The Stranger Upstairs

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.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

2 stars. Sadly, not the book for me. I disliked it from the first chapter.

I hated following the protagonist's story. I have no problem with so-called unlikeable characters, but she was just so unpleasant and not in a fun way.

I thought this would be about a house flipping influencer with secrets from the past who moved into a famous murder house. Instead, I got a “therapist” aka self-help guru, who is an incredibly messy person with an alcohol and drug problem. She casually steals from her clients, seems to hate them all, unless they are even more unhappy than she is and needs to look up advice in her own book during sessions! As the book continues, she becomes even more unstable and turns into an unreliable narrator because of all her mental health and alcohol problems. I rarely enjoy these types of characters and had I known about this part of the book, I probably would not have requested it for review.

She and her husband do move into the blurb-promised murder house, but their relationship is more than just on the rocks and the confused and messy storytelling that is present in a lot of the book is also very noticeable in their dynamic. The story of the house itself also felt very lacking to me. I expected it to be much more important.

While the writing is fun, if a little clunky and the story is twisty and creepy at times, I just didn't care. I just wanted to be done with it. I could see this working for readers who aren't bothered by the protagonist and her behaviour and who are looking for some twisty thrillery fun!