While this book started out as slow burn, once I got into it I couldn't put in down.
A tale of two female neighbors who don't know each but yet make assumptions about each other until the unthinkable happens.
Gripping psychological thriller that has twists and turns you won't see coming.
Awesome debut from this Author whom I sure will look forward to more of her works.
Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins UK One More Chapter and the Author, Georgina Lees for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting psychological mystery which explores the ambivalent nature of our relationships with neighbours who we tolerate, criticise, judge and yet miss and worry about when they suddenly stop intruding in the fringes of our lives. This book will resonate with anybody who has been disturbed by noisy neighbours and shared communal areas with the flat above/below/next door. Dark, sinister and very enjoyable.

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an early copy to review.

Thanks to NetGalley, Georgina Lees and Harper Collins UK for the ARC of The Girl Upstairs.

How well do you know your neighbours? Susie feels she knows Emily pretty well. She knows whether she is having a good or bad day, she knows when she has visitors, when she's crying in the toilet, or even what she's making for dinner. She hears everything through the floorboards - far more than she would like!

When Emily goes missing, the landlord, her family and the police don't appear to be taking it seriously. After all, Emily is a grown woman, and has gone off the radar before. Susie is convinced however that there is more to this, and sets about finding the truth for herself. After all, she has lost someone before, and she refuses to let her complaint about the noise be the last conversation they ever had.

This is quite a slow burn read and at times I found myself wanting to race ahead. Whilst the book came to a pleasant conclusion, I found that this book was a little slow for me and didn't grip me like it should. It's also a little different to what I expected from the blurb- was hoping for a little darker! The reveal didn't really shock me and left me a little bit meh.

That said, I appear to be in the minority here, so maybe just not for me!

Thank you to NetGalley, Georgina Lees and Harper Collins for my arc of The Girl Upstairs in exchange for an honest review.

Out now!

When Emily moves into the flat upstairs from Suzie it feels like she causes her nothing but problems. She’s noisy, untidy, and comes in and out at all hours, to the point that Suzie feels she has no choice but to complain. But when the noise eventually stops, Suzie starts to suspect something is wrong, that something might have happened to Emily. With her own trauma fresh in her mind, Suzie is determined to help Emily and get to the bottom of what has made her silent.

This was an excellent, gripping thriller that had me hooked from the beginning. Persuasive, intriguing writing, a slightly unreliable narrator and thick with mystery I devoured it in one sitting. Finishing just after 1am. I hate to give book comparisons but I’d say this is in the style of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, etc. And possibly even more gripping. A definite recommendation for any thriller lovers.

Thank you for providing me with a review copy of this book. Enjoyed reading, I guessed the culprit before the end but still decent, would recommend....

The Girl Upstairs by Georgina Lees was a hard book to get into. Sadly I could not get
into it and I found it confusing in places and a big let down. Sorry.

Big Thank you to One More Chapter for the arc provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I think the moral going into this book, is that not everything is as it seems. I guess that is true with many thrillers and often in life. I wouldn't describe this book as a page turning suspenseful thriller, but it is a thriller. We hear mainly from Susie's point of view, that she hears everything her upstairs neighbour does. Susie is a bit down in the dumps and can't help but get annoyed with every little and loud noise that the girl upstairs makes. Susie knows when the girl upstairs is in the shower, cooking, having guests. Its not creepy, there are just very thin walls and Susie is in her house and quiet a lot.

When the girl upstairs goes missing, Susie can't help herself but to get involved. She feels like she must know something and be able to help find Emily. From all she has heard from Emily, Susie feels she knows her well enough to help, despite only having met her a few times.

Things and people are not as they seem. I started off feeling that Susie was being a bit harsh, but as the book continued I started to feel for her. I think the moto of 'being kind to everyone because you never know what someone is going through' is quite apt for this book. I found it got more interesting when we heard Emily's point of view aswell. Both women have plenty going on with them that we don't see on the surface.

It is a slow burner and very character led. I wouldn't describe it as a twisty thriller, but it did keep me gripped and I wanted to know what happened to Emily, and what Susie would do next. The end was good and I closed my kindle with satisfaction. I hadn't heard of Georgina Lees before, but I will be looking out for more of her books.

Women living in the downstairs flat of a property in the Angel Islington is feeling lonely following the death of her husband. Emily is renting the flat upstairs and isn’t helping by crashing around making too much noise. Then Emily has a birthday party and promptly disappears. Told from the perspective of the downstairs and then the upstairs neighbours we gradually begin to learn what has occurred. Good sense of the vibrancy and loneliness of London.

This is my kind of book. Neighbours bring nosey about each other in close apartments. One neighbour has had something happen to her and any noise from the upstairs neighbour disturbs her. When she can no longer hear her neighbour the story takes a turn……

But I admit I lost interest part way through. Why? I think the pace was too slow for me.

A slow-burn psychological suspense, not quite menacing enough to be deemed a thriller. The underdeveloped characters fail to grab the readers attention or evoke the emotional investment needed for this genre. The storyline had potential but overall it was lackluster. 2 stars

Suzy lives alone in her ground floor flat in London. She is very unhappy and lonely but resists visits from her family and will not go back to visit them. As the mystery unfolds we find out why she is on her own and her character is developed well. Suzy has a neighbour upstairs, Emily, who is leasing her flat. She is inconsiderate, noisy and Suzy can hear her as she moves from room to room. Then suddenly Suzy can't hear anything upstairs anymore - there is total silence. She goes upstairs to investigate and finds the door open. Suzy has a bad feeling that all is not well and regrets complaining about her. As the book progresses we learn what brought Emily to London and the plot thickens.
Quite a compulsive and believable read with two interesting main contrasting characters and yet Suzy builds an empathy for her neighbour.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Georgina Lees/HarperCollins UK One More Chapter for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Girl Upstairs was a book i was a little u decided on at the beginning but I liked the slow build in this one and did enjoy it on the whole.
Suzie Arlington lives in a flat, she has the ground floor one and hears everything her above neighbour, Emily, does. Suzie has had to report Emily to the council for her loud music which doesn’t go down well and Emily does confront Suzie about this and afterwards the flat is very quiet but almost too quiet, Suzie goes up and finds Emily’s flat not locked and she’s not there. Suzie decides to ring the police and here the story picks up a bit of pace as Suzie takes matters into her own hands to try and find out where Emily is.
This was a good read the book has later on in the book alternating chapters from both the girls. Through these chapters you find out a lot about them. If your looking for a fast paced read this isn’t for you but for once I quite enjoyed the slow build up.
I would like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins UK One More Chapter for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Suzie’s life fell apart after she lost her husband, Ben. Unable to bear the idea of leaving their London home despite her unhappiness there, she doesn’t take care of herself or the home, avoids her family and regularly rings in sick to work. When young, vibrant Emily moves into the flat upstairs, Suzie becomes obsessed with her, monitoring her activities and complaining about the noise she makes. But then Emily goes missing, and the only person who seems to care about what happened is Suzie, who determines to investigate herself. This is a competently written psychological drama, but the problem is that the market is flooded with them at the moment, and this one is just too similar to several others. The police approach seems unlikely, the characters are not very interesting and the later addition of chapters telling Emily’s backstory is a bit clunky and seems bolted on. An OK read but ultimately forgettable.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was initially unsure on this book, the way Suzie listens to her neighbour and complains about her every move while following her around the flat was a little strange. Also her compulsion to find out what happened when she went missing was a little odd and I couldn't initially understand why she was so invested but it does become clearer as you read. I quickly found myself drawn into the story and willing Suzie to find out the truth. An easy read so I would recommend.

2 STARS.

To be honest, this book was not what I thought it was going to be, I feel somewhat misled by the initial blurb of this book.

Pretty much the entire story is told from Suzie's POV, which I found really difficult to enjoy. I felt that Suzie just wasn't the right character to be leading the story, she was very 2D, had few redeeming qualities and the way she basically interjected herself into the investigation later in the book was just downright irritating.

There were a few chapters told from Emily's POV, and while I did enjoy these more there still felt like there was something missing.

I did feel that the writing was better, and I did enjoy the way the author had written throughout the story, I found it very easy to read. Plus, despite my lack of enjoyment from the characters I did enjoy the actual idea of the book.

That being said, I felt that the reveal at the end just came out of nowhere and didn't make a lot of sense. It was more as though the author was trying to make this big reveal that would be AMAZING, but in fact it was just a bit naff.

Overall, I did enjoy this book, or at least individual aspects of it. But all together it just didn't work and when the focus is on the characters for the majority of the story, it would have taken much better characters to get me to rate this book any higher.

Suzie lives in a flat in London with only one other flat upstairs, which is occupied by Emily. There is a lot of unwanted noise from upstairs and Suzie is getting very fed up of it all, and the way Emily treats the communal hall. So when upstairs suddenly goes quiet you'd think Suzie would be pleased, and to begin with she is. Until she gets the feeling that is all is not as it should be, and maybe Emily is missing.

Suzie takes it upon herself to begin her own investigation of where Emily might have gone. Emily has form for disappearing and so no one is that worried about her except Suzie. This seemed a little strange to me at first, but slowly we begin to get a sense of why Suzie wants to find Emily. I felt that this part of the book was a little protracted, it built suspense, but a little too slowly for me.

We begin to find out more of Emily and Suzie's back stories and the suspense has definitely built by now. I didn't warm to the character of Suzie, she felt too lost and wrapped up in herself that I began to wonder if any of what was happening was real. Emily wasn't too likeable either, until we are shown her earlier life. Things fell into place about her and in a few paragraphs I had a whole other view of her.

Eventually the book gets rather creepy. I began to suspect everyone Suzie came into contact with of knowing what had happened to Emily. I began to race towards the end of the book not wanting to put it down and was rewarded with a really good twist.

This book has an intriguing premise. The main character, Suzie, can hear everything her upstairs neighbour Emily does - and Emily doesn't much care. Suzie is alone and not in the best headspace, mentally. So she finds the noise upstairs unbearable. Until it suddenly stops. Emily is gone. Her flat is empty. And nobody cares.

Who's going to find Emily first? The police, or Suzie?

It falters a bit because it's a bit of a slow burn. Suzie is not in a great place, as mentioned, and this brings the reader down a bit too. Although she wants to investigate what's happened to Emily, this really takes her outside her comfort zone. It doesn't always play out as you'd expect, but neither do the pages turn as quickly as you may expect.

In the end, this is a slow-burn psychological drama much more than a suspense thriller - which is totally fine, except I expected more of the latter from the cover, which may well say more about me than the book.

It was an interesting read, but it may not be for everyone.

I had real trouble putting this book down and in the end I read it in two sittings.

Told from the differing points of view of Suzie and, as the story unfolds, Emily, this is one that will have you guessing all the way through.

I changed my times constantly on who could and could not be trusted in this story.

Suzie Arlington was a complex character - a little misunderstood by the reader to start with perhaps.

In among a creepy little psychological thriller rests a glimpse into grief, family relationships and even a little love story. It's the perfect read for this time of year - settle yourself with a huge mug of coffee, a comfy chair and ignore the world outside for a few hours as you get to know The Girl Upstairs.

Suzie lives downstairs and Emily upstairs. Both girls are of a similar age. Life in the big city should be fun but both girls have their problems. This story will keep you intrigued and curious right to the last paragraph.

Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. An interesting premise for a thriller, a recently widowed lady living in a flat where she can hear everything that goes on in your neighbours flat. Then one day you hear what sounds like an argument and she then goes missing. You are determined to help the police to find what has happened to her. Whilst it was a good read in that it held my interest, it wasn't exactly a page turner/ edge of my seat kind of read. From the synopsis I felt it could have been so much more suspenseful than it was.⭐⭐ #georginalees #thegirlupstairs #tea_sipping_bookworm #goodreads #litsy #thestorygraph #netgalley #amazonkindle #bookqueen #bookstagram