If you want twists and turns, read The Family Upstairs! This book is a good book for the month of October when everyone is looking for something creepy. The house on Chelsea provides a great backdrop for creepy. Add in a cult atmosphere and dead or missing people, you hit a trifecta for a thriller. Lisa Jewell has many curveballs thrown into this story. I do wonder if this story will continue but it will stand well on its own.

I don't want to rewrite the book description or give away the buried secrets. This is my second Lisa Jewell book and I will continue to seek out her books. This book was given to me by #NetGalley as an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes, an otherwise intriguing, well-thought-out plot just seems to get lost in the shuffle. That happens here, with a cast of characters too large to keep straight (some of whom go by different names at different times, making for even more confusion). Mix in shifting time frames from past to present, and you've got a recipe for a story that's frankly not as enjoyable as it should have been.

But I can't overlook that great story; despite having to keep notes on who's who and when, I was captivated by it. It begins as Libby, adopted as an infant and now age 25, learns that her birth parents have left her their posh house in Chelsea that's worth millions of pounds. In that she's nearly destitute after getting out of a bad marriage, she wants to see the house, but first she must figure out how she'll pay for the trip with her two young children and a dog.

We also meet Harry Lamb, who narrates much of the book. He and his sister are the children of the house's owners, Henry and Martina. As youngsters, Harry and his sister lived a life of luxury, attending the poshest of schools, eating only the best foods and enjoying their beautiful, loving parents. Until, that is, a woman named Birdie flies into their lives - and everything goes to you-know-where in a handbasket from that point on. Early on, readers learn that 25 years earlier, Libby was found in her upstairs crib at the Chelsea home, well-fed and happy - while downstairs lay the bodies of Henry, Martina and an unidentified man (thought to be a communal suicide).

What happens at the house from that point on is detailed throughout the "then" chapters; it certainly isn't pretty - and it results in some surprises for the characters (and by extension, readers). It also brought to my mind the question of why neighbors never noticed that anything had gone awry, but then maybe residents of England - especially in such grandiose neighborhoods - prefer to keep to themselves. I'd like to think we'd fare better if someone like Birdie (and in short order, her "friends") invaded our home.

By the end, readers have learned what horrors that house held for way too many years (despite what the title implies, upstairs is only the beginning) as well as what's happened to those who managed to escape and a hint that the future could be even worse. Overall, well done - and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-publication copy.

Such a great creepy and disturbing October read. I am a huge fan of Lisa Jewell and was definitely anticipating this book.

Libby inherits a house in Chelsea, one of the wealthy areas. As an adopted child who has made her own way through the world with her meticulous planning, this is inheritance throws everything off balance. She quickly learns that there is much more to her history than she ever imagined and much of it is disturbing, as more people from her past come out of the woodwork and the truth comes out, she finds herself both horrified and intrigued to learn more about these people.

I enjoyed getting the creeps from The Family Upstairs. With it's cultish references and mysterious deaths and creepy characters. A very enjoyable psychological thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel.

The delapidated mansion at 16 Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, London carries with it a tainted past and many buried secrets. Libby, who was adopted as an infant, inherits the house on her 25th birthday. She finds a house that has been vacant for almost twenty-five years following the discovery of the decomposing bodies of three people there. The three dead bodies were dressed in black and the children who had also been living there were nowhere to be found, The only sign of life was the baby, who was in the crib in the upstairs bedroom. Since she is receiving this inheritance, Libby believes she was that baby. Now she believes she may finally learn some details and history of her short life prior to her adoption.

Several voices tell the story of what happened in the house. Libby relates the story of the house in the present day. Another voice is that of Lucy who at the time of the story is living on the street with her two children. The third voice is that of Henry. Henry and Lucy are brother and sister. Henry tells how their family was destroyed when David and his family and friends moved into their family home and changed everything about their lives.

This is the tale of a family that first moves in upstairs as short term guests. Slowly and surely the family stays longer and longer. And as that stay lengthens, the head of the guest family slowly becomes the head of the household. Finally, as his control strengthens, all of the members of both families are under his authority and they become isolated and cultish. Jewell creates an excellent scenario that illustrates how a family could fall victim to a strong person who isolates them and leads them far astray.

The house and the story itself are dark and disturbing. The plot is very involved as the timelines switch from present to past and back again. The book is populated with a diversity of characters. In addition to the brainwashing by a cultish leader there is incest, child abuse, rape and homosexuality. It could even possibly be considered a study in morality. The book offers mystery and intrigue and holds many twists and turns with a satisfying conclusion. However, I feel that the plot is lacking some intensity for a book of this genre and so I found it to be a "good" read rather than a “wow” read.


Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC of this ebook.

This was so disappointing. I was so close to giving it a 4 star review and then a certain cliche was used. A cliche that I thought was only going to be seen in works written during a more prejudiced time. For spoiler reasons I'm not going to name it.

But other than that cliche, the book is a quick read with many twists and turns. I kept on having to guess what really happened the night that three people ended up dead.

This was a great book! It held my attention and I couldn't put it down, kept me awake at night because I just wanted to keep reading! It was an easy to follow along story and contained good easy to follow characters. I highly recommend this to anyone and can't wait to read more by this author. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this.

This book was so suspenseful and kept me on my toes. I stayed up all night reading it. If you are a fan of Lisa Jewell you won’t be disappointed in this up and down thriller. If you are new to her, start with this book! The twists and turns and unearthing of who her family was and what really happened left me guessing until the end.

Get ready for it, libraries & book stores. This is going to be big.

Lisa Jewell has delivered a taut, nail-biting story of love, obsession, betrayal, and murder in a way that keeps you reading long after bedtime. Told from three perspectives - siblings Henry & Lucy and “the baby” Libby, this story winds back and forth between the 1980s/90s and the present, eventually revealing the truth about a suicide pact that killed Henry & Lucy’s parents and an unidentified man.

Relatively short chapters keep your interest piqued as you move between Henry’s caustic but helpless commentary on the subjugation of his family to megalomaniac David Thomsen, Lucy’s present-day struggles as a single mother and victim of an abusive relationship, and Libby’s experiences as she explores the house left to her in trust where, she learns, her “parents” died.

Jewell’s psycho-gothic story joins similar edge-of-your-seat stories from Ruth Ware, AJ Finn and Gillian Flynn. Recommended.

What. A. Ride! This is easily one of the best thrillers I’ve read this year. It’s best to go in knowing as little as possible - there’s a mystery that unfolds with each chapter, and chilling details that all add up in the end. Believe the hype! This is an incredibly fun, exciting read.

The different perspectives take a little time to adjust to, but once you know who everyone is, it's easy to follow.

This was, I thought, a difficult book to read. I found myself leaving it for days at a time, but I always went back because no matter how dysfunctional I found the characters to be, I wanted to know what happened to them. The novel is the story of a woman who turns twenty-five and learns that she has inherited a mansion on the Thames in London. The first and least shocking part that she learns is that she is not who she thought she was. She’d been told by her adoptive parents that her natural parents had been killed in an auto accident when she was an infant. The truth was that her parents and another man were found dead in an apparent suicide pact in what seems to be a cult-like setting in the house and that she was found alive in her crib. There were also missing children. She begins looking into the past to find who she was. It is a very complex and well written plot. Each chapter dwells on one member of the three family units that were living in the house and tells about their circumstances both in the past and in the present. Much is true and even more is lies and misinformation. The author delves into it all until the climax when everyone’s truth comes out. Thanks to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for an ARC for an honest review.

The title of this new book by Lisa Jewell understates what happened thirty years ago in a large family home in Chelsea, London. Libby Jones, the narrator, has a small piece of information about her biological family. One day upon returning home from her job selling kitchen renovations in St. Albans, Libby finds a strange letter requesting a meeting with an attorney.

The first dramatic narrative arc describes a single mother, Lucy, on the edge of total tragedy without a home for her two children and their dog. Spending a good bit of time with Lucy sets the tone for this big mysterious book about love, loss, despair, estrangement, and loneliness.

I found the story well worth the read, often difficult at times, with confusing character stories. LJ is a pro at digging deep into the souls of people with pain. I am sure this new novel with pull in many happy readers.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of The Family Upstairs in exchange for an honest review.

The Family Upstairs is a thriller / mystery told from different voices. We meet Libby, who has just turned 25, and inherited a large house in a posh neighborhood. Since she was adopted as a baby, she knows nothing about her birth family. We also meet Lucy, the daughter of the people whose house Libby inherits, as well as Henry, the son of the people.
As Libby goes to view the house, she wants to know more about the family and the past. And so, we are told the story of the parents, the children - Henry and Lucy, and the people who came to live in the house with them. First it was Birdie and Justin, a pair of musicians, and then the family who came to live in their home and slowly take it over - The Thomsens, David and Sally, and their children, Clemency and Phin.
What is revealed is how and why the Lambs were found dead, along with David Thomsen, and what happened to the rest of the family. It is quite sinister indeed, and the ending is eerie, but not unexpected.
What I liked - the novel was a quick read, and the mystery was good.
What I didn't like - I felt that Libby was too accepting of the family, even after hearing all of the back story. However, the ending made it clear as to why the family was accepting of her.
Creepy!
#TheFamilyUpstairs #LisaJewell

This story had me mesmerized from the very start!. I could not wait to see how it ended. Thos is a perfect read for October!

This is my third read from this author and it was just not for me. There are two many characters and it keeps jumping around and not really getting to the plot. I had a hard time focusing and found myself skimming this one at the end. It just was not one I could recommend to friends. Others seemed to like it, but having read books from this author in the past, this one was a huge disappointment. Thanks to #NetGalley for the ERC.

This. Book!!! This is the kind of book that ruins other books. This is the kind of book that when you finish it, you have to run out and find everything this author has previously written. This is the kind of book that when you finish it, you are depressed because you know it will take a lot of reading before you find another book that comes close to this perfection. The characters! I got so sucked in! I couldn’t put it down! I like how it jumps from person to person with these four people and their pasts and what will come of their futures. Just absolutely loved this. Thank you so much for letting me read this! I’ve already talked it up with many who will be just as in love as I am!

The family upstairs isn’t so much a mystery, although the mystery part is who the characters are that you are meeting as the book unfolds. We are introduced at first to Libby who is receiving an inheritance. Libby is not really “Libby” however. She receives a house. There is great mystery surrounding the house and the former inhabitants of the house…how they lived and how they died. <br /><br />I found the book to be interesting, but at the outset I honestly found it quite confusing in terms of the characters. I couldn’t figure out who was whom and how they related to one another. Maybe that was the intent, but I found it very disjointed. In fact, I almost gave up on the book until I got a little more than half way through it and it started to make sense to me.<br /><br />I don’t want to reveal to much as it is a mystery (and maybe it’s just me – as there are lots of positive reviews out there) but I think it could have been a little less disjointed in the first half of the book. More character development and perhaps provide the reader a few more clues as to who certain characters are/become. It has many sinister elements and a couple of very . I found Henry the son to be overtly creepy throughout – and even more so as an adult. I thought the Thomsen character to be quite Jim Jones-esque.

I like a good mystery, but this one didn’t do it for me.

I thought the beginning of this book was overly complicated. But it's well written and I think it all came together well at the end. Especially the last line!

Lisa Jewell, rockstar queen of suspense, wows readers once again with the Family Upstairs.
Told from the 3 unreliable narrators, the story explores a deadly situation at a posh Chelsea home that happened 25 years ago. All 3 narrators were involved in the deaths of 3 adults and the disappearance of 4 children from the home. In the beginning, it was not clear who all the characters were and how they related to one another, but as the story progresses, the puzzle pieces quickly fall into place at breakneck speed. This was a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining read.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Lisa Jewell and Atria Books for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Family Upstairs is the latest book by Lisa Jewell. I enjoyed the story, but found it difficult to become absorbed by it. There was too much jumping around between points of view and the time frame. I was given an early copy to review.

I liked this book, but I did get confused with the characters. It was an interesting storyline but not my favorite Lisa jewell book. Very entertaining. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.