The Family Remains
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 8/9/22
Author: Lisa Jewell
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 384
Goodreads Rating: 4.17

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Atria Books and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery. When Owusu sends the evidence for examination, he learns the bones are connected to a cold case that left three people dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion thirty years ago. Rachel Rimmer has also received a shock—news that her husband, Michael, has been found dead in the cellar of his house in France. After fleeing London thirty years ago in the wake of a horrific tragedy, Lucy Lamb is finally coming home, her brother takes off to find the boy from their shared past whose memory haunts their present. As they all race to discover answers to these convoluted mysteries, they will come to find that they’re connected in ways they could have never imagined.

My Thoughts: I had this as an ebook but also as my BOTM. This is a sequel to The Family Upstairs, which I did not read (I do have it, just haven’t gotten to it yet). Coming into this blind was slightly confusing at first but I started to make the connections relatively soon into reading. Overall, this was a good read and I felt it was more of a mystery versus a thriller. Jewell is well known author that brings us this creative piece of work that begins as several different lives that connect. The premise of the plot was brilliant. The characters were very well developed, had layers of mystery, deception, connected, and creatively written. The author’s writing style was complex, suspenseful, twisted, and brilliantly written. This is a masterpiece and shows the lengths we will go to for our family, how deep the connection to family is, and even if that means covering up the truth. I highly recommend picking up this book released earlier this month.

I have to admit that when I started this book, I had a hard time remembering exactly what happened in The Family Upstairs but before long, I was right in the swing of who was who and who did what. I am so glad we get to revisit what happened to Lucy, Henry and Libby. Their story in the first book was just so sad. I am all for happy endings! Lisa Jewell has written yet another jewel. (I am sure I am not the first person to ever say that) I enjoyed how the story shifted from London to Chicago. I enjoyed the story of Rachel and thar creep Michael. Everything fit so perfectly together. Thanks Lisa Jewell for sewing it all up so perfectly.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for a copy of this book for review.

IT OPENS UP WITH BONES FOUND IN A BAG ON THE BEACH, POSSILBY A CHILD OR SMALL ADULT.
THEN RACHEL GETS A CALL.
WHO IS HENRY AND LUCY LAMB.
PHIN OR FINN.
RACHEL AND MICHAEL.
THE STORY GOES BACK AND FORTH WITH THE TIMELINE. I DONT REALIZE IT UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF THE BOOK. IT'S STARTING TO GET REALY GOOD. CAN HARDLY WAIT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS. THE PAST IS BEING BROUGHT BACK UP. EVERYONE IS SUSPECT. PEOPLE THAT THEY THOUGHT GOT AWAY FROM BEGIN TO EMERGE BACK INTO THEIR LIVES. NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMED. HENRY GOES CHASING THE PAST, PHIN IS TRYING TO RUN FROM IT, AND LUCY. LUCY IS FINALLY ABLE TO CARE FOR HER FAMILY BUT AT WHAT COST. THEY WERE NEVER A NORMAL FAMILY AND WHEN SECRETS START TO COME OUT NO ONE IS MORE WORRIED THAN LUCY. THEY FINALLY GET THE ENDING THEY DESERVED. PEOPLE START KNOCKING ON DOORS THAT HAVE LONG SINCE BEEN CLOSED. TOTAL LISA JEWELL STYLE. COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN.

I read The Family Upstairs when it first came out and was completely blown away by it. I loved the atmosphere and the mystery behind what really happened.

Fast forward a couple years and with reading hundreds of books since, I didn't really remember much except for the very very basics of it. Thankfully the internet had my back with a quick spoiler filled summary so I could refresh before diving into this one.

That being said; I still think too much time had passed for me to truly enjoy this one. If you haven't read The Family Upstairs yet, which I highly suggest, I think you'll get more out of this one if read closer together.

An addicting read from beginning to end. Captivating storytelling, engrossing characterization, and a plot is utterly consuming. The novel easily swallows you up, allowing you to forget the mystery at hand and become entwined in the intriguing, albeit dark and a bit twisted, lives of these characters. Absolutely, loved it.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheFamilyRemains which was read and reviewed voluntarily.

This review is difficult for me to write because I’m not entirely sure how I feel about The Family Remains. I loved The Family Upstairs, and the suspense factor in that book was 100% on point. When I heard there was going to be a sequel, I knew I HAD to read it, but unfortunately I think I got my hopes up with this one. Honestly, I don’t think this sequel was necessary. I don’t think it really added to the story as a whole and it didn’t grab my attention like the first book. While I do enjoy most of Lisa Jewell’s stories, this one just wasn’t for me.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing a copy of this book to review.*

First line: Groggy with sleep, Rachel peered at the screen of her phone.

Summary: One morning a bag containing a set of bones is found along the River Thames. AS the detective digs into the story behind the dead woman he finds his answers in a house with a very dark history.

Lucy and Henry Lamb have finally come to terms with what happened to them as children and are trying to move on with their lives. Lucy has a relationship with her long lost daughter and is finally settling down after years of living on the run. But Henry has different ideas for his new life. He is searching for the boy who he loved for so many years and he is willing to cross an ocean to find him.

Rachel Rimmer believes she has found the man of her dreams. However, on their honeymoon things start to change between them. And then he is found murdered in his home in the south of France. Who is to blame for this startling change in her world?

My Thoughts: I love Lisa Jewell. She has written some amazingly good stories that keep you guessing the whole way through. But this one was different. It had a mystery to solve but it felt more like some kind of cat and mouse game. There is a lot of chasing people around. Either looking for someone or an answer. I liked that we got to go back into the world of The Family Upstairs, which I thought was one of Jewell’s best books. I needed to read a synopsis of the first book but once I did the story instantly came back to me. Even though I did not rate this as high as many of her others, I did enjoy it and found the story compelling but it just was not what I was expecting. And sometimes it is okay to leave a book a standalone.

This can be read as a standalone but I highly recommend you read these back to back so some of the details are fresh so you can appreciate how amazing this is!! I honestly started this without the reread and was confused and didn't remember many of the characters/details. The first is also incredible and I really recommend you read The Family Upstairs first. They are both SO FUN.

Lisa Jewell writes domestic thrillers so well. I LOVE a good psycho and Henry is top notch! Quite reminiscent of Joe Goldberg. Henry is a fantastic, well developed, psychotic character!

Maybe I should have re-read The Family Upstairs before reading this, because this was a mess for me to wade through without good recall of that book.

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

The Family Remains is a complicated sequel to The Family Upstairs. I had to review the complicated relationships from the first book that I enjoyed so much just to follow the characters in this book. I even drew a family tree. I found myself less interested in the characters this time. Some we knew were already pretty awful and in this book we get so many more details of their awfulness. All things considered, I was intrigued to see how this ended and I wasn't disappointed. I don't know if I want any more to do with this clan, but I was kind of glad to see what had become of them.

The Family Remains is a convoluted story about several families who lived together thirty years prior to the story. They were dysfunctional in every sense of the word. The children were abused, the parents were monstrous, and all of their lives were horrific. When the children were able to escape they scattered in different directions, changing their names, and going into hiding. As the story unfolds, some of the members have reunited and the secrets they have held close are beginning to surface.

The Family Remains is a stand-alone novel but it is actually a follow-up to Ms Jewell’s 2019 book, The Family Upstairs. Although readers are assured that reading the first book isn’t necessary in order to enjoy her newest one, I would strongly advise that these books be read in the order they were written. This will provide background and context that will make the second book much more understandable.

While I liked The Family Upstairs, I didn’t enjoy this newest book as much as I had hoped I would. The characters are unlikable, the plot is difficult to follow (possibly because it has been nearly three years since I read the previous book), and overall it was unsatisfying. In the end I felt very little empathy for any of the people involved and I really didn’t care how any of them fared.

But, with that said, I will reluctantly give The Family Remains 3 stars simply because the author obviously has a remarkable writing ability. The story does have a clever plot with lots of moving parts and it includes a wide variety of personalities. It just wasn’t the book for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

When someone discovers a bag of bones in the Thames River, the London detectives are forced to reopen a case that seems to be long forgotten about. And when that case ties back to Henry and Lucy Lamb, and the events that unfolded in their childhood home, secrets are revealed, questions are answered, and people who are lost are found. As their lives are turned upside down and the past they worked so hard to bury becomes unearthed, the Lamb family must face the reality that their secrets are no longer safe.

I wanted to like this book since I liked the first is was a weird and crazy and creepy. This book? It starts out like something is going to happen and then drags out with a whole lot of nothing...

Here we follow Henry, Lucy in the present and Rachel in the past. Rachel being the wife of Lucy’s ex-husband. Rachel’s story is boring and full of her insecurities and the journey of her relationship which considering Lucy’s experience is clearly doomed. Then in the present it’s been a year since d Lucy was reunited with her daughter and brother. She’s looking for a place of her own for her and her two young children as she’s been staying with her brother. While she’s trying to move on with her life she’s also worried about her brother’s obsession with someone from their past... Henry the highly unreliable narrator from the first book is on a quest to find the object of his obsession since childhood. Everything about Henry has always seemed a bit off so who knows what he might do if he should find him. Why he’s so obsessed I can’t even guess... yes he grew up under some extreme circumstances and was forced to find his own way in the world in the aftermath of his parents’ deaths.

The other things going on are a detective working on a case where bones have been found that connect back to the house of horrors Henry and Lucy grew up in. And Rachel has been contacted about her husband being found dead in his house in France.

What is the point of this book? I mean the first one was fine the way it left off with you wondering if they might find Phineas but it wasn’t necessary to know if they did or not. Did we need to know about Micheal’s 2nd marriage and the misery Rachel endured? Nope not really we already knew he was an awful person. There’s no underlying sense of suspense or mystery to this whole thing. I mean there is a mystery with the detective trying to solve the case of the bones but if you read the first book you already know everything that happened. It’s just a long boring unnecessary sequel. I considered giving up on this at least 10 times absolutely everything was predictable and stupid. The frustrating part is the writing isn’t bad it’s just the story.

Was this the worst thing I’ve read? No but it was not good it was pointless and somebody should have done something about Henry who is riding off into the sunset to create havoc elsewhere. Just really not good I would not recommend and I paying money for the hardcover book I got from book of the month.

Okaaaay, LJ, I see you!

I will admit, I found The Family Upstairs to be super weird. But like in that “I can’t look away” kind of weird.

But this sequel? I LOVED. It was so great to get a further glimpse into the lives of these characters after what they went through as children. I loved the mystery and suspense. I loved the dual timelines and multiple POVs. Everything about it was just so enjoyable.

Although this can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading The Family Upstairs first if you haven’t already. The backstory makes this one much better!

I’m a bit late writing this review and while I didn’t read the previous title this one stands on its own. I found it a bit confusing with the number of characters and the various pseudonyms but overall a fun read-twisted-unpredictable-and captivating. A high recommend!

This is a great sequel to The Family Upstairs. Siblings Henry and Lucy Lamb are back along with Libby. We follow their stories from the present day. After some human bones are found the mystery about Henry and Lucy’s childhood is re-examined. As we know from the first book they lived in a house of horrors as children. This book solves some more of the questions about what went on in that house long ago. I really enjoyed this book and it was great to get some answers to the secrets of Henry and Lucy’s lives as children. There are some more interesting characters introduced and they propel the story forward. Another great book from this author!!

I had read the Family Upstairs a couple of years ago so I was intrigued to read the sequel. This book heavily references the first book, so I really recommend reading the books in order to get the full scope of the story.
I was curious about reading this as I heard the author had not wanted to write a sequel but her readers had demanded it. But willing or not this book is a solid read. Told from multiple points of view, a murder is a investigated, old relationships are renewed, and a new twist has been added. This book could almost stand on it's own, but as I mentioned the first book is brought up constantly so you are really missing key points of the story if you skip the first book.
I give this 5 stars for "unputdownableness" of this book, once I was about 40 pages in, I really dove in and wanted to read it nonstop. The storytelling is strong and interesting.
This sequel lives up to it's promise, a great book for Lisa Jewell fans.
Thank you Netgalley and Atria books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A sequel to the Family Upstairs that can also be read as a stand-alone. There is some background information you may miss but nothing that is going to take away from the story. The story flips between Lucy and Henry, who are brother and sister, Rachel, and Samuel (police investigator). There are also a few smaller players that get their chapters. Human bones wrapped in a plastic bag are found on Thames by a mudlurker. It's soon evident that the bones belonged to a musician who was part of a pop band that had one large hit. Her brother said she disappeared off the face of the earth, and only remember that someone had invited her to go live in a huge house with a family. Meanwhile, Henry and Lucy have learned of the location of Phin (or Finn as her goes by now), the father of Lucy's baby and son of the man who held them captive in that huge house for 5 years. I personally feel this book was better than the original book.

Perhaps I would have enjoyed this novel more if I had read the first book instead of starting with the sequel. I’m sure the important points were repeated within the story but it seemed like I came late to the party. I’m also not quite sure why the author decided to have the chapters jump back and forth in time; looking back, most the story could have been told chronologically and been a bit less confusing. However, the author does have a great grip on writing suspense so the narrative kept my interest and read quickly.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster/Atria for the ARC to read and review.

"I've come to accept our sins as survival strategies."

The above sums up the satisfying sequel The Family Remains by just as satisfying author Lisa Jewell. Though this could be a stand alone I found listening and reading The Family Upstairs right before tackling The Family Remains to be like bingeing a really good popcorn eating TV mini series.

In this detailed sequel we learn what happened to the children left behind from the horrors of The Family Upstairs. As adults, Lucy, Phin, and Harry have to suffer the consequences of con man/cult leader David and as well as their own actions to escape the craziness of their home.

In The Family Remains we understand their motivations behind some severely sinful acts but we also see the repercussions of their past and present decisions.

Expertly performed by a full cast, Dominic Thorburn, Bea Holland
Josh Dylan, Eleanor Tomlinson,
Thomas Judd, and Hugh Quarshie, both books make you care about if the family that remains can heal, forgive and still be a family.

There are new characters to add to the cheating, lying, creepiness, stalking and murder. The author definitely answers the questions of what ever happen to the family from that suicide murder 30 years ago but at the very end I loved that she kept the door open for this duology to become a trilogy with a wink to her readers and a bit of "what if" about the confusing sometimes psychotic Harry. I hope we see what remains of him in the future.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.