Although the beginning of this mystery began quiet confusing to me, I enjoyed it. It makes you wonder who you can befriend and the secrets they keep. I have enjoyed the other Lisa Jewell's books and will be on the look out for her next one.

This book was excellent! Lisa Jewell’s writing is so ridiculously addictive. It did take a few chapters to hook me, but once I was in I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. The gothic atmosphere of the house really added to the overall sense of dread that infused the story. Jewell does such a fantastic job of writing families full of dysfunction and secrets that are both intriguing and kind of horrifying.

I am really fascinated by cults and while this is not exactly a cult story, it has some of the same elements. A charismatic personality moves into the house and he slowly takes all control. He indoctrinates several members of the household, gets them to give him all their possessions, and imposes strict and crazy rules. I felt so sorry for the kids that had no say in what was happening and should have been protected by their parents, but weren’t.

The story is told through three points of view. Libby has just found who her birth parents are and wants to know the full story of what happened to the family she’s never known. Lucy is basically homeless with two kids and is desperately trying to find a way back to England. Henry’s is the only POV told through first person and he recounts everything that happened from when his family was wealthy and relatively normal, all the way through present day. He’s not always the most reliable of narrators, but his chapters were definitely the most compelling to read.

Overall, I loved reading The Family Upstairs. It was at turns tragic, horrifying, fascinating, and hopeful. I am so impressed with Jewell’s writing and how compulsively readable it is. My only complaints were that I found it just a little slow to start and the ending was not as dynamic as the rest of the story. However, everything else more than made up for it. I definitely recommend this one to fans of character driven mysteries.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars

Being a fan of Lisa Jewell I had high hopes for her latest psychological thriller The Family Upstairs but unfortunately this one didn’t turn into a favorite of mine. The story is one that takes place in multiple timelines and from multiple points of view.

Starting off we have Libby Jones who had just turned twenty five when she receives a letter from a solicitor. Libby had been put up for adoption as a baby and never knew anything about her past so she is hoping this will shed some light on who she was.

Libby finds more than she ever expected when meeting with the solicitor, not only does she now have the names of her birth family but she seems to have inherited their rundown mansion in Chelsea. However, what happened in that mansion twenty five years ago may have been better left in the past.

I’ve read tons and tons of novels that jump back and forth from characters in the present and in the past and when done well they can become favorites. However with The Family Upstairs I found this story rather confusing in the beginning. It does eventually all connect and make more send but along with a slow burn plot I didn’t find myself overly invested in this one unfortunately.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Lisa Jewell's The Family Upstairs is a not-to-be-missed gothic suspense novel. It's chilling, twisty, and very creepy. On her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby inherits a mansion in one of London's upscale neighborhoods. This is a house she was born in, but she hadn't seen it since her parent's deaths when she was only a baby. Libby learns that she was found one night in the house with three murder victims, and her siblings missing. The more she learns about the house and her family's history, the more sinister it becomes.

It's best to go into this book without reading any reviews or spoilers first. The less you know, the more absorbing the reading experience will be. The Family Upstairs is a must-read for anyone who loves books about spooky houses and domestic thrillers. I cannot recommend it enough!

This book was disturbing, dark and really, really good. I loved the way it was told in multiple points of view and timeline. I thought the characters were all interesting, some a bit creepy, some likable. The Family Upstairs had me hooked from the beginning and I enjoyed all of the twists and turns it took. I'm very impressed with Lisa Jewell's writing. I think I'll be moving her other books on my TBR pile up to be read sooner rather than later. I highly recommend The Family Upstairs.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Shortly after her 25th birthday, Libby receives a letter from a law office containing shocking information about her birth parents. She is further surprised to learn she is a sole heir to a mansion in London. But there are several other people who have been waiting for her 25th birthday..

This book was a page-turner from the start! The story is told from three viewpoints which keeps the story moving at a fast pace. This also gives the reader different interpretations of several scenes. I found this to be a very twisted family drama. It proves the point yet again that people have no idea what goes on in a neighbor's house. I felt the book also explores the theme of different kinds of love and what people do, or don't do, to people they claim to love.

This was an unputdownable thriller that I highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for an advance e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

Lisa Jewell is back with a thriller that is unlike anything she has written before.

Libby Jones just turned twenty-five and gets a letter telling her she's the benefactor of her birth family's estate. Libby knew she was adopted but didn't know the wealth she would find herself inheriting. Although her parents died poor, their mansion is something only Libby had dreamed of going into. The mansion offers the gateway into the past Libby knew nothing about. Little did Libby know sometimes asking questions gets you more than you bargained for.

The Family Upstairs is told through three different perspectives. This allows the reader to be told the entire story of what happened to Libby's family and how Libby is dealing with the knowledge of her family's past. I've read a few Lisa Jewell books in the past and this book has a different feeling than the others. It isn't as suspenseful as some of her previous novels, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. It's a different type of mystery novel full of more character driven actions than mysterious who-done-it motivations. If you're looking for a mystery this winter to enjoy curled up with a beverage and a cozy blanket, look no further than The Family Upstairs.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for a copy of The Family Upstairs in exchange for my honest opinion.

A dark story, full of twists and turns and fascinating characters. It feels surreal and honest at the same time.

3.5 Stars. The premise of this book was really interesting and kept me turning the pages, but after it ended this wasn't anything that I kept thinking about. The story is told through three different POVs, one for each sibling, with two being third person and set in the present; and one in first person and set in the past. I thought that was really interesting seeing how all three of those come together in the end. This was my first book by Lisa Jewell and I'm definitely intrigued enough to dive into her backlist.

Content warning: domestic abuse, rape, brief mention of animal cruelty

Thanks to Atria books and Netgalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Audio: There are three narrators, one for each POV and I enjoyed all of them. They do have slight British accents (no problem understanding them here.) Thanks to Simon & Schuster Audio and Libro.Fm for my ALC.

Adopted as a baby, Libby not only inherits a mansion from her birth parents on her 25th birthday, but also discovers she has siblings, and sets out on a quest to find out more about the mysterious circumstances surrounding her adoption. Where has her birth family been all these years? Why was she given up for adoption? And, lastly, why was there another family living in the mansion with her family, and were they really part of a cult?

"They lived with us for more than five years and they turned everything very, very dark."

I love Lisa Jewell's book and was very intrigued by this premise, but unfortunately, it just wasn't as dark and promising as I'd hoped. Parts of the story were definitely interesting but I wish it would have included more about the cult, rather than the reuniting of characters. Lastly, I felt let down by the ho-hum ending. For these reasons, Then She Was Gone (4.5 stars) remains my favorite book by this author!

***Trigger Warning:*** Rape

Location: London, England and Côte d’Azur, France

I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

25 years ago police were called to a mansion where 3 bodies were found dead, and a baby was found alive and healthy in a crib upstairs. For years people have tried to solve the mystery of what happened, but nobody ever has.

Now, 25 years later, Libby Jones turns 25 and discovers she has inherited this house. Now she wants to know the truth about what really happened.

This book is told from 3 different perspectives from Libby, a woman named Lucy, and a boy named Henry who once lived in the house. I enjoyed the different perspectives and how the different storylines came together at the end.

This book is creepy and there is a mystery to solve, but I wouldn't classify it as a thriller. I had a great time reading this one and I enjoyed it more than the previous book by Lisa Jewell that I have read.

3.5/5

Lisa Jewell’s newest novel, The Family Upstairs, explores the unraveling of a London family as its matriarch is beguiled by a sociopathic con artist. Told in the voices of alternating narrators and skipping between the past and present, it can sometimes be challenging to keep stories straight and understand the way characters are related. This disorienting experience is what contributes most of the suspense for the reader, especially because the character’s motivations and actions aren’t always the clearest.

I think the story could have had a better punch if Jewell was better able to convince the reader that cult leader David really was an overpowering force of nature or that the family’s takeover was truly inevitable. Unfortunately, I remain a bit skeptical and mostly feel frustrated at the mother’s willingness to succumb to David’s will. After all, what is a cult without a strong leader?

Although I wasn’t always totally convinced by the characters and their motivations, I have to admit that I raced through this book and found myself truly enjoying it in the moment. I give credit to the atmospheric setting of a decaying but formerly opulent society home, as well as the story’s cultish elements, for keeping me on the edge of my seat. Overall, because of the lack of compelling character development, though, I’m afraid that this story is a bit forgettable.

VERY dark and surprising!!

Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors and if you haven't read her books yet, run, do not walk, and remedy that now! Her intricate domestic thrillers and fantastic characters are all outstanding.
So I was absolutely thrilled to dive into 'The Family Upstairs', a complex, dark and disturbing family drama that is told from three separate points of view. The sense of foreboding is set up very early in the story, when we learn that at least one of the main characters had a very troubling childhood.

"I was nearly eleven when they came, and my sister was nine. They lived with us for more than five years and they turned everything very, very dark. My sister and I had to learn how to survive. And when I was sixteen, and my sister was fourteen, the baby came."

The main protagonist, Libby, may or may not be that baby. Nonetheless, she is surprised to learn that she has inherited a large house in London upon her 25th birthday, which sets the stage for the unraveling of the mystery surrounding the family that once lived there. Libby, Lucy and Henry's stories are all told in sort of a dual timeline. Who are these people and how are they connected to each other? This is a book rich in character and detail and suspense.

Libby learns of the history of the house and is determined to get to the truth of what happened there years ago. The author does an incredible job of building suspense while slowly unraveling the events of years ago. This book is darker and much more disturbing than Lisa Jewell's other books and had me gasping out loud in many parts.

Libby enlists the help of an investigative journalist who once wrote about the events that occurred in the house. There is a large cast of characters in this book but I always felt connected to each one of them. We learn about Henry and his family, his father and mother and the people that moved into their home, only to take over in a cult-like situation. David and Birdie, who held a strange power over Henry's mother, are tow of the darkest characters I've read about in recent memory. Not for the faint of heart, this book is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that left me guessing up until the very end.

"It all happened so slowly, yet so extraordinarily quickly, the change to our parents, to our home, to our lives after they arrived. But that first night, when Birdie appeared on our front step with two large suitcases and a cat in a wicker box, we could never have guessed the impact she would have, the other people she would bring into our lives, that it would all end the way it did."

As always, Lisa Jewell's writing is intricate and the short chapters added to the suspense. I could not wait to find out how the author was going to connect all the dots in the end. This is a slow-build thriller filled with domestic drama and some very dark undercurrents. Although some parts were difficult to read through, I still highly recommend this intriguing and highly complex thriller.

Shortly after Libby's 25th birthday, she learns that she has inherited a large home. She also learns that the story her adoptive parents told her - that her birth parents were killed in a car accident when she was 10 months old - isn't the full story. In a newspaper article, she learns the truth may have been much more complicated - potentially involving a cult and a suicide pact...and some others who were living in the house but have never been heard from again.

From there - we follow the story from 3 different perspectives as Libby tries to learn about what really happened when she was a baby and the truth about her parents. I enjoyed the story and was definitely interested all the way through in seeing what was going to happen next.

It's very hard for me to put a finger on why I liked this book but didn't love it - I think the format and the perspectives didn't quite come together well for me. I'm still a big fan of Lisa Jewell and am looking forward to her next book! I alternated between reading with my eyes and ears - switching between the audiobook and ebook. The audiobook performances were great and definitely worked well for the story.

Thank you to Atria Books, Netgalley and Librofm for the advance reading and listening copies of The Family Upstairs.

I was excited to read this book because I'd read so many great reviews of Lisa Jewell's books. When I read the description of this one, it sounds like a book I would enjoy and boy, did I ever enjoy this! Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. When I did have to stop reading, I wanted to get back to the book as quickly as possible.

We are first introduced to Libby Jones, a young woman living in St Albans, England who just turned 25. She's got her own flat and a job at a kitchen design company. She receives a mysterious letter from a solicitor claiming she inherited an old mansion in Chelsea on Cheyne Walk. Libby can't even believe her good fortune. How could she possibly have inherited this huge, old house? But this is a house with a dark, mysterious past. Years ago, a baby girl was found upstairs, alive and well, by police investigating a multiple suicide at the house. Libby needs to find out her connection to this house and the people who occupied it a quarter century ago.

Lisa Jewell weaves together a dark family mystery/gothic thriller. I was a little confused at first because the story is told through three different POV's. It took me a little while in the beginning to get into the story because of the multiple characters. Once all the three separate stories began to take shape, I was hooked..

This is a twisty, dark tale and I will definitely be reading more of Lisa Jewell's books in the future! I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great mystery that will keep you engaged until the last page! Thank you so much to Atria Books and NetGalley for my copy!

I finished The Family Upstairs last night and I just don’t know what to think. I thought it would be dark and twisty and then I got to the end and I was like...this is it? I read through it quickly because I was so excited for this book and everyone has been raving and giving 5 stars.
It was fast paced and the plot was good, I loved the drama. I loved the short chapters and flipping from past to present and different characters point of views. It just could have been better. It was just missing the suspense and the twists. I just wanted more. As much as I want to give it 5 stars because I love Lisa Jewell, I just can’t.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this before it came out!

This was my first Lisa Jewell book even though I have heard tons about this author, for whatever reason I had yet to pick one of her books up.

I am so glad I finally did and also kicking myself for waiting so long to do so.

This book was so much fun! And while it was a tiny bit slow to start, once it did pick up it was pretty hard to put down.

There is just something fascinating about mysteries isn't there? When done right, in multiple point of views with characters that can't be trusted, they really do stand out and make a fun read that is constantly not only leaving you turning the pages, but guessing at what will happen next, who the bad guys are, who the good guys are and even if such a thing exists in a story like this one.

I loved the bizarre life these children had and how their story, their horrors slowly unfolded and all came together. I love how that ending totally messed with my head and left me with even more questions than what I started out with and even wanting a very short sequel, to see what would happen next.

Truly an exciting read that was well written, well plotted out, and just so entertaining. I will definitely be picking up more of this author's work in the future.

In typical Lisa Jewel fashion, this is a complicated, twisty psychological thriller. It sucks you in right away and is hard to put down. There are many characters and it can be a little confusing, but it’s a thrilling creepy story!

The Family Upstairs is my first Lisa Jewell book. After I had read A few chapters, I was confused. So many characters with the story being told by three of the characters over different time periods, I put on the brakes, I made a character chart and reread the first few chapters again. So glad I did this. The story moved quickly. Three bodies were found in a house and a baby upstairs. This story involves a cultish type plot, abuse, and just plain dysfunctional characters.. As the plot started to really unravel toward the end, I found myself thinking I had wasted my time. I seemed to have a love-hate relationship with this book. Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for An ARC in exchange for an honest review,

My new favorite Lisa Jewell book. I LOVED this one! The ending-in particular that last sentence-was perfection. I loved the different viewpoints and how the timeline was done alternating back and forth between present day and the 1980's. I spent the entire book trying to guess how all the storylines were connected and I was still surprised! LOVED it!