Book Club July Review: Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

After attending Lisa Jewell's book launch event hosted by Waterstones, I was so excited to read this book. Especially as CY talked so highly of Lisa Jewell's other books, in particular The Family Upstairs.

Don't Let Him In follows a series of women, most notably Ash, Nina and Martha, who unwittingly become entangled in the unravelling of a dark and twisted tale. It also follows the handsome and charming Nick, who enters Nina and Ash's lives suddenly and seems to be the perfect man. Whilst Nina is enthralled by him, Ash is not convinced and begins digging into his past.

Our Rating

⭑⭑⭑⭒⭒

For once we both agreed on our rating for this book, jointly rating it as a 3/5. Kay had slightly more praise to give the book, having not read any Lisa Jewell books before. But CY thought this was not in the same league as several of the author's other works, considering that it lacked the usually clever plot twist and distinct voice that make Lisa Jewell's books outstanding.

***Spoiler Alert*** - The next section will most likely ruin some of the surprises in the book if you haven't already read it, so read on with caution!

Our Comments

• The Plot: The premise was interesting, although CY is not the biggest fan of Tinder Swindler type stories. For the most part the plot was quite predictable, with many of the major twists being easily pre-empted by both of us. The mystery about Ash's past was interesting and kept us both intrigued as to what had happened there, although the big reveal was somewhat anticlimactic. It also felt like there were a few plot holes where events that happened seemed to be too convenient and did not really make sense (unfortunately, as much as I loved Jane, her introduction to Ash was one of these moments).

• The Ending (***HUGE SPOILER***): Our views on the ending differed slightly, as although CY does really enjoy a twist she was ultimately glad that the book ended the way it did because Nick got what was coming to him. I, however, found the ending to be quite the disappointment as I didn't feel we were given enough of an explanation as to why Amanda would turn on Nick after everything she had done for him previously. One thing we were both wholeheartedly in agreement about was how ridiculous the climax of the story was! The part of the book that should have had us on the edge of our seats, actually had us both bursting out laughing (literally not one of those people could restrain or catch him?!?! Like did he swim all the way to Spain???)

• The Structure: One thing that was done very well was the parallel timelines that provided us with different pieces of the puzzle in alternating chapters before eventually converging. This kept me curious throughout the book as to how it would unfold and my curiosity was rewarded when all of the pieces clicked into place.

• The Characters: Throughout the book we're introduced to many different characters and we see the story through multiple perspectives. The various women we are introduced to are all very different in terms of their characters and they seemed to be quite developed in how they are described. However, this didn't necessarily come across in the narration, with CY finding their narrative voices far too similar which made them indistinct and lacking substance. However, Nick's voice was very unique, albeit incredibly frustrating, manipulative and gaslighting. Lisa Jewell portrayed his narcissistic thinking well, although it was a little overdone at times which made it feel a bit cliché.

Would We Recommend It:

CY - Only if what you're looking for is a book where the villain gets what is coming to him.

Kay - It was a quick and interesting read, so I'd recommend it for those reasons, but in general it didn't stand out to me.

Have you read this book? Do you agree with our thoughts? And most importantly we want to hear your take on the ending! Did it also have you rolling off of your seat in laughter, or were you gripping the edges until the very last page?