Having been a follower of this author for many years, I was looking forward to this sequel. It's been ages since I read the first one and was glad to see some recaps to refresh my memory.
The first part of the book had me interested in knowing more of the lives of Lucy, Henry aka Phinn,, aka Joshua the real Phinn aka Finn, Rachael and Michael, but then it started to be tedious. The book was taking too long to pull it together and I found myself skimming which is never a good sign.
When Henry takes off to find Finn in the US, the obsession was just too much for me. Then Lucy and her kids go chasing after him which was even more than I needed. I just don't understand Henry at all, not his need to find Finn, not his past actions of torturing Finn, not his need for plastic surgery, etc to be like Finn. He just annoyed me.
I gave it many tries to keep me engrossed, but gave up about 60% into it as I just didn't care what happened with any of them. Spoiler alert, I will say that we learn near the beginning that Michael has been murdered, then the rest of the story leads up to it. The only reason I read as much as I did was because he deserved it and I was curious as to who did it, but it was not enough to keep me going.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

Lisa Jewell's new book, The Family Remains, is, to a certain degree, a follow up to her bestseller, The Family Upstairs. You could read this newest as a stand alone, but I think you'd get more out of it if you had the background from that first book.
Quick recap: Twenty five years ago, Libby was the baby found alive in a rundown manor, with three dead bodies in the house and two others missing.

Present day: Rachel's husband Michael is found murdered in his house in France.

And these two disparate events will cross paths in unexpected ways.

I think anyone who read The Family Upstairs, will be eager to find out what happened "after". I know I was!

This book is told in multiple timelines from multiple points of view. I had to refamiliarize myself with names from the past and match them up to the names they are using now.

Jewell takes the reader on a twisty tale with a satisfying ending and closure for the players. I did find one reconciliation to be a bit of a letdown after it played such a large part in the plot. Somehow for me, it was too jolly. (Yes, an odd descriptor)

But overall, I quite enjoyed The Family Remains. Jewell always pens an addictive read.

I love how Lisa tied together the first book with the second. It helped in not forgetting important details. Multiple point of views are my favorite so I really enjoyed that. I love me some family drama!

The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell is a very highly recommended psychological thriller and a sequel to The Family Upstairs.

Following multiple storylines in different time periods, the opening of the novel features a cast of characters, which will be very beneficial. In 2019, DCI Samuel Owusu is called out to the shore of the Thames to examine bones that are found washed up on the shore in a trash bag and found by a mudlarker. He calls Rachel Rimmer to inform her that her ex-husband is dead. In 2016, Rachel Gold meets Michael Rimmer and ends up marrying him after a quick courtship which ends with Michael’s murder in the Antibes in 2018. In 2019 Henry Lamb has his sister Lucy and her two children staying with him. Lucy was once married to Michael; and Lucy’s daughter is Libby Jones, whose escape from their childhood “house of horrors” was the centerpiece of the previous book. Henry’s is obsessed with Finn Thomsen, from his traumatic youth and searches for him in Chicago.

On The Family Remains you really need to read The Family Upstairs first. Sometimes it doesn't matter so much but with this sequel it really does, as does the cast of characters at the beginning. Trust me. After that you will realize that this is an amazing sequel full of suspense and mysteries as well as some nail-biting tension. The plot itself is intricate and, again, depends upon you acquaintance with the characters from The Family Upstairs. The story, which jumps around in time and between characters in each chapter, does involve child abuse.

Jewell is an excellent writer and that is evident in The Family Remains. The intricate plot and well developed characters are fully established in the plot through four different narratives. It does take some time to develop connections between the different timelines and stories, but in the end it is worth it. Henry's obsession with Finn is especially intense and chilling.

This is another excellent novel from Jewell, who is quickly becoming a favorite author due to her reliability in writing an exceptional story.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria Books via NetGalley
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Edelweiss, Google Books, and Amazon.

Unfortunately this follow up novel did not grab attention. Found it dragging and uninteresting. The characters had a mildly intriguing engagement, just not enough for me.

Unfortunately, I did not read the first book of this series before I embarked on this novel. This led to a lot of note-taking on my part as I tried to piece together what had already taken place. Aside from this slight annoyance, I thought that the novel was great!
It takes place 25 years after 4 teens escape from a terrible and traumatizing childhood home. Bones from one of the inhabitants of this home are discovered and an investigation is opened, bringing fear and flight to the now middle-aged escapees. There is also a side story involving a rich, shady man who has connections to one of the former teens.
This book was creepy and intense and I highly recommend it-just read the #1 book first to avoid my experience.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Sequels may be a roll of the dice, but Lisa Jewell never disappoints me. I was obsessed with this book. I enjoyed the additional time with the returning characters and really loved the new characters, particularly Rachel. This book managed what felt impossible, because I really felt satisfied with the end of The Family Upstairs, but this found threads I hadn’t even considered of this story to expand on and fulfill me with. This might have given me my best book hangover of the summer, I am positively bummed to say I’ve finished it. Thrilling, hard to put down, and full of surprises.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

Thank you Atria, NetGalley and Lisa Jewell for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

PAUSE before we go any further. I LOVED this book, but if you haven't read THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS you need to stop right now and do that. I know this book is marketed as a standalone sequel but you will not love this book nearly as much as you should without reading THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS.

My very first Lisa Jewell book was Then She Was Gone & I was hooked by her writing from there. THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS was a wonderful thriller. I LOVE CULT VIBES & she didn't disappoint. I also loved the flawed & unpredictable main character Henry Lamb. I was captivated by his thoughts as an adult. A good MC you can't figure out if you love or hate. Henry has been unpredictable since book 1 and we went searching for answers about him in book 2. And we found them. Lisa Jewell tied his character's story up perfectly in this one.

My FAVORITE character in this book was Rachel. I was desperate to get to every chapter where we were talking about her story line. I can't say much without spoiling THE FAMILY REMAINS but know that this sequel was made better because of Rachel's character.

FINAL THOUGHTS: You shouldn't read this book as a standalone. PLEASE read THE FAMILY REMAINS first & really get to know the characters. Lisa Jewell tied this entire culty, thriller story up with a bow. A wonderful duet thriller.

I reeeally liked The Family Upstairs. I gave it five stars. I was skeptical I’d this book because I didn’t think it needed a sequel, and I still mostly stand by that.

Without the context of the first book, this one would be BEYOND confusing. It was confusing even though I knew all the characters already. A LOT happens, which is good, but I just feel like it was just people running in circles around each other the whole time. The ending very much reminded me of the first book.

It gives me American Horror Story vibes. Which is a high compliment. Love seeing the character development. Really like the DI working the murder case.

Overall, I liked this. Will I be recommending it? Probably not.

Lisa Jewell is one of my go-to thriller authors! I loved this follow up to The Family Upstairs. Lisa Jewell provided closure to the story she began in The Family Upstairs. This book follows the Lamb siblings, the children who grew up in the cult-like environment in the house in Chelsea. Their childhood affected them tremendously in their adult lives and some human remains that washed up on the banks of the Thames ties to the Lamb siblings and the house of horrors.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dark, chilling, unsettling, and disturbing. Lisa Jewell delivers another beautifully written, unputdownable novel with more twists and turns than one could imagine.

The Family Remains, the standalone sequel to The Family Upstairs, offers progression to the storylines of its predecessor. The narrator changes with each chapter and your will find yourself flipping ahead to take a peek for when the book gets back to the narrator that just dropped the biggest bomb.

Overall, this follow up brings satisfying closure to the intriguing relationships of the Lamb and Thomsen families. Though this book is technically a standalone sequel, I do suggest reading The Family Upstairs first.

Jewell is an absolute master in this genre, giving readers suspense, likable and unlikeable characters, and so many OMG moments. I don’t know how she does it, but I remain in awe.

Thank you Atria Books for the gifted copy of The Family Remains.

𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘺, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹!

I had no idea what to expect from this one and it was a great surprise. I loved it, it had so much twists, messed up characters, complex and intricate situations, and the way it all came together at the end it was just perfect!

Thank you Atria Books Simon & Schuster Audio and NetGalley for this gifted copy.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell comes an intricate and affecting novel about twisted marriages, fractured families, and deadly obsessions in this standalone sequel to The Family Upstairs.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and review an advanced readers copy of this book. This in no way affects my review, all opinions are my own.

I'm giving this one 3.5 stars rounded down, only because this just isn't a four star read for me. This sequel follows the Lamb family members that we were introduced to in The Family Upstairs, plus some additional characters and POVs. I love how Jewell separates her chapters and builds suspense with the differing POVs and time periods. There were a couple of cliffhangers throughout the book that kept me on the edge of my seat (especially *that* Henry chapter, if you know you know).

I also loved the introduction of Rachel and thought she was a phenomenal character. It added so many questions that kept the reader invested in the story. However, overall this book was a little slow to me. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book, and I would personally say that this book is not a standalone. There's no way I could've followed all of the names, and understood the references if I didn't read The Family Upstairs. I liked how we got some closure in this sequel, but I think that there was a lot of filler that made the suspense deflate for me. I'm still happy I read this and did overall enjoy it, it just wasn't my favorite.

The Family Remains is the highly anticipated sequel to Lisa Jewell's chilling The Family Upstairs. Y'all, I devoured it!
I don't want to say too much for fear of spoilers, but the book revisits Lucy, her life with her kids, and being back in London, living with her brother Henry and making up for lost time with Libby. The search is on for Phin so that Libby might meet her birth father when a mudlark discovers human bones on the bank of the River Thames and a police investigation ensues. The investigation leads back to the Chelsea mansion Libby inherited, the house of horrors where Henry, Lucy, and Phin were raised, and their parents were found dead in a group suicide thirty years ago. In addition, we meet Rachel, the second wife of Lucy's abusive ex-husband Michael, who must answer questions for the French police to help solve Michael's murder. These threads intertwine and converge, making for an unputdownable psychological thriller.
Jewell breathes so much life into her characters that they feel real, which was helpful with the multiple POVs. Being inside Henry's head is darkly fascinating. He is broken, obsessive, deluded, desperate, and contriving, which makes him somewhat unpredictable and a lot of fun to read! I also found DCI Owusu and his ability to read people so compelling that I'd love to see him again.
If you enjoyed The Family Upstairs, you will not want to miss this gripping sequel! Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Lisa Jewell just never fails to disappoint. This book is haunting and spooky without falling into the usual tropes we see in thrillers these days.

3.5 Stars. I really enjoyed The Family Upstairs and have been eagerly awaiting its follow-up for awhile now. While I was happy to get to continue the story of Henry and Lucy and Libby, I do have to say that The Family Remains didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

First off, the synopsis will tell you this is a standalone sequel, and maybe it could be, but I would definitely encourage you to read The Family Upstairs first (I would recommend this anyways because it’s an excellent book). I re-read it before diving into this one and I was very glad I did because there was quite a lot I didn’t remember and felt like it added a lot to have it fresh in my mind.

This story picks up with the Lamb’s family search for Phin, but also introduces us to new characters. There’s Samuel, the detective who is investigating Birdie’s murder, whose remains were just recently found. Then there’s Rachel, the wife of Lucy’s abusive ex, Michael. I did like Samuel and his investigation. I felt like Rachel’s story, however, belonged in a different book. It very loosely ties to the main plotline in relationship to Lucy’s past. It details Rachel’s relationship with Michael, from their first meet to his death, and beyond. And I don’t want to say that it wasn’t interesting or an important story of what this type of abuse looks like, it just didn’t really have anything at all to do with what else was going on and felt like filler. I just wanted to get past those chapters to get back to Henry and Lucy and the murder investigation.

While I was satisfied with how the investigation played out, I felt like the whole plotline with Henry’s search for Phin – and Lucy’s search for Henry while he searched for Phin – was very anticlimactic. There’s a tremendous amount of dread being built up that all fizzles out in the conclusion. I also thought it was pretty unbelievable how easily Henry’s search went. All he knew was that Phin was in Chicago and he just happens to find the right neighborhood and acquaintances and clues within a matter of days?

Overall, The Family Remains had that addictive quality that I have come to expect from Lisa Jewell books and I really just flew right through it. I’m also always happy when authors listen to readers who plea for sequels. And I was happy with how everything turned out. It just all felt a little underwhelming to me, though. I wanted a little more character development than we got and thought the whole Rachel plotline was a little pointless here.

It’s no secret that I love Lisa Jewell - she will forever be an auto-buy author for me! I finally read The Family Upstairs last month (I know, I’m late to the game) in preparation of the release of THE FAMILY REMAINS today. I loved The Family Upstairs so much and **spoiler alert,** I loved THE FAMILY REMAINS just as much! I’m always a bit wary when it comes to sequels, but this sequel totally delivered!

THE FAMILY REMAINS is deliciously twisty and full of family drama! I thought the character development was superb and the plot was executed beautifully even though there were dual timelines and multiple POVs. The story is intricate but not once did I feel confused or disinterested. I thought the flow of the book was great - it definitely turned into a page turner!

THE FAMILY REMAINS is a standalone but I highly recommend that you read The Family Upstairs first, preferably right before you read THE FAMILY REMAINS! That way you get the full backstory and it really elevates your reading experience that much more.

Rating: 4.5 stars (rounded up to 5).

Thank you so much, @netgalley, @atriabooks and Lisa Jewell, for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell is a terrific psychological thriller that is book two of The Family Upstairs series. It grabbed me from page one, as DI Samuel Owusu is handed a bag of bones found in the Thames by a mud-larker. “I feel the door to the world open, and I step inside.”
Thus, the story of the family and inhabitants of 16 Cheyne Walk took over my mind again, as Henry, Lucy, Phin and Libby’s lives during the past 20 years are elucidated and examined. These characters are like old friends from book one, and they are joined here by Rachel (Michael Rimmer’s second wife) and DI Owusu adding to the story.
Told in two timelines and multiple POVs, the story explores old crimes, family relationships, and complex motivations. All the main characters are beautifully drawn, but Henry—wry, clever, damaged, and obsessive—is at once fascinating and worthy of sympathy, and a bit sociopathic.
I loved peering into Henry’s head again!
Lisa Jewell is the master of juggling multiple timelines and POVs, while imbuing her characters with complexity and humanity.
I could not put this book down—the story is immersive, the mystery gripping as truths are unveiled in its conclusion.
While it can be read as a stand-alone novel, I think it would be enjoyed far more if the reader was familiar with the characters and plot of the first novel, The Family Upstairs.
I highly recommend this excellent psychological thriller, and hope there will be more tales of this family and DI Owusu in the future!

Thank you to Atria Books/Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review

The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell

In this follow-up to The Family Upstairs, the secrets of the house of horrors are out again...and we are about to learn the full extent of the fallout.

I read the Family Upstairs a while ago and wish I would have read a quick summary before starting this, but honestly even not having done that, it all kind of came back to me as I was reading. I really liked this--especially Rachel's story, which brought a fresh perspective. I think fans of Lisa Jewell will be happy with this one--I certainly was!

Thank you so much to @atriabooks and @netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was a satisfying follow up book to the Family Upstairs. I loved that this book was a deeper dive into the previous story. You got a different spin and a deeper understanding. It has some twists and few turns. I was fully engrossed and felt like the story was concluded well, giving justice to the characters and their stories.