Wonderful book. It was a page turner to the very end. She did a wonderful job of masterful storytelling. I read it in one sitting.

I really like Lisa Jewell’s writing style. The twists and turns keep the story engaging and hard to put down. The Family Upstairs was no exception. It was hard to read of such neglect of children and the cult-like atmosphere that they lived in, but it explained a lot about the type of adults they became. My only issue with the story was the interaction of Henry towards the end of the novel. I didn’t find the actions of others toward him to be believable.

Wait, what?!?!

I'm throughouly confused.

I haven't yet gotten on the Lisa Jewell bandwagon - this was my first book by her - and, at this point, I'm not entirely sure what the hype is all about.

While the book was quite atmospheric - I loved the decriptive setting and the house that's almost a character itself - I was overall confused and underwhelmed with the way the story came together.

I'm impressed enough with Jewell's ability to weave a tale that I'll give her another try, but so far, I could take it or leave it. 😐

What a great book! It did take me a little while to get into this book but once I did, it was a real page turner! There’s a good reason why Lisa Jewell’s books end up on Bestseller lists...

Can’t wait to read more by this author!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Where has Lisa Jewell been all my life? All this time I was reading mediocre thrillers and it took me this long to discover her. Madness. The only reason I can think of is the covers, her books get some really crappy standard covers, no idea why. So I did it, yes, judged the book by the cover. Usually that actually is a sound way to go, but this time the contents outperformed the cover like troopers. Family Upstairs is indeed about a family, a pretty standard well to do family whose financial situation wanes and with it all sorts of things go awry. They mistakenly open their home to strangers and then more strangers and then the place becomes a sort of an evil mini commune. And the evilness of it spirals and spirals into places darker than anyone might have imagined going in. Stranger danger all the way, really. In fact, the last time a wealthy man’s wife of Deutsch descent opened her mind, heart and home to a manipulative charismatic lunatic, it brought down Romanoff dynasty. Things aren’t quite to scale here, but you get the idea. And so three families become one in a very unnatural and wrong way. The house gets locked down, the pressure is on and there’s no way for it all to end nicely. Bodies of adults get found, the kids disappear, all but one, the baby. Fast forward 25 years and the baby is all grown up and is set to inherit the Chelsea manor/ house of horrors. Now is the time for the truth to start slithering out from its many hiding places. So there you have it, a proper suspense thriller/murder mystery that follows some genre presets but overall is actually a proper literary novel with crime aspects. Dark (very dark) psychological dramatic fiction about family in its many variants, misguided loves and so on. The narrative splits three ways between the past and present, three closely connected characters, two siblings (the survivors of the original family) and the baby, now adult, Libby. The entire thing interweaves most cleverly, especially the past, where the progressively escalating situation is positively unputdownable and mesmerizing the way of an especially gruesome car crash. There are clever surprises along the way, some very nice (not too predictable) plot twists, and, just when you think the ending is going too happily for the story, it throws in one last down and dirty trick that suits the narrative absolutely perfectly. All in all, this was pretty freaking excellent. Certainly one of the best thrillers I’ve read in ages. Compelling, character driven, dynamic narrative, oodles of psychological darkness and deviancy and above all so very well written. I was engaged, disturbed and thoroughly entertained throughout. Genre fans after more literary less formulaic sort of thing will want for nothing reading this. It’s even British. Great read, really. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Libby Jones has always known that she was adopted when she was 10 months old and that she would receive something from her biological parents' estate on her 25th birthday. She did not, however, expect that something to be a house in the richest part of London worth millions of pounds. She also, however, learns about what happened to her birth family. Reading an article about them, she discovers that her parents had been part of a cult of families living in the house she inherited, that they died in a suicide pact, and that she had two teenage siblings at the time who were never found. Libby tracks down the man who wrote the article, and the two try to untangle the mystery of Libby's birth family.

The story is told from 3 points of view – Libby after discovering she inherited the house; her sister Lucy, trying to get back to London now that she knows the baby has turned 25; and Henry, their brother, telling the story of what happened to the family in the late 1980s/early 1990s. For me, the story started...not exactly slowly, but it took a while to get invested in the story line. I saw most of the major twists coming before they happened, although there were a couple surprises I did not expect. It did pick up at the end, once everything I had been waiting to be revealed finally was. The “epilogue” seemed out of place with the rest of the story, except the last few lines.

Oh wow another Lisa Jewell book about a creepy house? Never would've seen that coming. This should have been so much better- I love cults, acid trips, and Natural Born Killers esque couples but this did not land.

This is an engaging twisty read that is actually a bit darker than it comes off (part of the charm of the characters). All the makings are here, a surprise inheritance, long lost family members, an abandoned house with a checkered past, and a crime long unsolved. I enjoyed this quick read. Thank you NetGalley and publishers or providing

Lisa Jewell really knows how to bring the twists! After so many recommended this author, I have fallen in love with her writing, full of twists and turns. As an avid reader, it’s hard to find a plot and storyline that feels unique, but Jewell always manages to keep me guessing and I love it!

Many thanks to netgalley and publisher for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own

A story told from three POVs…Libby, Lucy, and Henry…you will be drawn into a family drama. There are lots of mysteries and the story begins to be interwoven as the narrators’ stories blend. As a psychological thriller, it is spot on. The story moves quickly but you get to a point where there is just too much chaos. There are times you will actually hesitate because you are so close to the end and want to see how it ends.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

This was such a great, deeply creepy read. I am a big fan of gothic literature as well as suspense and I found this one to be a perfect blend of both. I also enjoyed hearing the story from three separate perspectives, as it added more tension and intrigue to the narrative.

2.5 stars
The book title "The Family Upstairs" hints at intrigue, secrets and danger. The story as told in alternating chapters by three characters traces the story of the Lamb family.
Libby, 25, had been adopted as a baby. On this birthday, she receives notice that she has inherited a rundown but still valuable mansion. She will also learn a bit about her birth family.
Henry is a son of the original family. He is the eyewitness to the invasion of David Thomson and his following into the Lamb home.
Lucy is a single mother living in France. She receives a message that "the baby has turned 25" and struggles to return to London to rejoin her siblings.
Libby attempts to unfold her family's story. Unfortunately the story is creepy, dark and unbeliveable. The characters are vague, unsympathetic, weak and poorly developed.
Of course all is wrapped up "neatly" in the end. Most unsatisfying. Only hope Lucy will go her own way around the survivors.
This book is a confusing slow read with too many characters. The three person separate narrators disrupt the flow of the story.
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. #NetGalley #TheFamilyUpstairs

This is one intense, twisted, dark and addictive novel! Not only is this a very well-written book with wonderfully-interesting characters, but the suspense builds at just the right pace as the story unfolds. Compulsive, gripping and horrifying! Will keep you on the edge of your seat!

**Received as an ARC from NetGalley for review**

The Family Upstairs was a very mild mystery for me. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives and the story but I was hoping for a faster-paced plot that would make for a quick and exciting read. Mixed feelings on whether or not I'll pursue any other Lisa Jewell books but I will say that she may appeal to mystery/thriller readers who don't like the level of anxiety that I crave with the genre.

Unfortunately, of all the Lisa Jewell books, this is the one that didn't do it for me. I found the house guests gave me anxiety and I just didn't find it thrilling or eventful. If anything, just frustrating. I did like the ending, and how the siblings connected, and the way they were finally able to remove them from the house, however, this is my least favourite Lisa Jewell, and I LOVE her work.

If you are looking for a twisted thriller this is it. Lisa Jewell’s story about a baby give up for adoption and then she finds out that she has inherited a large house is very twisted. The reader doesn’t know what is real about the story from the people in it to what occurred leading to the adoption. All the characters are intertwined and just when I thought I had it figured it there was another twist. This flows more like a Lifetime Movie than a creepy suspense but the story sucked me and I didn’t want to let go till I figured out who these people were and what had happened in the house.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Lisa Jewell book to read. I enjoyed this thriller and look forward to delving into other titles in her catalog.

Well written. Keeps you on your toes. Loves up to this author's excellent books. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a n EARC.

With a premise like that, you know I wasn’t going to pass it up! But the story itself wasn’t executed that well. There are 3 rotating perspectives to the story: Harry, Lucy, and Libby. I really liked reading from Harry’s perspective, which was mostly through journal entries because they had the creepiness I was looking for … but it quickly became all about “telling” rather than “showing”. Lucy’s perspective was also interesting but there just wasn’t enough of it for me. As for Libby, this is where I wanted the author to deliver more; sequences of events were very choppy and I needed a lot more clarification to really understand what was going on. I also found Libby to be a bit boring and her investigative skills were nothing to brag about. While I enjoyed trying to piece together the mystery, I felt that the choppiness took away from the story.

I keep thinking of this as a ghost story, but there is no ghost. Live people in a gothic mansion living an unsettling and fearful existence. It took me a minute to sync with how the chapters/characters were telling their stories, but once I did, I barely put it down. Very well written, the suspense was sustained without a lag anywhere. The characters were sad, edgy and engaging, each in their own way, as they tell their story and the threads of their lives come full circle. Thoroughly entertaining!

Thank you to Ms. Jewell, Atria Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review.