Very good plot, keeps you interested. I liked the mannerism the book has been written in. Approachable language and style. Well defined characters. Strong 5 stars.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

I really enjoyed reading this novel. The plot was interesting and the characters likeable. Imagine coming home from holiday and finding someone living in your house claiming it's theirs

Imagine coming home, but your home is not your anymore according to some stranger..... This sets the tone for a very entertaining read. Recommended.

When Kimber Hannon comes back from a weekend away she is shocked to discover her locks have been changed and someone is living inside her house. Shecallsthe police who when they turn up find that the man has a tenancy supposedly signed by her and her neighbour remembers Kimber showing him around.

This was an interesting premise and so relatable because who hasn't had the fear of something like this happening to them. Kimber was a unpleasent character and yet even so she does not deserve this.

I enjoyed this but didn't love it like i wanted to.

Many thanks to Netgallley for this ARC all views are my own.

The task of repopulating the senior library has been an exciting and daunting task aS in a boarding school our aim is to encourage all members of the community to read. Because of this, I have been searching down a wide and diverse range of books to read that will entice a wide cross-section of the school to come in, browse and find books that they love.
Books like this will ensure that the senior students in the school see the library as a diverse, modern and exciting place with books that speak to them and they want to recommend to their friends, classmates, teachers and tutors.
It is an engrossing and exciting read with fully-formed characters and a plot that ensures that it's hard to look away. It is as far from formulaic as it is possible to be and kept me up far too late in order to finish it. I immediately wanted to read all of this writer's other books as I loved their voice and found that it really drew me into the story and made me think about it even when I'd stepped away from this tale.
This is a thought-provoking read which I'm sure will be a popular and well-read addition to our new library; I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to read it and I know that the students are going to absolutely love it too!

thank you for the opportunity to read this book and I really enjoyed it, it was all what i wanted and more and really got me hooked. so i fully recommended

Sadly, I found this to be a disappointing read the premise is brilliant but the story failed to deliver for me. It is predictable to a point, the end is fairly unbelievable and the main character I found impossible to root for.

I love a good thriller but this one just isn't my cup of tea.

Thanks to Hodder and Stoughton & Netgalley for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

⭐⭐

Liked the book but really hated Kimber and to be honest kinda didn’t care what happened to her nor could I root for her in all of this! Which did take the shine off it (we all want to be rooting for the victim after all). Plus it was slow in places, I did finish it and it was okay but not a favourite I’m afraid....sorry! 😔

I really wanted to love this book as the premise drew me in and got me excited about reading a different type of thriller than my usual but, unfortunately, I really struggled and can only describe it as a "meh" read that I probably won't remember in a few days time which is regrettable.

The beginning of the book starts off promising but quickly becomes tedious and slow to get anywhere; there were twists however it took so long to get there that their impact was diluted.

Kimber is an extremely unpleasant, selfish and downright despicable character and I was unable to find anything redeeming about her at all which meant I couldn't care less what happened to her!

There are plenty of 4 and 5 star reviews for this book so clearly it hits the mark for a lot of people so please don't take my word for it and give it a go.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton/Mulholland Books via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.

Kimber gets home from a weekend away to find a man she’s never met living in her house. He has a signed tenancy agreement and claims that Kimber also signed it, giving him permission to live in her house. She is adamant that she doesn’t know him, she’s never met him but nobody seems to believe her. She calls her ex boyfriend Gabriel, who is a lawyer to come and help her sort the situation out but it looks like even he doesn’t believe her. Kimber starts trying to unravel the mess herself but in doing so she uncovers far more than she ever imagined and puts everyone she loves in danger.

This thriller is an easy read and dallies along nicely but I will say that I disliked the main character so much that I genuinely didn’t care what happened to her. I found her to be selfish, spiteful and not a very nice person and I felt that she deserved a little of what happened to her because to some degree, she contributed to the whole horrible situation.

Many thanks to Hodder & Staughton and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

My first Laura Benedict book so I was excited to read The Stranger Inside as the tag line grabbed me from the start " What if you came home to find a stranger living inside your house?"

Exciting premise that's a great start, A good well rounded story that drives the plot forward we have that, Well written a book that's sets the mood is also here, well rounded likable characters Err oh dear and this is where the book falls apart for me.
Kimber the lead protagonist is such a vile cow and unlikable that I felt absolutely no connection or sympathy for her that I couldn't summon the energy to root for her in situation she finds herself in and that is a major flaw with the book and unfortunately all the said good work that had gone before just fell away which is a real shame.

The book starts so strong that I couldn't put it down but as Kimbers back story starts to unfold I found myself not caring and wanted to stop reading which is as far as I'm concerned not the purpose of reading.

This could have been so much more a real shame.
Not worth your time or hard earned cash pick up at jumble sale if you must.

I like to Thank Netgalley the publisher for an early review

This was an excellent book.

It was full of twists and turns.

It kept me engrossed and between breaks i could not wait to go back to reading it.

I did not see some of the twists and turns and I was very satisfied with this book.

I look forward to reading more by the same author.

Well up to about half-way through this book I was really enjoying it. At that sort of point though you realise that actually you're not really rooting for the main character - Kimber - any more. She's not that likeable and her past is catching up with her big time.
Up until half way I was enjoying the unravelling of the plot but it, for me, just all came a bit too unbelievable with too many steps that Kimber makes that you just wouldn't do in the same situation or anyone would reasonably do.
Her whole life turns upside down with her work, family and friends all thrown into the upheaval. It was attempted, I think, to throw the reader into a state of despair for her but as you half think she'skinda getting what she deserves (for reasons I can't uncover) you're left - unfortunately - not really being bothered and the shocks being uncovered get revealed without much empathy being felt.
3 stars from me.
Thank you for the preview copy nonetheless.

There are two points of view told here. Kimber in the present and Michelle in the 90's.

The blurb really grabbed me and I settled into what I hoped to be a gripping thriller. Unfortunately, it wasn't. It didn't grip me and I had to slog through the rest of it in the hopes that it gets better. It didn't. A complete waste of time.

The Stranger Inside is a compelling, twisting psychological thriller.. A woman finds her life turned upside down when a stranger takes over her house. A slightly amoral protagonist and a neat twist at the end made this a very good read.

I loved the premise and the cover for The Stanger Inside, but found myself struggling with the characters and just couldn’t get into the story. It’s a not for me, but others will love it.

It was the ending that really elevated this book for me. Up until this point, the premise and story were very similar to other books I've read (person finds that a mysterious stranger is messing with her life, taking away her home, getting her fired, etc.). However, while we know the who for most of the book, the why is far more interesting - and comes with a few surprising twists of its own.

Even though it seemed familiar for a lot of the book, there was something about it that made me want to keep reading and I ended up finishing it in an afternoon feeling very happy that I had stuck with it. It's a fun thriller with enough innovation to make it fresh and appealing to fans of the genre.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

(It should be a 4* because it's not the most original of ideas, but it gets the fifth star because it was just so enjoyable to read.)

A well-written mystery with a difficult-to-like protagonist

Kimber Hannon comes home from a weekend away to find a stranger living inside her house. Naturally, she calls the police, only to discover that the man, Lance Wilson, has paperwork to prove he is living their legally and she is stunned to find herself refused re-entry. To make things worse, when Kimber confronts him, Lance gets close enough to reveal that he saw the terrible thing Kimber did years ago and that he knows her deepest darkest secret. Unsure of whom she can trust, Kimber must find out who the imposter in her house is and how much he knows about her past. As she delves into the mystery, the people around her start to get hurt, and she realises that the stranger in her home may be more dangerous than she ever suspected.

This was an interesting and fast-moving mystery story that started off strong with its excellent opening. The idea of a stranger living in your house, sleeping in your bed and touching and using all your possessions is a universally unnerving one, and Kimber's helplessness when she is denied entry into her own home really catches the reader's attention and gets you wondering what you would do in that awful situation. While the gripping nature of the opening did falter a bit towards the end of the first half, the story quickly picks up pace again in the second act, and the twists and shocks keep coming. Eventually, it builds up to an exciting and unexpected climax that felt satisfying and tied together most of the loose ends of the story nicely.

Unfortunately, I found Kimber a very selfish and unsympathetic character, and this really impacted my enjoyment of the story. While the author tries to present her as a flawed but ultimately good young woman, she came across as a vindictive person who uses those around her to her own advantage, and the justifications for her behaviour from her past (such as her absent father) felt quite weak. Additionally, there were some aspects of the plot that felt a little far-fetched to me, and several characters that Kimber interacts with seemed to completely change their personalities in the second half of the book, with no explanation other than seemingly to advance the storyline.

In conclusion, this was an enjoyable book and definitely worth a read for fans of psychological thrillers or mystery stories. The main character is not sympathetic, but the plot is engaging, and the author is clearly a talented writer.

Daenerys

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of this book to review.