Lisa Jewell really takes you on a ride with this one. Al, Nick, Simon, whatever his name is has led so many lives. He believes he is giving these women what they want and in turn, can fool them and take their money. He believes he is owed everything basically and deserves to take what he wants. When the daughters of some of these women become suspicious, his world begins to unravel and he thinks he will just settle down with the one woman who still loves and trusts him. Ash, the latest's victims daughter finds out so much more that this man was capable of when she digs into his past and tracks people down whose life he had been in. Twisty and shocking!

At the beginning, it was a little slow, but then, as soon as you started to put together the pieces, it moved a lot quicker. Nick seems extremely charming and the daughter of his newest girlfriend (Ash) starts to notice that he doesn’t seem exactly right. I love the chapters from the perspective of the antagonist because it is interesting to see how warped this man can be. As predictable as some parts may have been it was highly entertaining and probably one of my favorite Lisa Jewell books.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

Lisa Jewell delivers yet another gripping thriller with “Don’t Let Him In.” The book kept me hooked from start to finish, with its clever plot twists and richly developed characters. Jewell masterfully creates an atmosphere of suspense that had me questioning everyone’s motives and loyalties.

I especially loved how the story unfolded with layers of secrets being peeled back, keeping me on edge the entire time. Her writing is vivid and engaging, making it easy to get lost in the world she’s created.

The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that I wished for a slightly deeper dive into some of the backstories, which felt a bit rushed toward the end. That said, it’s a fantastic read that I couldn’t put down. I loved this book and can’t wait to see what Lisa Jewell writes next!

This book was all over the place and I almost DNF twice during the first 15% of the book, but then it got interesting and I could not stop reading. There are many different POVs, and I was very confused at first because there is so much to keep up with. I ended up taking notes on different characters, which was helpful!

I ended up loving this book so much and I’m so glad I finished. Favorite read of 2025 so far!

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley.

I love love love a good bad guy. I love an unreliable narrator. I love when characters are really messed up and crappy and awful. This book definitely gave me that! I kept sharing quotes or sections from Nick's chapters with my partner because they were so wild and eventually started to go down a bit of a rabbit hole questioning everything I know about my own relationship. It was exactly what I needed to take the cloying sweetness of the holidays away as I started the new year.
The only thing I didn't like was the climax. It felt like such a cop out because, unless I was misreading something, it just wasn't possible. Not remotely feasible. It kind of felt like all of this build up happened and then was tied up in this section that felt rushed and underdeveloped. It just didn't carry the same energy the rest of the book did.
That said, overall this was an entertaining read that had me hooked from the start. After the last bit of nonsense making pedophilia an unnecessary subplot in her last book, I wasn't sure if I'd want to give Jewell's work another shot. This one has me excited for more.

Thank you net galley and publisher for this ARC. I'm a big fan of Lisa Jewel and I've read almost all of her books. This book was so good, I couldn't put it down once I started reading it. I really enjoyed all the twists and turns. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys this genre.

3.5 for me!

The Tinder Swindler with the slightest sprinkle of You... I'm not sure I'd necessarily label this a thriller, though.

I did enjoy Don't Let Him In more than Jewell's None of this is True. I felt like the pacing was better and we were given more crumbs to put two and two together throughout the novel instead of a huge info dump at the end, which I definitely prefer. Short chapters made it fly by and I kept wanting to go "just one more" to find out what was coming next. The plot was mostly driven by the MMC's romantic and financial manipulation within his relationships. There are a few points that are uncovered toward the end that are darker, but they aren't focused on in-depth.

The beginning was a tad confusing with POV jumps and time jumps, especially because the voices were often very similar, coming from the MMC's victims. I felt like I needed a chart of who he was currently with romantically, who he was currently swindling, and his past victims in chronological order. There was also a slight repetitiveness because of this POV hop since... well, most of his victims had the same experience with him and didn't have a very different personalities from each other. I know the point was to show us how many times the MMC had done this dance, how many victims he's manipulated etc but it all started to blend together.

It's a masterclass in gaslighting, and it was interesting to see how all the stories wove together at the end. I also felt like the ending is satisfying after all the build up, though a bit confusing at first-- I had to read the epilogue twice because it almost seemed like an alternate ending vs. a continuation. We are given one twist at the end that I wish was expanded upon more instead of just plopped there for your own wonderment, but it is what it is.

I think the best way to put it is: this story isn't necessarily shocking, but still a good narrative. It keeps your attention and it's one where you find yourself coming up with your own theories, so getting to the end is exciting.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for the ARC!

This is my thirteenth read by Lisa Jewell and she never ever disappoints!

First off, we've got a big set of characters. It took me a bit to keep them all together but once I did I was golden. If you happen to be reading this review before reading the book, make yourself a character guide. It will help!

The characters are EXCELLENT!! Well written, developed and believable which I always find with Jewell's novels. I thoroughly enjoyed the multiple POVs too.

Don't Let Him In is a journey you will want to find yourself on! My thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for my gifted e-arc.

I’m a big fan of Lisa Jewell, and this one didn’t disappoint. It opens focusing on a family navigating the loss of the father. The story broadens in scope, allowing first person narration from a grifter and the lives he affects. I feel like some of the plot points were absurd, namely his ex-wife allowing him back into her life after thinking he was dead. I also might have preferred the story to stay more so on Martha, Ash, her mom, and Jane, as those parts alone were captivating. I can admit I enjoyed seeing the many tangled webs be revealed. Thank you Atria, Jewell, and NetGalley for the ARC!

I throughly enjoyed “Don’t Let Him In”. I was immediately drawn in and raced to the finish. Although the plot is somewhat predictable the journey to end is thrilling. I appreciate how Lisa Jewell writes through multiple character view points, including the villain’s perspective. Her dialogue and characters inner monologues are very engaging. I like how she uses short chapters, I found the book very hard to put down because I was always eager to see what would happen next.
If you enjoy thrillers be sure to pick up “Don’t Let Him In” this summer!

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy.

I have loved many books by Lisa Jewell, unfortunately not this one.

The story was interesting and I was invested, but the whole story was predictable. Not one aspect of this story was a surprise for me. I did enjoy reading it because I felt like I was watching a movie (extra points because the writing was amazing).

I did not enjoy the switch between 1st person POV and 3rd person POV and the frequent time jumps. It made it difficult to follow in the 1st 1/2 of the book.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for this Advance Readers Copy ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Holy shit what did I just read? This was one of those books where you are absolutely disgusted with the male protagonist. As I was reading, I wanted to get inside the book, call 911, and get this man put away! The chapters in the past are all told from his POV, so it really gets you in the head of this horrid human being. The only reason I didn’t rate this a five star, was the beginning of the book was very confusing. There are multiple different story lines and a ton of characters you need to keep track of. I had a hard time until about 30 percent of the way in and then it all clicked. Once it clicked, I could not put it down solely because I was waiting for this HORRIBLE PSYCHOPATH's retribution.

Nina and Ash (kind of annoying in my opinion) just lost Paddy (their father and husband). He was murdered after a night out. About a year later, Nina begins to date Nick, a gorgeous silver fox, who seems too good to be true. He dotes on her, brings her to nice dinners, and is always talking about how successful he is. Ash isn't convinced. She thinks he's lying and hiding something. Ash then makes it her mission to find out who Nick really is.

Martha, a floral shop owner, is at her witts end with her husband. Al, goes missing for days at a time with no contact. He always has a story planned and an excuse at the ready. At the beginning, she believed him, but as time goes on she can't take it anymore. She needs to find out where is her husband disappearing to for days on end without any contact.

Tara and Amanda are also struggling with then man in their lives. They are constantly disappearing, stealing money, and taking out massive loans in their names. They try and confront the men when they are around, but he always worms his way out of it and convinces them that everything is okay. This goes on for years and usually ends in tears and danger.

Nina, Ash, Martha, Tara, and Amanda's lives will soon intertwine as they search for the truth about the dodgy men in their lives.

If you like con artist, blackmail, living a double life, and intelligent psychopath stories than READ THIS.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for the ARC of this book!

This book grabbed me from the first page. I’ve been bored w so many psychological thrillers of late, so was thrilled to find one that held my interest. My only quibble was how could all of these women ignore the warning signs of this guy? But then you wouldn’t have a story and some women are so desperate for love they’ll overlook most anything.

Jewell kept the suspense and. Story line taut. I was eager to turn the page thinking what next For these three women who have fallen in love and in some cases married the same man. The ending provided a twist I was not expecting. Recommended for all public libraries

I have read several books by this author, and I really liked them. Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me. I enjoyed the short chapters, but the changing POVs between characters (including using first and third person) was frustrating. Also, the timeline was very hard to follow, I was confused about that for well over half of the book.
There were no surprising twists. The book definitely could’ve been shorter. I got very tired of reading about the MMC running from his problems and being a complete narcissistic jerk. The whole book was just reading over and over how badly he treated women and that became annoying and exhausting. I do feel the author portrayed the manipulation of a narcissist very well.
Even though this book fell flat for me, I will continue to read books by Lisa Jewell.

This book started off strong and then became a real drag. The switching POVs, especially the first person one felt completely unnecessary and didn't add anything. There was no suspense or plot and the story got very repetitive. Everything was just told to you so there felt like there was no point to the book.

Received an ARC from NetGalley.

This book is perfect for people who love a psychological thriller that will keep them up at night reading “just one more chapter.” Lisa Jewell knows how to write books you know could actually happen and you hope never happen to anyone you know. This book in particular shows the vulnerability of women who are manipulated by narcissists. We may all think, “oh, I wouldn’t fall for that kind of man.” But the reality is different.

There were many times when I was reading this, I was literally talking out loud to the women warning them. The ending was well worth the stress of this suspenseful read.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. I usually love Lisa Jewell's books and was excited to read this. However I was very confused for the first half with who was who and jumping around timeline. I liked the idea and storyline, however it was a bit confusing.

4 stars! I am a huge fan of Lisa Jewell and couldn’t wait to get my hands on this. Such a thrilling ride waiting to see what “Nick” would do next. Maybe too many characters to keep up with, but I really enjoyed it for the most part.

I loved this book! Lisa Jewell can do no wrong in my eyes and this book was no different! From the con-artist plot to the multiple POVs I was sucked in from the very first page. Twist after twist, I did guess the ending however I still loved it!

A great start to my 2025 reading! This is the first Lisa Jewell ARC I have been approved for and I am so thankful as I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. In a nutshell, we have a young girl Ash (Aisling) whose father, Paddy, has recently passed away under horrific circumstances. Ash and her mother, Nina, are struggling to get their bearings when out of the blue a thoughtful keepsake of Paddy’s is mailed to them. The gift was sent by an old friend of Paddy’s, a handsome suave man named Nick. Nick starts to develop a relationship with Nina and seems to be helping her deal with her grief. He seems too good to be true… And then the story takes off as we learn about Nick’s past and past relationships. And what a past that is! I enjoyed the twists and turns although the big twist was a bit of a let down. However, Jewell’s writing and narration never fail to keep me invested. I did find the women in this book way too gullible and malleable! I also did not feel the same strong emotional pull that I have felt with Ms. Jewell’s previous novels. However, as I said a thoroughly fun and enjoyable read!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.