The Stranger Upstairs
Ratings34
Average rating3.1
Most people wouldn’t buy an infamous murder house to renovate for fun . . . but Sarah Slade is not most people. “This debut novel deftly explores our shadows—the dark parts of ourselves we don’t want others to see. I couldn’t stop reading.”—Julia Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of The Writing Retreat A POPSUGAR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A therapist and self-help writer with all the answers, Sarah has just bought a gorgeous Victorian in the community of her dreams. Turns out you can get a killer deal on a house where someone was murdered. Plus, renovating Black Wood House makes for great blog content and a potent distraction from her failing marriage. Good thing nobody knows that her past is as tainted as the bloodstain on her bedroom floor. But the renovations are fast becoming a nightmare. Sarah imagined custom avocado wallpaper, massive profits, and an appreciative husband who would want to share her bed again. Instead, the neighbors hate her guts and her husband still sleeps on the couch. And though the builders attempt to cover up Black Wood’s horrifying past, a series of bizarre accidents, threatening notes, and unexplained footsteps in the attic only confirm for Sarah what the rest of the town already knows: Something is very wrong in that house. With every passing moment, Sarah’s life spirals further out of control—and with it her sense of reality. But as she peels back the curling wallpaper and discovers the house’s secrets, she realizes that the deadly legacy of Black Wood House has only just begun.
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The first time I read this book but I only made it up till chapter 7 and stopped because I got sick at the end of February and I didn't want to read anything but when I was feeling better I felt like reading again so I restarted this one again at the end of March and it was the booktroop's book club pick for last year. I didn't really care for was Sarah or Lizzy whoever she went buy in the book and also her lazy husband Joe I thought he was not caring if Sarah went to him with some trouble but it seemed like he didn't want to help her out. But he was out cheating on her which didn't like at all but the both of them are good liars in their past. The only person that I liked and I felt bad when Sarah killed her was Emily and she was trying to help her and be a friend to her but she had to go and kill Emily for no reason and had a nerve to call herself Emily and now the poor kids and her husband are without a mother and a wife and I had to read with myself because I thought the narrator's voice was little annoying and I am giving this 3 stars.
What did I just read?
The book follows Sarah Slade, a self help guru and social media influencer desparate for likes and views, as she and her husband move into a new house in a small town and document the renovations. The catch? It is a #murderhouse. That's right, a murder suicide happened decades ago in the house. The neighbors are not happy about this, and Sarah finds herself struggling to make friends and find a place in the town.
This book was something else. Unreliable narrator. Heavy drinking. Poison. Murders. Secret identities. Feminine rage.
This was one hell of a ride.
Highly recommend.
