Review: The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger

Thanks to Harper Collins for the copy of The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.  

As we are entering beach season here in Fort Myers, I’m always looking for binge-worthy books to take with me to enjoy in the sun. Lisa Unger is an author that’s been on my to-read list for some time. When I was given an opportunity to read her new book, I took it and this one took me on quite the ride. 

The New Couple in 5B is about a couple that inherits an apartment with a very interesting past. As everything in Rosie and Chad Lowan’s life starts looking up, mysterious things start to happen that have you questioning everything. This is a book I couldn’t put down because I was always waiting for what would happen next. 

I really enjoy books that keep me guessing and just when I thought I had some things figured out, it would throw me for a loop. Let’s just say that some of the characters that you come to know and trust may not be what you think. And there are so many players in the story that it definitely kept me on the edge. I also really liked how the author narrated the story with some great twists in the end. 

Tropes in The New Couple in 5B include dual timelines, haunted houses, suspense and plot twists. 

I give this one a solid 4 stars. I’m already excited to read more books from Lisa Unger. In fact, I have another one of hers, Confessions on the 7:45, on the way. And a fun fact, she lives here on the gulf coast of Florida too!

Rosie and Chad Lowan are barely making ends meet in New York City when they receive life-changing news: Chad’s late uncle has left them his luxury apartment at the historic Windermere in glamorous Murray Hill. With its prewar elegance and impeccably uniformed doorman, the building is the epitome of old New York charm. One would almost never suspect the dark history lurking behind its perfectly maintained facade.

At first, the building and its eclectic tenants couldn’t feel more welcoming. But as the Lowans settle into their new home, Rosie starts to suspect that there’s more to the Windermere than meets the eye. Why is the doorman ever-present? Why are there cameras everywhere? And why have so many gruesome crimes occurred there throughout the years? When one of the neighbors turns up dead, Rosie must get to the truth about the Windermere before she, too, falls under its dangerous spell.

Get it now from Amazon

With the end of the North American leg of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, how are we going to get our Taylor Swift fix? For fans looking for a way to connect with the award-winning artist on a deeper level, you can read some of her favorite books of all time. Reading the same books Taylor enjoys, you can see where she gets her inspiration in her songwriting.

Last year, Swift explained her songwriting process at the Nashville Songwriter Awards. She said that she has three genres of lyrics: Quill Lyrics, Fountain Pen Lyrics, and Glitter Gel Pen Lyrics. "I categorize certain songs of mine in the 'Quill' style if the words and phrasings are antiquated if I was inspired to write it after reading Charlotte Brontë or after watching a movie where everyone is wearing poet shirts and corsets," Swift said. "If my lyrics sound like a letter written by Emily Dickinson’s great grandmother while sewing a lace curtain, that’s me writing in the Quill genre." She listed everymore's "ivy" as a Quill lyric.

Swift considers most of her lyrics to be "Fountain Pen style," as they follow a modern storyline "with a poetic twist." For example, taking a common phrase and flipping its meaning. "Trying to paint a vivid picture of a situation, down to the chipped paint on the door frame and the incense dust on the vinyl shelf," she said. "Placing yourself and whoever is listening right there in the room where it all happened. The love, the loss, everything. The songs I categorize in this style sound like confessions scribbled and sealed in an envelope, but too brutally honest to ever send."

Finally, "Glitter Gel Pen" songs are her carefree pop songs, like the ones featured on her 1989 album. Swift shared that these songs aren't meant to be taken seriously. "Glitter Gel Pen lyrics are the drunk girl at the party who tells you that you look like an angel in the bathroom. It’s what we need every once in a while in these fraught times in which we live."

Take a look below at four of Taylor Swift's favorite books and how they may connect to her songwriting style. For the full list of Taylor's 13 favorites, head to Ultimate Book List.

Swift uses good old-fashioned books to make sparks fly when she's writing. Per Taste of Country, Swift previously said of the storytelling in Harper Lee’s 1960 novel: "it makes your mind wander. It makes you feel like it makes your world more vast. And you think about more things and greater concepts after you read something like that." After reading this book in high school, those same feelings were brought up in the coming-of-age story dealing with the dark subject of rape from a child's point of view.

Going even further back, Swift told Elle UK of her love of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1922 novel. Swift told the publication that her favorite kinds of books to read are ones that give you more than just setting the scene or painting a picture. She describes how Fitzgerald perfectly places you into the story itself, like "that rain-soaked kiss" and how you "feel your heart race as the character’s does." She said the writer describes a scene "so gorgeously interwoven with rich emotional revelations that you yourself have escaped from your own life for a moment." This novel follows the story of a handsome young man and his beautiful wife, who gradually degenerate into a shopworn middle age while they wait for the young man to inherit a large fortune.

As one of her picks for Scholastic's "You Are What You Read" campaign, this 1952 children's novel is a story about loyalty, friendship, and sacrifice between a pig named Wilbur and a spider named Charlotte. Though movies have been made based on the book, nothing beats reading E.B. White's storytelling. Yes, you will find yourself crying over farm animals and arachnids.

A fan at Swift's 2019 LA secret session said the artist mentioned that she loved the book by Irish author Sally Rooney. She is actually a huge fan of her work, citing Conversations With Friends as another favorite. Funny enough, her ex- Joe Alwyn stars in the 2022 television series based on the 2017 novel. It has also been recommended by former President Barack Obama! Swift said that Rooney's writing style is like "being inside somebody's mind." The award-winning book follows the complex friendship and relationship between two teenagers who attend the same school.