This was a unique play on the "something weird is going on with my neighbor" genre and I greatly enjoyed it. The story centers on Suzie, a young widow who is having trouble getting out there again and fixates on her upstairs neighbors, who come and go every 6 months. The newest one is a recent college grad named Emily,. who immediately gets on Suzie's nerves from being loud and inconsiderate. You also get alternating chapters from Emily's point of view, which is a clever way of garnering empathy for her when at first you only see her from Suzie's perspective. I’ve lived in apartments most of my life, including all of my adult life. I’m accustomed to the noise of apartment living. I’ve lived with fussy neighbors who aren’t as accepting and I’ve lived with neighbors who take the normal noise of apartment living to an undesirable extreme. The book has a sad, but immensely creepy vibe. Sad because both women seemed so lonely, yet they were immersed in a highly populated urban center. They might have been friends if they could have looked past their differences. One needed quiet, the other needed noise to stave off her loneliness. Creepy because Suzie had an aura of ‘ unreliable narrator‘ about her… For the first half of the book I was all the time wondering if she was a narrator that I could trust.

But Suzy feels in her guts something is up and her neighbor is in great danger. Even digging through her disappearance means she has to confront her own secrets she keeps, she’s stubborn enough to find Emily! But it also means crossing some lines and put a target on her head! Oh Suzy what have you done to yourself? Suzie owns the lower flat and has a neighbor upstairs, she can hear everything that Emily does, from cooking dinner to using the bathroom. Suzie can't handle the noise, but suddenly there isn't any noise after a big party that Emily had for her birthday. Suzie has had some events happen in her life that are slowly revealed as we read this novel. She then takes it upon herself to try and figure out where Emily has goneSuzie Arlington quietly lived her day-to-day life in her lonely flat. Her only entertainment was listening to Emily Williams, the girl upstairs. When Emily went missing, Suzie was determined to find out what happened to the girl who she thought she knew.

police officer falling in love with her!! come on it's literally beyond cheesy i can't stand how cliche it isSuzie, our protagonist, complains to the Council about the anti-social behavior of her upstairs neighbour Emily. A short time later Emily goes missing… Something about this book really appealed to me. I ve lived in a flat where you hear but rarely see or speak to your neighbours. I could really empathise at times. The Girl Upstairs is a spine-tingling psychological thriller of grief and obsession that explores how lonely London can be and how sometimes it’s our neighbours who see us most, who know us best… Seeing Suzie filed a complaint against her neighbor for excessive noise, wouldn’t you be relieved that she’s missing?

For a short book, this story was quite slow for me. I was intrigued by what happened to both characters, but most of the time it felt too linear especially in Suzie’s POV. I needed more ups and down to keep my attention. I liked the overall storyline, but it just needed a little more punch. Still grieving the loss of her husband, she refuses to enter her bedroom since he left. She sleeps on the sofa, or in a chair in her living room. SHE IS NOT COPING! She seems absolutely overwhelmed by the sensory overload that is London life. The noise, the smells, the light, the people. This is exacerbated by her upstairs neighbour Emily, who selfishly plays her music too loud, and generally seems to make as much noise as is physically possible. This in a house where sound travels effortlessly so that everything from opening drawers to going to the bathroom is clearly audible.

references to wine continuously throughout this book is actual unbearable, at least every chapter had a mention of wine and it was so overdone

Of course Suzy keeps making complaints about the noise to her landlord, informing the housing council and showing at her door to confront her! Then one day it is strangely quiet upstairs, what has happened to Emily? Suzie decides to try to find out and reaches out to her landlord. The police get involved, but Suzie feels that they aren’t doing enough. Suzie reports this to the owner who informs Emily’s parents and the police. But Suzie thinks she knows Emily best (but why?) because she could hear everything going on up there. So she undertakes her own half baked investigation (but why?). That’s the story. The rest is padding. Living alone in London, Suzie Arlington is acutely aware of every movement and noise made by her neighbor, Emily. However, when Suzie realizes it is suddenly too quiet in the upstairs flat, she cannot help but get answers to her neighbor’s mysterious disappearance.Emily has gone missing and nobody seems to be worried about it, except for her downstairs neighbour who has gotten to know Emily from afar, but nobody can be trusted, can Emily be saved? This one has a good premise, but I’m afraid the writing just wasn’t optimal and the story seemed implausible at times. The police work did not seem up to par when a layperson gets more clues than the police! I didn’t really get connected to the characters, this one was too slow a read for me. What would I say to you? That I’m doing this for you? Because that’s strictly not true. I’m also doing this for myself.”