The Stranger Upstairs: A Novel
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Description
“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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This might be nitpicky of me but I cant stand when authors make characters in their books any type of influencer. It always reads as out of touch and ‘how do you do fellow kids’. Everytime she talked about her website or god forbid her blog (??? in the 2020s are you crazy) it took me out of the plot so badly. Maybe I’m too chronically online but these type of characters never work for me. The internet is just too fast changing especially when social media and online culture is concerned, it always comes off as dated. That wasn’t the only issue I had with the main character Sarah either but at least her dislikability seemed to have been mostly intentional. What bothered me the most about this was the fact that the initial murder that made blackwood house a ‘murder house’ couldnt be less important to the plot, to the point that i’d straight up forget about it until a character would offhandedly mention it. While the buildup of suspense worked decently well the ending was even more of a let down for it. I just wanted it to be over with towards the end. Not for me to say the least.
Description
“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.
Book Information
Posts
This might be nitpicky of me but I cant stand when authors make characters in their books any type of influencer. It always reads as out of touch and ‘how do you do fellow kids’. Everytime she talked about her website or god forbid her blog (??? in the 2020s are you crazy) it took me out of the plot so badly. Maybe I’m too chronically online but these type of characters never work for me. The internet is just too fast changing especially when social media and online culture is concerned, it always comes off as dated. That wasn’t the only issue I had with the main character Sarah either but at least her dislikability seemed to have been mostly intentional. What bothered me the most about this was the fact that the initial murder that made blackwood house a ‘murder house’ couldnt be less important to the plot, to the point that i’d straight up forget about it until a character would offhandedly mention it. While the buildup of suspense worked decently well the ending was even more of a let down for it. I just wanted it to be over with towards the end. Not for me to say the least.