This author is so popular right now & I kept seeing talk of this book in newsletters, so I was very excited to receive an e-ARC copy of this book. I've read a few of the authors other books over the last year, had to catch up, and was curious about this one. To the reviewers who called it a slow but , I have to agree.
I'll admit to not being a huge fan of Jewell's other books, but this one felt very different than the rest. But I'm not sure that's a good thing. the sister not being named while everyone else was, hot to be annoying. The different POVs was very confusing, especially without a time frame . Additionally, some if the references & terms were so very British, I had to stop & look them up so I could get a full picture of the story.
The overall story and theme felt different, which is a bonus, kept it from feeling like a total carbon copy of the last books. But was still rather strange. And overall, it felt like it was just too long.
As for being a compulsive read - not for me. I had no trouble putting this aside for days at a time to start & finish another book. So overall, just didn't work for me. I am in the minority with this authors popularity.

Love Lisa Jewell and once again she did not disappoint! Read this book in one sitting! Book was told from a few point of views and I was a little surprised by the ending. I did not see all the twists and turns coming to that finale. Definitely recommend reading this!

READ this book. I tore through it. This mystery/thriller is the kind of book you’re conflicted that you have social plans because you just want to stay in this world Lisa Jewell created. The book moves between a few different characters as narrators- I love what she did with this, but you’ll have to read to find out what I mean. I don’t want to give any spoilers. The story also moves between past and present day. The past is where I was really infuriated. Angry at Henry’s parents for being so vapid and weak as to let these vultures in their home. Birdie and David are so evil. I was so mad at them and what they did. But having seen cults in the news,it’s not unfathomable that someone could come in and have such power over others. It’s a really good book- fun to read but also thought provoking.

3.25 confused, restless, is it fair enough to give lower points because you’re die-hard fan of Lisa Jewell fan question flying over my head, creepy, oh those guests should urgently get the hell out of the house stars!

Personally, honestly, I love this author’s work starting from “Watching you”, “Then she was gone”, “I found you”.
She is the master evil queen of thrillers taken place in creepy houses and the characters formed in dysfunctional families who have unresolved issues.
So this book is one of them. I enjoyed the prologue. I felt all the goose-bumps on my arm, sweat dripping down my forearm, shivered uncontrollably. My intellectual appetite increased and my level of curiosity hit to the top.

Plot was intriguing: Unwanted and never-leaving guests occupied house and their numbers increased every day till they completely turned into an ominous, cursed and chilling cult, whose members wear ugly shapeless black clothes, chose organic style diet by famishing children.

And we met David and Birdie, they’re one of the creepiest couples as like Natural Born Killer’s “Mickey and Mallory”, or any adopted children of Woody Allen and him.

Those parts of the book about Henry, who is probably younger version of Dexter, undiscovered sociopath who hides his unconditional love for Phin, captured my attention. His mother who is about to lose the rest of her marbles, his passive and obedient, weak father and his sister who is suffering from puberty crisis and uncontrollable occupation of CREEPY GUESTS who became THE REAL OWNERS of the house were remarkable and well-rounded characters.

The thing I didn’t like and found confusing is way of 3 POV-ed story telling. I got the writer’s motive to put a bridge between past and future and connect three main characters’ stories, mash them in harmony. But the parts are too detailed and you started to feel like you’re drifting apart the main story, the creepy, disturbing guest part and dive into too many details about the other characters’ lives. There are so much enough materials on this book to write two other ones.

Till we reach the encounter of characters and combination part of their stories we may already solve their mystery. Being two steps ahead of the writer doesn’t make me happy!
So I wished we only read about the house’s past, rising of cult, Henry’s searching about paganism and his slow but expected move to the dark side. We already have David and Birdie to be shaken to the core.

The ending of the book was nice touch made me give extra 0.25 stars but I still expected more from this writer and as soon as I saw this book on my dashboard and screamed ( not for seeing my morning self in the mirror, for finding out NetGalley provided me the book, it was one of the happy and joyous screams) and the beginning excited me but the pacing got slower in the middle.

It was still good written, detailed, riveting book. Lisa Jewell is one of the best story tellers I’ve ever seen and as a hopeless fan, I will keep happy screaming before starting her upcoming books. But this time, this book didn’t work so much for me!

Special thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley to send me this ARC COPY and lighten up my day in exchange my honest review.

Inheriting an 8-bedroom mansion in London’s Chelsea district sounds like a dream come true. This amazing inheritance is Libby’s 25th birthday present. It has remained empty since Libby was found in it as an infant after her parents and one other are found in what the police call a cult suicide. The house is now dilapidated and eerie but it feels like the house still has an unexplained guest.

Told from alternating points of view from Libby, Lucy, and Henry, while alternating between the present and the past. The story unfolds as the previous owners with two children, Henry and Lucy, allow a charismatic stranger named David and his family to move into the house. Soon everyone’s lives will be turned upside down as they fall for David’s charms.

This is a disturbing and complex story that unravels a chilling tell of deceit and murder bringing the story of what really happened to the inhabitants of the Chelsea mansion.

I had really high hopes for this story, it has a great psychological thriller premise and I am a huge fan of the author’s other novels. This story fell short for me but if you read other’s reviews I am in the minority. I had a hard time following the story at first as the chapters do not tell you whether the story is in the present or past nor any way to put it into chronological order. I wish the author had taken this great plot and unfolded it another way. I also didn't care for the ending, There was still a small thread purposely left unfinished.

* Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK Cornerstone for my ARC for which I have given an honest unbiased review in exchange *

I have read most of Lisa Jewell's books and like her writing style. This one is a little different, It is a tad slower and longer than the rest. There are many interwoven connections and you need to pay attention to make sure you are following how everyone is connected. This is not a very easy read, the 2 timelines make things hard to keep track of but having said that there is plenty in this book to keep you reading, Not her usual page turner but enjoyable nonetheless

Solid book from Lisa Jewell - not as loved as her previous ones, but still an intriguing premise.

Thanks to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars
The family Upstairs is gritty and brutal and I absolutely couldn’t put it down, it was so good!
Really the ending.........WTF I have questions????

"You thought they were just staying for the weekend. They looked harmless enough – with only two suitcases and a cat in a wicker box. But soon things turn very, very dark. It happens slowly, yet so extraordinarily quickly. Now you and your sister must find a way to survive…"

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well, THAT happened...

Yeah, that's pretty much how I felt throughout a lot of this one. Jewell has crafted a bizarre, Shirley-Jackson-esque gothic family drama with cults and lost children and murder and suspicion and secrets and guilt and a host of other things that are almost overwhelming in their entirety but somehow work (mostly) seamlessly. The blurb led me to expect something very different - and while that's usually a recipe for disaster, here it worked out better than expected.

The tale unfolds in three alternating voices. I don't always like that as a construct, although in a complex tale like this one, where every narrator is unreliable either intentionally or unintentionally, it is probably the only way to tell the story without resorting to massive telling (as opposed to showing) along the way. I generally find it to result in a bit of a jumpy ride - it's inevitable that one narrative voice will resonate stronger or spark more interest, given that by definition the voices are different. It can mean uneven pacing and action, as revelations are often unevenly presented to turn the three voices into the full picture necessary to tell a well-rounded story. That occasionally happened here, but generally speaking I found all of the voices to carry their own narrative strengths and pull their own weight. The ride was mostly an even one, right up until the end.

The end felt a little rushed, given the slow burning build of the entire book to that point. Suddenly Libby found just the right people to answer all of her questions at the exact point in which she would otherwise have been left floundering... I realize that if she hadn't, things would have had nowhere to go - but it still felt a little too pat and coincidental. Still, there were a few more tricks up Jewell's sleeves once things started rolling downhill, revelation-wise, and the resulting winding-up bits were still entertaining even if they felt a little over-plotted.

Jewell has written a great, atmospheric thriller of the type you don't see as often anymore (hence the Shirley Jackson reference - this one had definite We Have Always Lived in the Castle moments, in the best possible way). The story is entertaining, odd, creepy, and well-written and I'm definitely going to be looking for more from her!

Libby is told upon her 25th birthday that she has inherited a very expensive house in Chelsea from her birth parents. She knew she was adopted, but somehow the trustee attorneys never told her about this asset (yet they boarded it up for 24 years and presumably kept the water on. ??) She then learns that her parents died in the house, not in a car accident like she had been told.

The story alternates between Libby in the present day who is trying to figure out what happened to her family, Henry, the son of the dead parents, who tells the history of the time around the death, and a woman named Lucy who is also somehow connected.

This book isn't perfect - there are a few things about the ending that didn't ring true to me, along with Libby's lack of knowledge of the house, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, I pretty much ignored the rest of my life so I could read it.

There is a a small amount of gore/violence, non-graphic sex and, if there was swearing I don't remember it. Physical and mental abuse is present, but it is not sensationalized.

Block out a few hours for this page turner. Highly recommended.

This is my favorite Netgalley read so far!

Libby finds out she is inheriting a mansion when she turns 25. She was adopted as a baby so she had no idea she would be receiving an inheritance from her birth parents. The mansion has a story though and Libby is determined to find out the truth of what happened in the house so many years ago.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me an ARC of The Family Upstairs in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this book but it didn't quite have the same impact other books by this author have had on me. For most of the book I found it was a bit hard to follow as she jumps time frames and characters so much but it all came together at the end. I felt it was a bit predictable and I'm not sure I would classify it as a thriller.

All in all I think it's another good book by this author and I will continue to read her as she does know how to keep you intrigued.

Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors!

I have read all of her thrillers and my expectations were so high for her newest (possibly too high). I love how she writes, builds tension, and weaves a story.

Her books are so easy to read and fall into. This one did seem a bit too long though and I was beginning to tire of the complex plot. It focuses on a highly dysfunctional family and there are a lot of characters to sort out. It took some time before I was able to make all the connections, but it played out nicely.

The family runs a cult-like home (or rather mansion) and what happens there comes into play later on....

The two timelines (past/present) will collide into a dark tale of this is what really happened....

There are surprising twists, but this one was missing the page-turning magic that I loved in her previous novels. It is still a solid and entertaining read.

This is one of those books that is so good you can't wait to see how it ends, but also so good that you don't want it to end. The story is told from the perspective of several well-developed and fascinating characters, through past and present, to weave a tale with twists that keep the reader wanting more. When I reached the resolution of this intricate tale, I sat there thinking about the whole plot and that maybe I should read it again now that I know the true story. Best book I've read all summer.

I am a huge Lisa Jewell fan, so I was very excited to get an ARC of this book!

Unfortunately, this one was a bit slow for me. It took me a while to read it, and I didn't find it as suspenseful as her other titles. Of course the writing was up to par, but the story had a much slower pace and a darker tone than I am used to from her releases. It was good, but not my favorite one so far.

Lisa Jewell does it again! This might be my favorite novel from her to date! I loved the world building and thoroughly enjoyed how creepy everything was. I felt like there was evil lurking around every corner. And holy crap... how messed up was this family? I felt like I was listening to a true crime podcast and I loved every second of it. Each of the characters were complex, the storyline was unique, and the pacing was spot on.

I would highly recommend this novel if you are a fan of Lisa Jewell's writing style, or a fan of mystery/suspense novels. It was an incredibly entertaining read and I loved every second of it. Thank you so much to Atria Books and NetGalley for sending this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Lisa Jewell is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Somehow each book is completely different but just as much fun as the last.

Libby has always known she was adopted, but didn't know much about her birth family. At the age of 25, the trust left for her goes into effect, and she inherits the house where she was discovered as a baby. But this house has secrets that might be better left undisturbed. Several other storylines are also introduced that weave in and out with Libby's story, each one a different mystery.

A great story. Highly recommended.

I don’t know what just happened. I was so engrossed in the story and characters, that I was confused by the ending. I adored the writing and the complicated story Jewell expertly wove together. It was and excellent, suspenseful read. It kept me guessing and I didn’t really trust anyone. I still don’t.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC of this novel via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

The Family Upstairs 4 out of 5 stars

As an avid fan of psychological thriller type books, I have read a handful of Lisa Jewell's books and was excited to read this one. It did not disappoint! While it read a little less like a thriller and more like a "what the hell happened all those years ago?!", I appreciated the unique story line, and I definitely had a few moments where I audibly gasped while reading. I read some reviews that said the large cast of characters was confusing, but I disagree; I felt the changing perspectives made the story very compelling, and I did not want to put this book down because of it. I also liked how the large cast of characters helped add to the uncertainty of what the truth really was.

Another excellent offering from Lisa Jewell that lives up to the hype. A first purchase for adult fiction collections.