Not quite as good as <i>Watching You</i> and the thriller aspect is missing but it's still creepy. What made the Lambs give in to the intruders in the family as they did? Was there some plot at the start between Birdie and David, before they all moved in? Neither question is answered, which doesn't necessarily matter at the end. Moving back in time to some unknown POV (revealed at the end) and forward to Libby's discovery that she has inherited a house with A Past and her trying to unravel that past, this can get a little confusing at times. There's a definite twist regarding some of the relationships in the house and what that means for the present, but the rest is pretty standard.

eARC provided by publisher.

I loved this book! So many twists and turns, a great page-turner. And how great that so many of the characters were likeable, which lately seems very rare in this sort of book. The concept was different than anything I have read. And I still can't decide how creeper out to be about the ending!

Heard about this one at BookExpo and knew I had to get my hands on it.

Another great Lisa Jewell book! This one is one part Flowers in the Attic and four parts...WHAT!!!
A great dysfunctional family story with twists and turns and utter weirdness.
Going to be a great book to pick up this fall and tuck in with on a cold night.
Actual stars: 4.25

I truly found this book a fabulous read. Too often mysteries focus on simply solving a problem, but Jewell presents the reader with a mystery and then fleshes out the characters involved in this very touching story.

As a reader, I could not put down the book until the entire story was revealed. Though the central theme might seem unlikely, we have seen endless stories of children victimized by cult-like leaders.

Each character was developed and some totally sympathetic, others evil, but all fascinating. I found myself thinking of this book long after I had finished reading this.

I highly recommend this to people who love a really well written mystery. Jewell has done an outstanding job. Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this fine mystery.

hmm. i'm sort of disappointed because i love this author a lot, and her mind, the last book she released floored me, while this one... okay hang on. look, i read the first 92% of this book in one sitting and then it just became dull. i didn't expect something so well written and exciting, something i needed to figure out would end up where it did. it almost felt silly in a way. the twists she write always catch me off guard and shock me but the big reveals in this felt small, not that big a deal at all. i so badly wanted to know the history of these children and what they faced, the horrors the adults threw upon them, but so much almost felt unanswered? i'd have loved to have known more from the adults perspectives, understood exactly the spell upon them to do the things they did. perhaps simple manipulation and brainwashing, some jonestown stuff. i'll still keep reading her books but this one really left me feeling lackluster by the ending.

Libby Jones became an orphan at 6 months old. Now, at 25, she learns she has just inherited a house through a trust. She is now on a mission to uncover the story of her birth parents. In London, childhood friends Lucy and Clemency are headed to the very same house to discover secrets of their own. Jewell's latest novel will keep readers on their toes until the very end!

This is by far my favorite psychological thriller by Lisa Jewell. I adored how she was able to weave three voices and storylines so seamlessly together as each drifted from past to present. It was a darker novel that focused on childhood abuse and how that trauma continues into adulthood. But the story also included resilience and healing too. Overall, my interest was kept to the very end -- with a killer last few lines (pun?).

I read “Then She Was Gone” and absolutely loved it and was very excited about reading this book! While it was an overall good read with some great twists and turns, I had some difficulty in the beginning keeping track of all of the characters as the story switched back and forth from different view points. I would call it more of a family drama than a thriller but still worth reading.

Oh gosh I truly don’t understand the hype this book has already received. I absolutely love Lisa Jewell, I consider her one of my favorite authors; this was one of my most anticipated book releases of the year. I feel like this book was just so uninteresting and definitely my least favorite book from her yet.

This might be a “it’s not the book it’s me” situation cause everyone else seems to be loving the hell out of this, but I felt so disappointed and bored by this book. In typical Lisa Jewel fashion we follow a few different POV’s in a few different time periods. In her other books I absolutely loved that but in this one I found it so hard to keep track of who was who and what was going on. I feel like there are way too many characters to remember in this book (or maybe this is only because I read this book over a period of several days as opposed to one or two sittings like I usually would for a thriller). It takes a long time for this book to get somewhat interesting and even then I still felt like it dragged. I also feel like this book hardly feels like a thriller - it’s more of a family drama about these siblings and a single mother and this family that moves into another families house with some “thrilling” moments thrown in. I’m actually pretty surprised by the really high reviews so far, maybe I’m just missing something. Every time I picked this book back up I was only able to get through about 30-50 pages because I would get so bored and distracted, which is a bad sign cause thrillers normally read really fast for me, and if I’m not flying through the book it’s because I don’t care about the plot or characters. /:

I’m just so disappointed because I wanted to love this book because Lisa Jewell is my thriller queen, but this book just didn’t do it at all for me.

Not at all what I expected but a very good read. I could have never, ever imagined this in my wildest dreams. If you can take uncertainty, you need to read this novel.

Lisa Jewell never fails to spin an interesting yarn and that's exactly what she does in The Family Upstairs.

How often do you read about a cult (think The Manson Family, Jim Jones and his People's Temple, or Heaven's Gate) and wonder how did that happen? Well in Lisa Jewell's newest novel, you get a very clear idea of how, when a family invites another family to stay for the weekend and they just never leave. The weekend turns into a week, which then becomes a month. A rich family, a disenchanted wife, a husband who wants her to be happy and doesn't want to rock the temporary, though ersatz, sense of tranquility. It's an insidious spiral that ends with one person controlling the group with a ever tightening grasp.

A very enjoyable read! Thanks to the author, publisher, and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.
#TheFamilyUpstairs #NetGalley

I love reading Lisa Jewell, and I tend to find her thrillers to be enjoyable. This one was as well, though not as good as "Watching You" and "Then She Was Gone". There were twists and turns that I enjoyed, especially that of who Libby's father was; I felt like I had to read to the end to find out what was going on, and it kept my attention. However, the story seemed a bit more farfetched than Lisa's usual plot. I tend to find that her books are realistic, and that is what tends to entertain me, is the prospect that "this could actually happen". But, this one was a bit more unrealistic; the cult and the members in it, not to mention how Henry got out of "murdering" so many. And if he was able to poison his mom so that she would lose her child, why did he not do that to his sister when she was pregnant? I had a lot of questions, and that made this a 3 star for me (as opposed to a 4 or 5 that the other two got).

Loved it all the way to the last page. This story of a very dysfunctional household full of very different people, is told through the voices of several of the residents. Only with time do we see how they interrelate.

Henry, Lucy and Libby are the three we hear from the most. All are touched by David Thomsen and his unique views of how one should live. Lucy is living on the streets with her two children, trying to make a living with her fiddle and trying to get back to England. Her phone reminder tells her the baby is 25 today. Who is the baby and why does she need to get back at all costs? Libby is contacted by a solicitor with word of an inheritance. Is this for real? Henry is a mixed up teenage boy who might be the only one to see David for what he is, in spite of what his mother and others believe, but can he do anything about it?

I thoroughly enjoyed trying to figure it all out while getting to know the characters and putting the pieces together. Well worth the time to read it. I have enjoyed her previous books and think Lisa Jewell could well be a new favorite author. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell. Before reading it, I didn’t look over the synopsis, I just dug right in. It was slightly confusing but I soon figured it all out. Lisa knows how to spin a story and get the reader invested in the characters lives. There were a few surprises in the book which kept me intrigued.

Here’s the synopsis:

Gifted musician Clemency Thompson is playing for tourists on the streets of southern France when she receives an urgent text message. Her childhood friend, Lucy, is demanding her immediate return to London. It’s happening, says the message. The baby is back. Libby Jones was only six months old when she became an orphan. Now twenty-five, she’s astounded to learn of an inheritance that will change her life. A gorgeous, dilapidated townhouse in one of London’s poshest neighborhoods has been held in a trust for her all these years. Now it’s hers.

As Libby investigates the story of her birth parents and the dark legacy of her new home, Clemency and Lucy are headed her way to uncover, and possibly protect, secrets of their own. What really happened in that rambling Chelsea mansion when they were children? And are they still at risk?

This was so good, fans of Lisa’s books will not be disappointed. Pre-Order now, due out in October.

Lisa Jewell never disappoints and this nook is no exception . This is the story of a brother and sister living a nice lifestyle on an opulent estate when two strangers move in for a while and that while never ends and quickly turns dark. Also is the story of Libby Jones who finds out she has inherited this estate . Full of twist and turns and dark secrets this chilling book will keep you turning pages long past your bedtime

Libby Jones loved her job, as she was working with selling Kitchen revamps. Imagine her surprise when she was contacted my a law firm. On her 25th birthday, she was to inherit a home that was in trust for her my her biological parents, Henry and Martina Lamb. The Trust was created on July 12, 1977. Apparently her parents had committed a pact suicide. Libby was left in her crib, until the authorities had found her and placed her in a good home. Libby was quite amazed to find that she had inherited a small mansion. So many mysteries to uncover though. Why did her parents commit suicide? Where were her older sister and brother? No one could find them. When Libby was going through the house, she was terrified to hear someone upstairs in the attic. The person was moving around up there and the person even coughed. She rushed out of the house. Who was on her house? How did they get into the house? Why were they even there? She found information related to her parents death that was written by a journalist. Libby contacted the journalist hoping that he would be able to help her rebuild her past. How could a home that was filled with prestige, money, and glamor become so barren and not taken care of. There will be so much work that will need to be done to bring the mansion back to its beauty The author reverts from the past to the present all throughout the book. This builds the intensity of revealing the past and how it affected every individual who lived in the house at the time. Who was the family upstairs? How did they affect the rest of the original family? What really happened? Did her parents really commit suicide? If you like reading about a cult member who used psychological ways to manipulate individuals, and how it affected e everyone in the house you will like this book. There are so many mysteries within this book. It kept me constantly intrigued. The character development was really great! The descriptions of all of the characters was crystal clear and the reader felt like they could really relate to all the feelings and flaws of each person. I really enjoyed this book very much.

I honestly do not know how Lisa Jewell does it! She is a literary genius! Seriously y'all.. I have read all of her books in one sitting because I cannot put them down they are that amazing. You get hooked in from the very first page. This one was definitely a thriller with so many twists and turns I was surprised at every page! Please, please do yourself a favor and read this novel!!

I cannot decide whether or not I actually liked this book... I read it quickly and enjoyed it. But it was incredibly different than I thought it would be and fell kind of flat in the end. I’m also not super sure what the title has to do with the story. I’m happy I read it but am left feeling mildly puzzled at what Jewell was going for.

I almost gave up on this in the beginning and I’m soooo glad I did not, because it’s absolutely a must read for those who enjoy a good mind screwing thriller! Absolutely disturbing, chilling, and thrilling and bloody disturbing, which I love! I can not recommend this one enough, but the darker the better for me! Didn’t find it too disturbing, just thrilling!
Will be highly recommending to those in Chapter Chatter Pub!

Quick read but doesn't measure up to her previous novels. Sometimes confusing due to all the twists, flashbacks, etc. Still unclear about a couple of points after finishing.