Queen Lisa has a way of dropping you into a story and have you not knowing what’s going on all while thinking you do. She is the master thriller writer, and I did not want to stop reading this one!

Don’t Let Him In will leave you on the edge of your seat wondering what’s going to happen next.

I went into this book blind, and I fully believe that’s the way to go with any Lisa book!

I had so much fun reading Lisa Jewell's new book, Don’t Let Him In! It’s a delightfully disturbing, impossible-to-put-down read that moves fast from start to finish. The story centers on Ash, her mother Nina, and Martha. Ash and Nina are still dealing with the tragic loss of their father and husband, who was pushed onto the London Tube tracks in a shocking act of murder. Meanwhile, Martha seems to have it all—her own adorable floral shop, a beautiful baby, and a picture-perfect husband. Their lives are all tied together by one man: Nick.

And what a character he is! Nick is ridiculously handsome and effortlessly charming, with that lost-puppy vulnerability that draws people in. Even when he’s being awful, there’s something oddly captivating about him. As his story unravels, that charm turns into a dangerous weapon—a mix of charisma and manipulation that keeps everyone, including the reader, hooked. With perfectly timed twists, quirky side characters who bring humor and heart to the story (I loved Jane and seriously think she deserves her own novel!), and a plot that never slows down, this is Lisa Jewell at her absolute best!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for providing this digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!

A fun, engaging, and propulsive read although perhaps a bit far fetched at times. I definitely stayed up way too late one night evening just to figure out what happened next. A perfect book for fans of Lisa Jewell’s The Family Upstairs.

I didn’t love this one and I usually really enjoy Lisa Jewell’s books. I found it to be very predictable, nothing shocked me or surprised me. To me it was more a book of information about things that already happened in these characters’ lives as opposed to a story unfolding in real time. Like, I just felt like I was being fed facts the whole book and saw the ending coming from a mile away, including the conclusion to Ash’s mental breakdown story.

✨DON’T LET HIM IN✨

4/5⭐️| Release Date: 6/24/25

I immediately bumped everything on my ARC list to read this. 😍

READ IF YOU LOVE:
👩🏻‍❤️‍👨🏼 Domestic Thrillers
🕙 Multiple Timelines
📖 Short Chapters
🧟‍♂️ Toxic/Narcissistic Antagonists
🧩 Puzzle-piece Endings

SHORT DESCRIPTION:
This novel follows Nina and her daughter Ash who lost their beloved husband/father, Paddy, after he was pushed onto the train tracks. A man (Nick) that once worked with Paddy reached out to Nina via letter returning a zippo that once belonged to him.

The story also follows Martha, her two sons, her husband (Al) and their new baby. She owns a beautiful flower shoppe, but is newly post partum and navigating life with her overworked husband with dooming financials.

Nick and Al might not be who they say they are at all and they somehow all intertwine.

REVIEW:
This is 100% a domestic thriller, so don’t go blind into it thinking it’s not. (Silly me) Even though it’s a domestic thriller it had me hooked from the beginning. I could tell quickly that Ash was going to be a badass. It’s hard to talk about the plot without giving anything away so I’ll just say it was wrapped up in a nice bow at the end.

I knocked it down a star because the timeline felt chaotic at times which made it hard to follow. Because of this I do not recommend the audio version. (Part of me wonders if the chaos was intentional) I also found the switch from first POV to second POV very hard to transition back and forth.

A huge thank you to Net Galley and Atria Books for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I absolutely hated the main character Nick or whatever name he likes to use. What a deeply disturbing person but I found myself rushing to the end to see his fate because I got over the story pretty quickly.

I want to thank Net Galley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of this book.

Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors, so I was thrilled to get this. Every book I’ve read of hers so far has been 4 stars, easy. But this one not so much. I could barely get through it. Not very thrilling. Very redundant chapters and the characters were boring to me. I kept waiting for this book to get better, for something to happen, and it never did. It is definitely not her best. Will I keep reading her books? Heck yes. Every author seems to have one that isn’t as great as the rest.

Lisa Jewell has done it again with "Don't Let Him In"! I absolutely loved this book—it’s one of her most suspenseful yet. From the very first page, the tension kept building, and I couldn’t stop reading.

The twists in this story really caught me off guard, and just when I thought I had it all figured out, something new would happen. It’s the kind of book that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way through.

If you’re a fan of Lisa Jewell or just love a good thriller that keeps you guessing, this is a must-read. It’s gripping, fast-paced, and full of surprises—one of my favorites from her so far!

ARC Review
Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell
Release date: June 24, 2025
🚪
When Paddy Swann dies suddenly and tragically, his wife Nina and daughter Ash are left reeling. Soon after, Nick Radcliffe enters their lives, claiming to be an old friend of Paddy’s. Charming and seemingly kind, Nick quickly begins to win Nina over, much to Ash’s concern. Despite Ash’s warnings, Nina seems to fall for him, and Ash suspects that Nick may be too good to be true—he always seems to have a perfect excuse for everything.

As Ash digs deeper into Nick’s past, she uncovers a web of women whose lives have been impacted by him in dark and unsettling ways. Determined to protect her mother, Ash sets out to gather evidence and expose the truth about Nick.
🚪
Unfortunately, I found this book slow and anticlimactic. While I’ve always enjoyed Lisa Jewell’s writing style, this story didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I found myself waiting for something to happen, but it never really did, and much of the narrative felt repetitive.

That said, I did appreciate the ending!

The story reminded me a lot of the true crime case of John Meehan, aka “Dirty John.” If you’re a fan of that kind of story, this might be worth a try.
🚪
Read for:
-Dirty John vibes 💰
-Slow burn 🔥
-Revenge plot 🤫
🚪
*This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This was an extremely creepy book! Nick seems like a great guy when he connects with Paddy Swann's widow and daughter after Paddy's untimely death (was it really an accident?). But Paddy's daughter Nina starts to suspect Nick may be too good to be true, and she does some investigating. The truth is slowly teased out, through the viewpoints of multiple people and time periods. As others have noted, the switch between first and third person POVs was a little distracting, and Nick was such a vile character, that I really didn't enjoy reading about him. Although I'm a big Lisa Jewell fan, and look forward to her next book, this one was not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Jewell's books but this one was harder to get into than the rest as it goes back and forth in time so seamlessly. It begins with Ash and her mother Nina as they receive flowers after her father Paddy is killed by a random man. And then all of a sudden we are thrust into a time four years earlier when a guy needs money from his wife. The novel continues to vacillate between two different times and we are never really sure how they are connected until the end! I did breathe a sigh of relief when it ended as Jewel always cleans up her "messes" with surprises that stay with the reader long after the book is finished!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Big thank you to @netgalley for the arc of this one! Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite thriller authors. I’ve been a big fan ever since reading
“And Then She Was Gone.” This book isn’t publishing until June, so I was super excited to get this approval!

𝕄𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤💭
This is definitely more of a slow burn psychological thriller. I enjoyed the beginning and got hooked into the story, however ( without giving away any spoilers) I felt that the middle of the story was a bit repetitive, and the same thing kept happening with different characters, again and again. That being said though, Lisa Jewell really knows how to write an ending. The last page of this book was 🤌🏻 chef’s kiss perfect. I felt conflicted in my rating because of this 😜
It was for sure not my favorite Lisa Jewell, but still a good read.
3.5

I have now learned to read Lisa Jewell’s new mystery books. Don’t Let Him In should immediately go on your list. Although you can see a few of the twists coming, you just continually want to see how this will all end. If I did not have self control, I could have finished this in a day. The book is fast moving and you continually question the narrative you’ve created in your head. Overall a fun read!

I received a free advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell This intense, fast paced psychological thriller unfolds through multiple perspectives over several years,with dual timelines. Nick is a thoroughly unlikable character, a serial conman and a master at gaslighting. The author provides realistic portrayal of his narcissism. The story comes to a satisfying conclusion.

Thank you to Lisa Jewell, Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Thanks for the advance copy! I have read other books by Lisa and loved them. This one unfortunately I have to rate lower. I rated it a one star. It was not what I expected. I don’t even know if I would call it a thriller but it was very slow and predictable. I felt like it just kept going in circles and dragged on. I think the ending was supposed to be empowering but I was just disappointed I almost didn’t even finish the book.

And truly the women are just dumb. I just kept waiting for something more interesting to happen and it was just dull and boring.

I just finished reading Don't Let Him In and let me just say, the male main character was a total douchebag. Like seriously, the things he did were just plain awful. But here's the thing, despite hating him, I couldn't put this book down. It's a slow burn thriller with multiple perspectives, drama, suspense, and some shady stuff that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Another solid thriller from Lisa Jewel, I highly recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, this book fell completely flat. I see the image but the execution was HORRIBLE. I had to dnf 25% of the way because this is genuinely one of the most annoying and confusing books I have ever read. I love Lisa Jewell ofc. But this is not her best work. This book was so confusing to the point I had to keep track of what was happening in my NOTES APP. There is absolutely no reason this book has to be tis confusing. The switch from first to third person drove me crazy. Then the timeline changes. And the POV changes ?? Too much going on all at once and it just felt so sloppy and I really did want to enjoy it but reading this book made my head hurt so bad. Maybe when it is officially released I might give it another try but for now this is just a no.

I received an ARC copy of this book thanks to NetGalley you can grab a copy this summer. My thoughts. It was a typical, edge of your seat Lisa Jewell book...so many story lines to follow, so many characters but it works. This one has me guessing and also screaming for these ladies. It does have a satisfactory ending and I was glad for that, otherwise my star rating would be much lower. Be sure to grab this one if you like mystery and suspense.

2.5 stars rounded up.
Lisa is my favorite author, but this book was not my favorite. It was well written and the pace moved quickly enough, but I hated the main male character so much, the whole book felt like a slog. Like reading about someone totally awful with zero compelling characteristics. The epilogue is why I rounded up to 3. Regardless of how I felt about this one, will 100% devour Lisa's next one. Thank you to the publishers for an advanced reader copy. Much appreciated.

I love this author, however this book was not for me. It was a very slow burn that I was hoping would turn into a major twist but unfortunately, everything was as it had seemed for the entirety of the book. I was disappointed in this one.