It is rare that a book has the emotional impact on me that this one has. At first, it seems that it is just another run-of-the-mill unexplained disappearance story but it is much more than that. It is a tale of love, loss and grief and how grief can affect someone deeply. The main character is Suzie who is dealing with her own grief when the tenant of the flat above goes missing. Feeling that the police are not taking it seriously she goes to extraordinary lengths to try and find her. This is a book written with great perception and understanding and although based in a London world of which I have no experience it still felt real.
Having said it is a tale about grief it is also a tale about hope and the endurance of family love.
I enjoyed this book and can recommend it without reservation.

As an ex "upstairs neighbour" I just had to read this book. I LOVED it! Thoroughly gripping and a must thriller read to round off 2021.

Thank you Netgalley!!

I would describe this a slow-burn thriller. It tackles topics such as depression and the devastating impact it can have on various areas peoples life. While I wasn't gripped by this story in quite the way that I had hoped, it is a strong, solid read,

The Girl Upstairs is a compelling page turner dealing with the disappearance of Emily and told primarily by her downstairs neighbour who notices and reports when she goes missing. This is a very easy read that I finished in 24 hours and is perfect for anyone craving a compelling whodunnit.

"I heard Emily before I saw her. ... I knew Emily before I met her. ... Now she's gone missing, and I'm the only one who can find her. The only one who can save her. Because I know her best, and I heard everything."

Suzie lives alone in London, basically isolated from everyone and everything in her life. She has been struggling with life ever since her husband died, her grief is still too overwhelming. Above her lives Emily, a young vibrant woman who is very loud. Suzie hears everything that goes on in the flat upstairs and feels like she knows everything about Emily. One day, Emily disappears and for some reason her family and the police don't seem too concerned about it. But Suzie is convinced something is terribly wrong and starts to investigate on her own, only to soon realise she might be putting herself in danger in the process.

This book had a great premise and I was excited to solve the mystery, alongside Suzie. Somehow, though, while I was reading, I wasn't that invested. I think I expected it to be a little more fast-paced, when it's more of a slow tension building kind of thing. But then the ending (aka the big reveal) did feel a bit rushed to me... I have to admit I didn't see it coming up until it was about to happen, but that was mostly because I was so close to the end I figured something HAD to happen now. I also still don't know how I feel about the motivations some of the characters had, so that was a bit disappointing.

The police investigation felt a bit unrealistic and unprofessional to me at times, so that definitely bothered me. I don't think (or I hope) that in real life certain things would have gone the way they did in the book. Overall, for me the book lacked depth and speed and I didn't really connect with any of the characters. It was an enjoyable read, but it wasn't what I was expecting.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, Georgina Lees and Netgalley for providing me with me an e-ARC of this book.

“How well do you know your neighbour? Would you trust them with your life?"

Overall rating: ★★★

I really loved the description of this book but I’m afraid I really struggled to connect. The story moved too slowly and I struggled with the writing style. I usually enjoy novels written in the first person but this time it was just too slow. There are so many great reviews so I am definitely in the minority here but not for me I’m afraid. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read a review copy.

The description sounded so good but the book fell flat for me. It was a slow burn but unfortunately I found it boring and lost interest during the down parts. I completed the book and parts of it were interesting but it just wasn’t for me.

Suspense throughout….. a slow burn however not a boring one!

Suzie lives alone & is always hearing the movements of the girl upstairs until one day there is silence from above…. What happened to Emily & can Suzie help to find her?

I did struggle with Suzie at the beginning & how miserable she was… it’s only as the narrative continues that you start to understand her better,

Told from both Suzie & Emilys perspectives this book isn’t one with lots of surprising twists & turns however it does keep you guessing!

Thank you to the publisher & netgalley for the digital ARC in return for an honest review.

Well, that was a bit of a rollercoaster of a read, not quite what I expected, but really good nonetheless. The entire first half of the book is told from Suzie's perspective. Suzie is a lonely woman, living her quiet life in London, being hugely annoyed by the tenant who lives above her, Emily. I will say, Suzie came across as a little bit cuckoo to me in this first half of the book. Yet, for once this did not turn me off at all. It pulled me in and made me want to understand who this woman was and what had happened to her.

It is not until Emily disappears that this book becomes really interesting and starts to read more like a thriller than a psychological story of loneliness in the big city. This is where we also meet Emily and find out a bit more from her perspective. I thought this was really cleverly done, and it made me ponder how much we know (and don't know) about others. Even when we do happen to interact with them.

I will say I never truly warmed to either Suzie or Emily, but somehow it worked and the racing storyline and the interactions with other characters kept this interesting. While I somehow figured out the end a good bit before it finally came, it was well-written and I enjoyed seeing everything unfold.

Suzie has been so annoyed at her upstairs neighbor Emily- who is just so so loud. And then one day, she goes up to take her a misdelivered package and finds the flat door open and a big mess. Why does Suzie become so invested in finding Emily? Well, she's got a lot of issues of her own and Emily becomes a distraction of sorts in addition to a quest to be meaningful. It's mostly told from Suzie's point of view but you will hear Emily's take eventually. It's not a thriller, really, but it did keep me turning the pages. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

The girl upstairs pulls you straight into the world of Suzie. Suzie lives alone in a ground floor flat in London, she does not want to be in London but feels she cannot leave. Suzie does not like the noise from the new tenant upstairs, Emily.

The books takes us through Suzie’s story, past and present to understand why she remains in London when she is so unhappy there. And also takes us through Emily’s story. We learn what the two have in common and Suzie’s determination leads to Emily’s story being fully told.

A great thriller that keeps you guessing as well as making you think. It is a story of loneliness, grief, power and betrayal. It is also a story of love.

I enjoyed the premise of this book, but found it extremely slow to unfold. I also found the main character’s flashbacks and backstory tended to drag the story. The ending tied up the story, but felt disjointed and confusing because it didn’t seem to match most of the book. I would be interested to read more from this author. This book wasn’t for me, but many readers will enjoy it.

I read this captivating book in two sittings- it started out with Emily living a strange life on her own in a downstairs flat, with a noisy upstairs neighbour. It the becomes a chilling thriller full of tension and ending not as you would imagine.

I really enjoyed this book. I was drawn into the story from the first page, and found it difficult to put down. The story is satisfying as gradually more information comes to light, and the main characters are all very believable. I will definitely be recommending this book.

I received an E-ARC copy of ‘The Girl Upstairs’ by Georgina Lees through NetGalley when approved by the publisher One More Chapter. Thank you to the publisher for my approval. The expected publication date is 09.12.21.

This book follows Suzie, who lives on the ground floor of a two-storey house in London.

Upstairs lives a young woman called Emily. Emily moved in six months ago and since she has arrived Suzie has got to know her routine, as being in the flat below she can hear all her movements. Suzie is irritated by the sound of Emily’s high heels, the loud music and untidiness in the hallway.

Suddenly Emily goes quiet and on further inspection Suzie calls the landlord as she has an unsettling feeling. Although they hardly know each other this still leaves an impression on Suzie.

Where has Emily gone? Is she Ok?

Suzie has her own heartache she is dealing with and with Emily missing and no one else seeming worried, she takes it upon herself to try and solve the mystery herself.

What heartache is pushing Suzie? Will she find Emily?

This book is mainly narrated by Suzie but towards the middle you hear from Emily too and her past leading up to her disappearance. This helps to unravel the storyline and for things to fall into place.

I found this book a bit slow up to the last third, it still grabbed my attention as this meant it took longer to find out the secrets behind the mystery. The ending is definitely worth the wait, and I was glad I kept reading.

This is a book that changes your opinion of the characters the more you read, showing that first impressions are not always what they seem.

Overall, a slow unravelling psychological thriller which poses the question how far would you go to help a stranger?

This is my first novel by Georgina Lees and I really enjoyed this book.

I read this quite quickly for me as I found it intriguing. We meet Suzie how lives in a flat, we also hear about Emily who has the upstairs flat from Suzie's. Suzie hears literally everything that Emily gets up to, she is a typical noisy neighbour. Suzie complains to Emily about the racket she is making and the mess in the shared halls but nothing seems to work.

One day Suzie realises how quiet it is, no noise from the boisterous Emily. Suzie gets the police involved and it appears that Emily has gone AWOL. Not content with the police efforts to find Emily, Suzie goes about trying to find out where she is.

A good read. I give this book 3 and a half stars.

Thanks to Georgina Lees, NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my review.

I love nothing more than a super suspenseful read! So of course when I read the plot of The Girl Upstairs by Georgina Lees, I knew I had to read it! Check it out:

How well do you know your neighbour? Would you trust them with your life?

I heard Emily before I saw her. The harsh smack of heels against cheap wooden floorboards. The loud phone calls. The incessant music.

I knew Emily before I met her. Discarded receipts in our communal hallway. Sticky leftovers in the shared food waste bin. Wine shop vouchers in the letterbox.

Now she’s gone missing, and I’m the only one who can find her. The only one who can save her.

Because I know her best, and I heard everything.

I highly recommend this intense, well-written, wild ride of a book! A quick and fun book that’s perfect for an afternoon read.

i feel like one of the biggest issues in here was that there was just so much drama, that didn't make sense. like, i feel like that they would bring up all of these stories and that they couldn't even bring up the different things they really had all of these different things, but they still really didn't explain anything and they were just so stupid, like i feel that they were just so annoying and got to be kind of annoying.

i also think that a lot of this book just had really bad pacing. like, i think there was just so much happening, and there was nothing that really happened. and i mean, i think it was kind of bad pacing and that there was nothing that was really happening. and i think that the pacing of the novel was just bad with having nothing happen in here. and i think there was just nothing with the actual mystery for awhile.

and i also think suzie was just not a good person to tell this story, like, i feel like they never really told the story well enough and never told anyone that anything bad was happening and that they should maybe do something. like i think it was just annoying and i wished they made this book to be more spookier or have a better narrator.

A clever story which was well told with the gradual revealing of Emily and Suzie's back stories, and an understanding of loss and guilt wrapped into a mystery thriller.
My main criticism would be that in light of the present issues with male Met police officers and women, the relationship between a vulnerable woman and a male police officer made me feel quite uncomfortable.
Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins for an advance copy of this book

I really liked the concept of a "nosy" neighbor solving a disappearance. However, I found the flashbacks kind of annoying and that took away from my enjoyment of the book overall.