When Libby turns 25, she get notified that she inherited a mansion. Since she is adopted, this opens the door to a million questions. She quickly finds out that her parents didn't die in a fiery crash but part of a suicide pact as members of a cult in the mansion she inherited. She learns that she had siblings which starts a wild goose chase to find them...and the truth about her family and what happened 25 years ago.

The Family Upstairs is the first book I've read by Lisa Jewell but it won't be the last. The story line was dark, creepy and disturbing. As soon as you think you understand, another twisty pops out from around the corner. I had a little trouble keeping all the characters straight in my head which was made a bit tougher by the story being told from three points of view.

Overall, The Family Upstairs was enjoyable and entertaining. I want to thank Netgalley and Atria Books for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

At the start of this novel, Libby, who has just turned 25 years old, is informed that she has just inherited a rather large house in London. Libby has always known she was adopted, but she finds out that she was found in the house as a baby, with three adults downstairs dead and the teenage children who lived there missing. And it only gets crazier from there! Libby's perspective is intercut with that of Henry, who tells us in flashbacks about the events of the years leading up to the day when Libby was found as a baby, and Lucy in the present day, who we can guess as to who she is but whose identity is not confirmed until later. This was definitely a suspenseful page turner, though it got a bit preposterous towards the end, and I felt like the present day Lucy story didn't really add much to it. But it was quite an enjoyable read nonetheless.

This is the fourth Lisa Jewell book I've read and this twisted and creepy family drama was definitely the best one in my opinion. The story is told from three perspectives (which I enjoyed) and it even took me a minute to figure out how the three people were connected. I was caught up in this story pretty quickly and I was eager to put all the pieces together. I've heard some say this one was pretty predictable for them and maybe I'm off my game, but there was a twist or two near the end of the book that actually caught me off guard. Entertaining and enjoyable!

Title: The Family Upstairs
Author: Lisa Jewell
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5

When Libby Jones turned 25, she received the letter she’d been waiting on her whole life, the letter telling her who she really was and who her parents were. She wasn’t expecting to find out she is the sole inheritor of an abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames worth millions of dollars. She wasn’t expecting the story of how she was found, either.

Twenty-five years ago, neighbors called the cops to report a crying baby. The officers found Libby—called Serenity then---a happy, healthy 10-month old, in her crib. In the kitchen they found three dead bodies starting to decay and a hasty note. There was no trace of the other two adults, or the four kids rumored to live there. Nor was there any trace of whoever had been caring for the baby.

Libby has been waiting her whole life find out who she is—but she’s not the only one who’s been waiting. And asking questions about the past just might draw more than answers out of the dark.

This was a creepy tale of family suspense—not to mention dark manipulation and the growth of a cult. Weird family. Weird kids. Weird situation. But I was completely intrigued with the tale and finished it in one sitting.
Lisa Jewell is a New York Times-bestselling author. The Family Upstairs is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

The elevator pitch:

what if Waco happened in posh Chelsea?

read/skip:

READ
Lisa Jewell builds wholly believable universes and delves into their complex life stories of ordinary people like not many can in the thriller genre. When I lived in London, my favorite thing to do was bike along the Thames until I arrived in Chelsea. The houses at the river are the kind that made you wonder; what kind of people own these, how rich are they, what do they do, day-to-day? Lisa Jewell looked at one of those houses and imagined a twisty take of deception, lost souls, abuse, love, desire, and hope.
In a character-driven mystery, you need novelty, and sympathetic characters are required to give the story the same propulsion as an action or murder-packed thriller. She nails it. Again.
Jewel often uses a multiple POV; it’s not my favorite storytelling device. There is always one character that falls short. The one that makes you speed and skip through chapters. Not so much in The family upstairs, but I liked the two female characters the most.
Libby works at a kitchen design store; she is our In into the story, it is easy to empathize with such a levelheaded and sympathetic girl. The second one is Lucy, a 39 woman, living a rough life on the streets of France with her two small kids. It isn’t immediately clear what her relation to the story is, but her story is engaging, and you root for her.
The one I didn’t enjoy reading as much about is Henry. Henry is the one that tells the main story. Henry
is also the one that messes up the story. Henry is one hell of a shifty character. Is he a victim, a killer, a liar, or a savior?
When Henry changes his story, it’s a bit clunky and doesn’t always provide the big twist it intends to. And Henry is off-putting from the start ( and seeing that he is the gay character a bit problematic). But I am nitpicking here; it is just that the other parts are engaging, you want every aspect to be at that level.
This is a tragic tale about a cult leader ruining lives and could be overdone but is told in an original, well-constructed way and satisfying way. It is richly imagined, the kind of story you wholly buy. I always assumed happy lives in those houses, but now I will never look at one of them the same.

The gist:

on her 25th birthday, Libby learns that her birth parents left her a mansion in Chelsea. The same mansion where they were found dead, together with an unknown man, in what was ruled a suicide pact. Libby herself was found in that house as a baby and saved, but the other four children who lived there, all teenagers at that time, all disappeared into thin air. Libby has to decide what she will do with the million-dollar property, but first, with the help of a handsome journalist, she wants to uncover the truth.

I loved this book! It was so enthralling and dark that I was hooked from the beginning. I read the majority of this book in one sitting because I couldn't wait to find out how all the different perspectives connected together. The way Jewell pieced this story together with all three different narratives was perfection. Sometimes the stories would weave together and other times they would build on each other to keep the momentum of the story racing forward. Obviously I loved the pacing of the story and there were enough twists, turns and reveals to keep me captivated the whole way through.

Another fabulous book by Lisa Jewell. Suspenseful, creepy and riveting. The characters were despicable and twisted yet I couldn’t tear my eyes away from reading about them. I was glued to the pages. As the plot heightened, I was sucked into the dysfunction and eager for resolution. The ending was solid with a delicious twist that gave me chills.

A huge thank you to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I particularly enjoyed the three narrators and what felt like a unique spin on the unreliable narrator. I will put this domestic thriller in the hands of fans of Ruth Ware and Louise Candlish.

This was only my second Lisa Jewell book, but confirms what I thought from my first of hers - I’m an instant fan!

Lisa Jewell knows how to write a suspenseful and gripping thriller. Her use of multiple perspectives and timelines works without a hitch and the short chapters keep you flipping the pages continuously until the end. In both Then She Was Gone and this one, I was able to predict how most things would unravel, but there’s something about her writing that makes it that I don’t mind it being a bit predictable and I just enjoy the journey to get where I can see it going. If you enjoy dark characters, cult storylines and feeling a bit on edge while you read - this is full of goodness for you! 4⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria books for the early gifted copy to review. { #partner } 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘜𝘱𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 is out Nov 5th! Available to pre-order now!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC of The Family Upstairs! As a big fan of Then She Was Gone, I was eagerly anticipating this new release!

Lisa Jewell is great at hooking readers and keeping the storyline full of suspense. I kept wondering what would happen next, and was truly thrown by a lot of the twists.

The characters got a little confusing to me - especially Libby/Lucy. I kept forgetting who was who as the chapters alternated between POVs. The last quarter of the book got truly weird and a little too unbelievable for me. I hated Henry’s character toward the end!

Ultimately, this was a strange family drama that left me confused and a little uncomfortable.

Imagine finding out, on your 25th birthday, that you've just inherited a huuuuge house in a prestigious neighborhood.

Well, that was exactly what happened to Libby. Apparently her 25th birthday present was a 'mansion' (12 rooms in total!) in Chelsea she had inherited from her birth parents. 'The house is three floors high, four windows wide. It is beautiful.' Unfortunately, left abandoned, 'the house is an eyesore' and inside, it made Libby feel like 'she's in a coffin.' It was there too, that she found something that was attached to her when she was left there in her crib, a rabbit's foot hanging on a gold chain. Yup. You read that right. A rabbit's foot!

The story alternated between 2 timelines and three viewpoints - between Libby in the present day; Henry, the son of the dead parents, who tells the history of the time around the death, and a woman named Lucy who somehow is part of their story, which we will later find out how.

I have heard of Lisa Jewell but haven't read any of her books until now. And wow, I must say, this book has brought my faith back in psychological thrillers!

Twisted. Sinister. Dark. Suspenseful. All these elements made this an engrossing read.

I have a soft spot for Henry. As dark and twisted and weird as he may be, I can't help but to feel sorry for him for what he had to go through.

The wrap-up on Lucy's story was a little unbelievable to me, but I don't see how else a happy ending can be given to everyone involved in the story.

If you enjoy dysfunctiomal family drama, a top-notch psychological thriller with very good narrators, read this!

More Lisa Jewell please!

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for giving me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely LOVED The Family Upstairs! Lisa Jewell’s novels are always a guaranteed good time for me! This is not a short novel, and I ripped through it in one day- I could not put it down!

On her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones can finally open a letter that she has been waiting for most of her life. Her birth parents have left her an inheritance. Upon opening, she finds out that she is the owner of a multi-million dollar home on the banks of the Thames in Chelsea, London. For a middle class youth, this is a dream come true- but it comes with strings. After visiting the home to find it boarded up and abandoned, and looking into the mystery of her birth family, Libby discovers dark secrets. As a baby, Libby was found abandoned in this same mansion, all alone, except for the three dead bodies found downstairs.

This is a suspense/thriller/mystery novel at its finest. Libby, a reporter familiar with her family’s case, and her coworker begin to try to find out what really happened to her parents and her siblings who have not been seen again after that day. The story is told through varying points of view- present day Libby, a man named Henry who lived at the mansion years ago, and Lucy, a homeless woman living in Nice with her children. The characters are well-developed and each have their own captivating stories going on. I equally enjoyed all of the perspectives and just couldn’t wait to piece together the entire story. This book is full of twists! Very clever twists..some things I expected, but others totally surprised me. The eerie, looming mansion setting creates a perfectly dark atmosphere for the story. There are hidden clues, dramatic lines, and lots of foreboding! However, there are also heart-warming moments and strong, goodhearted characters to root for! I absolutely loved this novel and will recommend it to everyone- so if you've read it, let’s discuss!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada and NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not too familiar with Lisa Jewell's writing but I have to say that I enjoyed The Family Upstairs. It had a lot of twists and turns and kept me intrigued for a lot of the book. The best part is that you basically go into this story blind so you're not really expecting anything but yet everything all at once.

It isn't as thrilling as it is complicated. There's a lot of family drama and I feel like the book focuses more on that than the mystery itself. There were a good many characters and perspectives so at times it was kind of overwhelming to keep up with. I don't think there was a whole lot of character development, but the plot itself does move a decent pace and I loved how it ended.

Overall, I enjoyed the heck out of his book. I didn't get the "thriller" feels I was looking for but it kept me entertained and wanting to know more the whole time. Jewell is a creative mastermind that pulls you in and captures your attention from beginning to end.

Lisa Jewell can be hit or miss for me, but this was a HIT. I love a book set in a an old manor/mansion as well, so I was thrilled to discover this fit the bill. Do yourself a favor and read "The Family Upstairs"!!!!

This booooooook. I love a good multi-leveled gritty twisty family thriller. THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS delivers on this is spades. Lisa Jewell writes twists and turns into family dynamics in the best gloriously dark way. I am a huge fan of her work and this is my new favorite by her. I looooove THEN SHE WAS GONE but this has surpassed it. Murder. Cults. Dark secrets. A story delivered in dual times from three voices: I inhaled this bad boy in one sitting. If you enjoy a good bit of what is happening now suspense, do yourself a favor and pick up this book! The pacing is absolute perfection.👌🏻

A woman, adopted at a young age, finds out the truth about her identity and receives an inheritance all at the same time. As she digs deeper into her past, however, she begins to realize that its secrets are darker than she could have ever imagined. Author Lisa Jewell returns with her latest thriller that will keep readers guessing until the end but leave them hanging in her new novel The Family Upstairs.

On her 25th birthday, a letter arrives on Libby Jones’s doorstep. She’s been waiting for it her entire life, because it contains key pieces of herself. Libby was adopted as a toddler and has no idea who her birth parents were, except for the fact that they died and that she was to come into an inheritance on this birthday.

The letter contains facts that make Libby dizzy: her birth parents have left her a house. An entire house. And it’s not just a ramshackle dump. The house stands in Chelsea, one of London’s hippest neighborhoods. Even without seeing the property, Libby knows she’s just inherited millions.

Then Libby does an internet search on her birth parents, Martina and Henry Lamb, and the result shocks her. Apparently Martina and Henry died in some sort of suicide pact along with a third unidentified adult. When police answered an anonymous call about strange activity at the Chelsea mansion, they found the three adults dead in the kitchen downstairs and Libby, gurgling and cooing away, upstairs in a crib. Other children had been reported living at the house, but the police don’t find any of them.

The information makes Libby uneasy. When she goes to the house, she meets a local journalist who reported on the story and has his own theories about what happened. Between the two of them, they begin teasing out the possibilities of the past. The harder they work on finding more information, however, the more Libby wonders whether she really wants it. Each secret uncovered reveals another one waiting, and none of them are pleasant in the least.

Author Lisa Jewell layers the book with three points of view: Libby’s as she researches and visits the house; Lucy, a single mother in Nice, France, struggling to keep her children safe as she earns money playing her fiddle on the streets of the city; and Henry, son of the Lambs. Lucy and Libby’s stories progress through the present day. Henry provides all the background information on what occurred in the Lamb house while he was growing up and before his parents’ death.

While the approach is interesting, readers may likely find themselves more drawn to Henry. His story contains all the salacious details from the past that lead up to the death of the Lambs and the third person with them in the kitchen. Yet he has nothing to contribute to the present-day story: Libby’s discovery of her identity. By contrast, Libby’s story, on the mechanical level, is the most mundane. She finds out about her inheritance and then researches her past. In reality, not much more than that happens until a small climactic point late in the book. Even that feels like a major letdown, because not much comes of it.

Lucy’s story falls somewhere in the middle. It occurs during the present day and also possesses movement and conflict. Lucy wants to return to her home country of England, yet circumstances prevent her from doing so. While Jewell works hard at masking Lucy’s connection to Libby and Henry, readers will figure out who she is long before the book offers the “big reveal.” Even that comes across as anti-climactic.

The book starts picking up steam right at the end, but then it’s over. Readers may feel confused more than anything else. Why did the closing chapters need such a long, drawn-out buildup? And what happens next? Readers will be left wondering too much.

Fans of Lisa Jewell may enjoy this one, and for those who like books about complicated family situations that personify dysfunction this is a solid read. Otherwise, I recommend readers Borrow The Family Upstairs.

An EXCELLENT suspense novel! Surprising to the last minute. I really enjoyed this dark, compelling story. Thank you NetGalley for the Advance Reader Copy. All opinions are my own.

The Family Upstairs was an intriguing read. It was a very different kind of thriller/mystery than I’ve read lately. In the book, Libby Jones knows that she will come into a trust when she turns 25. And after a letter arrives on her birthday she finds out the identity of her parents, that she has siblings and that she has inherited the family mansion. The whole circumstance is surrounded by mystery. Three dead bodies and a well taken care of baby Libby were found in the house 24 years ago. Now Libby tries to find out what happened to her parents and what became of the other children living in the house. It is very hard to review a book like this with out giving away a ton of spoilers. But this was an interesting premise to me. I felt like I was peeking in the window spying on this family. I felt like I couldn’t look away. I read it pretty quickly as it was fast paced and I wanted to find out more. I enjoyed reading it but in the end I had some questions that I felt didn’t get answered. Almost like it set it self up for a sequel although I don’t know if that was the author’s intention. And for that I give this book 3.5 stars.

What a delicious page turner! I meant to just dip into the first chapter, but within a couple of pages, everything else fell away as I was swept up into the twists and turns of this family saga. A totally compelling read.

Lisa Jewell keeps up her winning streak with her latest, The Family Upstairs. Layered like an onion, it's slowly peeled one layer at a time to reveal a riveting psychological thriller with all the elements: there is a haunting past, a huge mansion, one family doing well and then the others come. I was completely enthralled by it all!