Welcome to Litsy!

My BOTM pick and add-on. I hope I'll have time to read them this month.👻☺️🎃

#Scarathlon @FlynnDewey #TeamWhoYouGonnaCall

Friday night soccer training ⚽️ + a spooky book. 🫣

Just 29 pages in and already two separate references to something “smelling like despair.” 🙄 Huge pet peeve. Come on, editors. Better yet, come on, authors.

#BOTM

Admittedly, this was barely a pick. But the ending was so nuts that it really made the book. Sarah, her husband and cat, move into the murder house in a rather exclusive neighborhood, and of course, it all goes to hell.
Sarah is extremely unlikable, I mean, I hated her, and her husband was kind of a schmuck but I did love her cat, Reaper.
#BOTM

Eurgh, was this boring! It deserves so badly to be a less rushed, longer book, and for the author to just give into herself and let it be the supernatural romp she ever so clearly dreamt of writing.

The author said she wants dog pictures, so I posed with Liesel for my Instagram book review ?

In "The Stranger Upstairs," the very unlikable main character buys a cheap house in an upscale neighborhood with intentions to flip it.

The house is cheap because a murder happened there.

The neighbors want it bulldozed.

And there's more to the main character than meets the eye.

A well-paced read with fun twists and a little revenge! Gives haunted house energy that‘s perfect for spooky season.

Thus ends my reading slump. This one kept me guessing haunted house or deaths by more human causes until the very end. The novel highlights the dark secrets we can keep even from ourselves. It doesn‘t veer away from the darkness of the MC, and sometimes that is very cringe-worthy.
#SummerEndReadathon @TheSpineView

This book was pretty good. It was a little slow going at first, however, I enjoyed learning about the MC and trying to figure out her deal. The second half of the book was when things really started going if the rails 😂 and had me laughing the insanity of it in some parts. It kept me turning pages and engaged even though the end seemed just weird, i just sat back like what??? 😳🤯 It was a 🍿 moment. ⭐⭐⭐✨

Hmmm, I‘m on the fence on this one. I like to either root for or against my main character which can make unreliable narrator stories a hit-or-miss for me. I didn‘t have thoughts for Sarah until I finished the book which was too late for me. There were parts of this that were kind of creepy though -getting into the skin of the person you most admire.

Now Available! 🥳🎉📚
The Stranger Upstairs- Lisa M. Matlin

Book Review- https://www.boleybooks.com//the-stranger-upstairs/

#boleybooks #thestrangerupstairs #lisammatlin #bookbeast #bookbuds #pubday

Book 2 down. This is my most recent #BOTM pick and I read it in a morning. Small timeline jumps help the story flow, and like any good suspense/thriller, I put off all other chores till I'd finished, just to see how it ended. 😅

@TheSpineView
#SunmerEndReadathon

DEBUT BOOK

HORROR - MYSTERY - GOTHIC

Who would buy a house where there was a brutal murder?

Well… Sarah Slater did.

THE STRANGER UPSTAIRS is a book mystery fans and those readers who like creepy, haunted houses and characters with secrets won‘t want to miss. 4/5

FULL REVIEW: https://tinyurl.com/2hjsczhf

@lisa_m_matlin

Does every neighborhood have a “Murder House”? Sarah pushes her husband into buying the Beacon Murder House- assuring him that they can renovate and make a tidy profit. But Sarah quickly seems to be something more than a social media influencer and therapist… she has a lot of secrets- maybe as many as the house itself holds! A creepy and entertaining pageturner, & sure to start discussions amongst readers! Sarah makes for an interesting character!

#TheStrangerUpstairs #LisaMMatlin #BookSpinBingo #SeriesLove2023

With every passing moment, Sarah‘s life spirals further out of control and with it, her sense of reality. Though she desperately clings to the lies she‘s crafted to conceal her own secrets, Sarah Slade, as the new owner of the infamous Black Wood House, the scene of a grisly murder-suicide, she‘s determined that the fixer-upper will help reach a new audience on her successful

This had all the basic elements of a good haunted house story. But I really didn‘t like being in her mind, and I figured out the twist.

Very excited for my #BOTM book-haul!

September #botm pick! I‘m getting my spooky fall books ready!

This month's #BOTM choice. No add ons because I'm so behind in these books already, but this thrill sounded intriguing.

Anyone interested in being a reading buddy? 👇👇

https://www.mybotm.com/phuw7esbgwl5l8fr?show_box=true

My #botm pick for September!!

September #BOTM picks are live! I went with a thriller heavy selection... anxiously waiting for crisp fall weather and cozy reading days 🍁

Tackle the TBR 🤓📚
What are you reading?
#boleybooks #thestrangerupstairs #lisamatlin #bookbeast #netgalley #bookbuds #bookchat 😊

Expected publication date: September 12, 2023 • 4 Stars

…a mesmerizing and often terrifying Gothic thriller about Sarah Slade, therapist, author, and part-time social media blogger as well as the proud new owner of the infamous Black Wood House. The house was an incredible bargain since no one has expressed an interest in it after a grizzly murder/suicide took place there 40 years ago…

FULL REVIEW WILL BE ON SEPTEMBER 12.

Who would buy a house where there was a brutal murder?

Well… Sarah Slater did.

No one wanted it mainly because of the murder, but sounds from upstairs, bizarre accidents, intimidating notes and more make Sarah wonder what‘s going on.

A book mystery fans and those readers who like creepy, haunted houses and characters with secrets won‘t want to miss. 4/5

@lisa_m_matlin
@penguinrandomhouse

Sarah buys an infamous house where a murder-suicide happened 40yrs ago. As mysterious things begin to happen, I felt myself lose the grip on reality in time with Sarah‘s spiral. She‘s the perfect unreliable narrator, w/ a secret past & hidden issues that slowly come out. I never knew what was real & what I could trust. There are so many twists & a whole lot of psychological manipulation in this book; I was guessing until the end what would happen!

Run to your nearest bookstore and buy this book. I kept thinking about this book when I wasn't reading it and couldn't wait to pick it back up to find out what happens to Sarah Slade and The Murder House; and let me tell you I didn't see any of it coming. I can't believe this is a debut, I'll be looking out for more from this author. 5⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for proving me an ARC in return for my honest feedback.

This is a great twisty novel about therapist Sarah and husband Joe who buy The Murder House where a woman was killed by her husband in the middle of the night. Things get crazy early on and continue to get worse as the book progresses! I may need a mental health checkup after this!🤪
#NetGalley