The Family Upstairs
Ratings243
Average rating3.7
This is a SOLID creepy thriller with good characters and a plot that moves along nicely. Libby is an interesting and complex character with a well-written history that added to her development and multi-layers - a feat I really appreciate when authors do right. A bit confusing at times, I will say, but still a thrill of a read and something I enjoyed a lot.
“My father's going to take everything you own and then break your life.”
Hugely entertaining cultish thriller mystery about a posh family, living in a posh house full of posh things, in a posh suburb of London and the people they invited into the house (one of which is the fiddler from Dexy's Midnight Runners) and the way those people slowly, but surely turned everything upside and changed their lives forever in the worst possible way.
As far as these sort of books go, it's right up there with the best, not without fault and as mad as a mad thing can be and oh lordy there's a sequel.
Oof. What a doozy.
Let me preface this review by saying that this wasn't a bad book. This book was just totally NOT for me. The only reason why I even drifted out of my preferred Genre is because it's my book club book and I'm trying VERY hard to read all (or at least most) of them this year.
This book was a very fast read & the pacing was great! I unfortunately was just bored for most of it. I didn't connect with any of the characters and I pretty much figured most things out early on, so I never had that “AHA!” moment. If it wasn't a book club book, then I would've DNF'd it within the first couple of chapters.
I am glad that I finished it and I look forward to discussing with my Book Club peeps & seeing what they thought of it.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Technically good, and/or I enjoyed it a lot
4.5 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book but still with notes
5.0 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book, and notes are very positive
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The book basically has 3 POVs going on. The 1st is Libby in the current time. The 2nd is Lucy, also in the current time. Then last there’s Henry who is recounting what the heck happened in the past. Libby’s storyline is basically the catalyst for the “investigation”. Henry’s storyline gives us the backstory. Lucy’s storyline really didn’t add to the main plot. So much so that I initially couldn’t figure out if she was Henry’s sister, Clemency, or some other random person.
The three storylines go on and on until around 2/3s of the book. Then the last 1/3 kind of speeds through the juicy part of the past and the eventual convergence of the 3 storylines.
An ongoing theme in this story is choices. Bad choices. From everyone. Including the author.
All the choices of the adults in the house were bad
1. This is self explanatory.
The choices the kids took before, during, and immediately after the “big incident” were also bad
1. They didn’t carefully plan out their one chance of escape.
2. They didn’t stick together when they ran.
3. They didn’t try to find each other afterwards.
The other adults were also making bad choices
1. Dr. Broughton, who they ran to for help, didn’t contact the authorities or got them proper help.
2. The mom, Sally Thompsen, didn’t look for Phin.
3. The Lamb’s uncle didn’t try to look for Henry or Lucy.
As for the author, personally I am not a fan of the following choices she made plot wise:
1. Readers can pretty much guess how the adults in the past died.
2. Libby’s mother was sort of a surprise, sure. But given how it was revealed so late in the game, it didn’t have as much impact as it would have. Personally, I think that if it was revealed earlier, the 3 storylines would be more inter-related.
3. I think Lucy and Henry’s storylines should have been switched. Lucy’s POV in the past seemed more interesting given how it turned out that she’s Libby’s mother. As for Henry, what happened to Henry after the adults’ death seemed more interesting because, quite frankly, he seemed to have become quite nuts.
I was told that there’s a sequel to this. But I am unsure if I want to read it.
This book is messed up. It's not as good as The Night She Disappeared but imo, I think it depends on the person. Lisa Jewell writes her books as past and present and connects it along the way to the end. It worked out well for some of her books and didn't for others. This book kept me curious from the beginning till the end. It shows us how messed up a family can get and I loved it.
Thriller simplón, pero los distintos POVs y como se une todo mejora mucho la experiencia.
I really enjoyed this story and the way in which it was told from three different perspectives all seemingly unrelated and as you read learning how they all strongly intertwined through flash backs and present times.
Although with those siloed perspectives and lots of holes in timelines it felt like it took a long time for the book to really take off once things started to connect. I also had a hard time keeping the many characters and storyline straight, and kept having to Google a character's name hoping I wouldn't read a spoiler to try to keep up with how they fell into the story.
Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly rushing into the next book because I did enjoy the story, it just wasn't a smooth read for me.
3.5 stars if that were possible.
★★★★★ AL FIN MI PRIMER LIBRO DE 2023 DE 5 ESTRELLAS
Realmente no se por dónde comenzar porque me he leído el libro de una sentada y ha sido supermegaultrahiper M A R A V I L L O S O Me ha enganchado desde la primera página y aunque es cierto que el final se veía venir (por lo menos desde mi punto de vista ya que soy una adicta a este género y una pues ya saca sus conjeturas y suposiciones ¬‿¬ ) ha mantenido mi curiosidad durante todo el libro.
★゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜☆゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜★
MAYBE SPOILERS
Lo primero es que he visto vibes de la aclamada peli coreana Parasite, en el sentido de que una familia vive en una casa tranquilamente y de repente le roban hasta el alma. El ambiente creado es perturbador desde el momento en que Libby pone un pie en la casa. Además, me ha encantado que para narrar en un primer momento lo que ocurrió en la casa se contara a través de las sensaciones de Libby.
Segundo, los personajes. HENRY, tú primero. Me ha dado más miedo la personalidad de este personaje que la casa. Es taaaan misterioso, mezquino y manipulador que aún habiendo acabado el libro pienso qué va a ser capaz de hacer en la continuación.
Lucy me ha dado bastante pena :( su vida ha sido un desastre desde pequeña, con la violación de David y después los continuos malos tratos. Además, cuando es capaz de matar a Michael, OH MY GIRL, te apoyo hasta el infinito y te busco hasta coartada. Supo hacerle frente a una basura de persona y me alegré por ella. NO es NO.
Sus hijos, mega cutes. Marco demasiado adulto para ser un niño pero es cómo la vida lo formó.
El padre, Henry, también me causó mucha ternura. Estaba viendo todo y era incapaz de hacer nada, ¿o a lo mejor sí? Desde luego se sentía inferior a David y eso le dio más poder a este último para adentrarse cada vez más en la casa.
Phin, quiero saber más de él ahhhhhh pero por lo poco que se ha visto en este libro siento que tiene muuuuucho que contar y además, es el único que puede decirnos qué y quién era su padre y cómo acabó así.
Por último, si es cierto que me hubiese gustado saber la razón de que la esposa de Henry dejara entrar a tanta gente en su casa. Creo que se debía a que buscaba “sentirse más completa” pero es algo que he supuesto yo y no que esté claramente aclarado en el libro.
Y más por último aún, no puedo NO MENCIONAR A ❤ FITZ ❤ Es que un perrito siempre es bien.
Ah! Se me olvidaba mencionar que me ha gustado mucho el toque romántico (que apenas hay) entre Miller y Libby. Y, es que, el amor te sorprende en segundos y viene incluido con salsa de tomate en la barba.
great book although the other 2 lisa jewell books i read were top tier this one was still really good and i enjoyed it and it kept me invested. I am SO SO excited to read the sequel although Im not sure what the plot could be because it answered everything in this book. The last 100 pages of this book were WILD. The first bit was so good as well with the dual timeline with 3 different characters. I definitely found my favorite to be the Lucy one. The plot twist at the end were done really good some i did not see coming which definitely props this book up but overall I enjoyed this book and Lisa Jewell will forever be one of if not my favorite author every she was the one who got me back into reading
I enjoyed this one, but I think I liked The Family Remains better. I'm glad I read that one first. Henry is just really getting his voice by the end of this one. Having said that, I wasn't bored and always wanted to keep reading.
Quick, creepy read. I'm not sure if the ending is supposed to be happy or disturbing. A lot of threads were left hanging, but maybe those are tied up in [b:The Family Remains 58855185 The Family Remains (The Family Upstairs, #2) Lisa Jewell https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636568994l/58855185.SY75.jpg 90282275].
A murder mystery that's told in layers of past and present. Kept me entertained enough, but I wasn't invested in the least. The ending dragged too long, going into “possible part 2” -scenario which I really wish the author had skipped.
Creepy and unsettling and a page turner but it was missing something. I'm not sure if I just don't care about the characters enough or if it's just forgettable. I can't quite place why I didn't like it more
If you don't mind being confused and having to go back to reread parts, then I highly recommend this book! Plots twists galore, characters you will love and despise, and an ending that will leave you hanging unless you now read The Family Remains.
liked the unique story but last quarter of the book sucked and ruined everything
I was completely misled by the book community into thinking this book was a shock-filled thriller. It was not, but I had a hard time putting it down because I was flying through it. So even though it didn't reach my expectations, it was still well done.
The highlight of this book for me was the writing. Lisa Jewell has such a captivation writing style that I love. Once you get past the first few chapters of learning which POV is which, you get sucked in.
Sadly, I wished this book was more thrilling than it was. By the time I got to the ending I was just so confused. I saw the resolution coming, but I was shocked they didn't elaborate more on what happened. There was a character that was giving off such creepy vibes but it was brushed over! I want more of that! I hope the next book in the series follows through with that character because it left me wanting more.
This was a fun, mind-numbing read. I look forward to reading other books by Lisa Jewell in the future.
Okay, so this is one of those books where what you think you know is not even close to reality. Every chapter reveals more horrors within the walls of 16 Cheyne Walk.
Not at all what I was expecting; mostly a back story about a family who was taken over by a charismatic cult-like man so most of the story occurred in the past with some parts catching up to the surviving characters in the present. Did keep my attention and was well written
Slow at first but towards the end it was so hard to put down.It has short chapters that will help you fly through the book, gets really creepy at times and has the spooky inherited house trope.Highly recommend this!!Now onto [b:The Family Remains 58855185 The Family Remains (The Family Upstairs, #2) Lisa Jewell https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636568994l/58855185.SY75.jpg 90282275]!!
This was a brilliant read! Very tense and intriguing.
Without giving too much away, some of the things that went on in that house were just beyond crazy! I struggle to understand how some of the adults in that house thought any of what they were doing was OK! The poor kids. I felt awful for them.
It was very gripping and I can't wait to read The Family Remains!