting new information that would change what I thought was going on and then it would show something else. I stayed up all night ready because I could not stop reading. It was one emotional roller-coaster after another but more than anything I was angry. The development of Nina as this sad widow to this strong empowered women was something that I loved. And her daughter! What a story! She literally came back from the ashes and changed everything. I would 100% recommend!!

Don’t Let Him In was a read with twists and turns, but does have some slow parts. As the book progressed the male antagonist became even more unlikeable with additional revelations. There are some surprises that kept me hooked and I will recommend it to others.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for the advanced copy of the book for an honest review.
#netgalley #suspenseful #despicablemmc

After the sudden death of her husband, restaurateur Paddy Swann, Nina begins a romantic relationship with Nick, a "friend" of Paddy’s. As Nina becomes more involved with Nick, her daughter Ash grows increasingly suspicious of him. Ash is convinced that Nick is hiding something, and her doubts lead to tension between mother and daughter. As the story unfolds, secrets, lies, and hidden motives surface, revealing a tangled web of deceit and betrayal that threatens to tear the family apart. Amidst the twists and psychological tension, Nina and Ash must navigate grief, trust, and the dark truths that come to light after Paddy’s death.

This wasn't my favorite Lisa Jewell book. I felt like there were too many characters to keep track of, which made it confusing to me.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Lisa Jewell, and Atria Books for the opportunity to read Don't Let Him In.

Nina's husband Paddy dies suddenly in a very tragic way. She and her daughter, Ash, receive a gift in the mail from his old friend Nick Ratcliffe. As Nina and Nick become closer, Ash has her suspicions that Nick is not all that he claims to be. This is a great book with just enough twists to keep you guessing!

He’s the perfect man; he knows just want to do and say, loves you, and seems your perfect match. Once he moves in and is settled in your life, he begins disappearing for days.

It takes some time for all the moving pieces of this one to connect, but stick with it because once they do, it becomes very hard to put down. I enjoy con man stories and I especially enjoy when they are found out and it becomes a mission to take them down. I loved that we got the conman’s perspective as well, which was absolutely insane as he really felt he was a good man.

“He lies with passion and self-belief, this man. He lies like a man who has never been caught out in a lie, who thinks he is invulnerable.”

Don’t Let Him In comes out 6/24.

I love Lisa Jewell - she is an auto-buy/ auto-recommend author for me. I like that she is not formulaic and plays around with plot in the genre. Readers who have only read her last hit book will be disappointed with this one as it's not the same. There is no mystery actually and more of an internal landscape of someone deeply disturbed. I really enjoyed it as I like how Lisa Jewell writes and will recommend to all.

Lisa Jewell has always intrigued me with her premises, and Don't Let Him In was no different. In Jewell's latest, we follow a series of women and their interactions with Nick and Al, who may not be who they say they are.

I have never given a Lisa Jewell book 5 stars, and, while her latest also did not receive a full 5 stars, it came pretty close. In fact, this is my favorite title by Jewell. I found the characters compelling and the story was incredibly gripping. I will say that it does get slightly repetitive around the half-way mark, which is why I am giving it 4 stars. I found the ending incredibly satisfying and overall I found the book to be incredibly successful. I really enjoyed this one.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.