So on none other than it’s UK publication date welcome to my review of:
The Stranger Upstairs.
The summary that hooked me...
What if your husband is not who everyone thinks he is?
Several years ago, your husband, and the father of your young son, disappeared. Since then, you’ve dreamed of his return; railed against him for leaving you alone; grieved for your marriage; and, finally, vowed to move on.
One morning, the phone rings. When you answer, a voice at the other end tells you your husband’s on a plane bound for home, and that you’ll see him tomorrow.
You’ve imagined this reunion countless times. Of course you have. But nothing has prepared you for the reality. For you realize you don’t know this man.
Because he isn’t your husband, he’s a complete stranger – and he’s coming home with you.
Even worse, he seems to know about something very bad you once did, something no one else could possibly know about . . . Could they?
My Thoughts...
I feel like when reviewing I always wait right till the end before fully crafting my review and then miss so much of the bits I loved about the book I read. So for this review I'm going to discuss some of my favourite parts of the book that I noticed while reading.
1) Melanie's description is so well crafted. I stopped myself reading at so many points to appreciate the careful selection of words used. One of my favourites is the opening to a chapter early on in the book.
'That roller-coaster feeling you get in your stomach when you've done something you can't undo-deliberately smashed up a priceless family heirloom, finally spoken a terrible truth, broken with the past - that feeling is still with me when I get home'
2) Intrigue. Wow. There wasn’t a single page I read that didn’t make me desperate to turn to the next. The book balanced truth, lies and deception so well and I was so eager to uncover more information with every page I turnt.
3) Perspective. I’m always quite picky about perspective. Personally I find that there are some perspectives that I struggle to read and that takes away from my reading experience. This certainly was not the case with The Stranger Upstairs. I loved the range of voices throughout and the consistency in the voices which were clear and distinct.
Overall I loved reading this book and would highly recommend it but don’t just take my word for it. Check in to all the other lovely stops on the blog tour and see what they think. Info below.
3) Perspective. I’m always quite picky about perspective. Personally I find that there are some perspectives that I struggle to read and that takes away from my reading experience. This certainly was not the case with The Stranger Upstairs. I loved the range of voices throughout and the consistency in the voices which were clear and distinct.
Overall I loved reading this book and would highly recommend it but don’t just take my word for it. Check in to all the other lovely stops on the blog tour and see what they think. Info below.
If you're anything like me, you'll like a little bit of a background to the author. So...A little bit about Melanie
Melanie Raabe grew up in Thuringia, Germany. After graduating from university, she moved to Cologne where she worked as a journalist by day while secretly writing books at night. The Trap, her debut novel, was a bestseller in Germany and sold all around the world. The Stranger Upstairs was also a bestseller in Germany, where it was published as The Truth.
*I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for a review. All views are my own based on my own reading experience. If, on the rare occasion, I read a book that I thoroughly dislike and can't find anything positive to say about it I simply won't review it.
