Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin

54 reviews

mrsmishler's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Mental illness

Moderate: Violence and Murder

raequigley's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Suicide and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty and Mental illness

zookeeper2023's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I hated the narrator from the beginning- she's wildly unlikeable and unreliable.  The plot was fine, quick pace and makes you want to know what's next.  I started and finished this in a day.  Honestly, the ending blew this for me- it was random, made absolutely NO sense, and was very rushed (like, last 5-10 pages).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Suicide

belava's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide and Vomit

Minor: Infidelity

courtneyreadsitall's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.0

this was a quick read but the ending felt like a cop out 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide, and Alcohol

iridescentdreams's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Suicide

chloecam's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

listened to the audio book on 2.6x speed, unfortunately not for me. appreciate the author's mental health struggles and glad she wrote a book. other than that the plot seemed to go in circles and was very repetitive, I found it very frustrating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Mental illness, Murder, and Alcohol

booklvrkat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Sarah, is not who the world thinks she is. She’s in the middle of a failing marriage (this takes a huge backseat for most of the story), her work life is a disaster, and she doesn’t have any friends to speak of. What she does have is a murder house that she’s spent her life savings on in the hopes of selling it at a big profit. Black Wood House has its own reputation, and the rich neighbors aren’t happy she’s moved in. 
 
 Layer upon layer is revealed in this horror-slash-psychological thriller. Sarah makes a remarkable number of bad decisions that will make you wonder if she is truly unstable. Unreliable narrators have become the *chefs kiss* of storytelling and this tale by debut author, Lisa M. Matlin, excelled at this technique. There are disturbing moments, a cat named Reaper (foreshadowing?), and some uninvited visitors to which we aren’t introduced. Leaning more to the horror side, this story at once pushed me away and then gripped me so hard I didn’t want to stop. If you like to guess story endings this one is going to surprise you, and I’m interested to hear what you think. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, and Gaslighting

thesubtleartofreadingalot's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Mental illness, Suicide, Murder, and Alcohol

ashleyj_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking

The writing is absolutely brilliant. Not once did I correctly suspect the final outcome of this story. A slow burn, but fast-paced read. I'm looking forward to reading more from Matlin!