So, when I read the first one I won’t lie, I didn’t love it. It was a 3 star for me. With that being said, I was a little apprehensive to read this one considering I thought the first one fell flat. But I am so glad I decided to give this one a shot because it blew the first one out of the water.

I didn’t necessarily love this one either but I overall enjoyed it which is a big step up from the first one.

Things I did LOVE about this one:

-It’s much darker and sinister than the first one. 😍
-I loved Rachel as a new addition to the storyline because quite frankly I never cared much for the other characters

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It's been a little while since I've fallen asleep at night wondering what x, y, or z fictional character was up to in that moment, as though I could just call them up and see if they had anything interesting to report or tell them about the trivial oddities of my own day. Yet, Lisa Jewell has a real talent for making these fully formed people show up in my head, and they have so many adventures to tell me about.

Wow! I was so thrilled to read this book! Because that creepy, intense, extremely eerie, spin tingling “Family Upstairs” book rocked my world! When I learned there was sequel, I screamed “yes, please, I need this!”

I have to advise you to read or reread the first book again to get into this story because this is not a standalone and without knowing the characters’ back stories and things happened that haunted mansion that invaded by parasites who act like cult members, you find yourself left in the dark!

Actually : this book is not a mystery or thriller. Of course there’s a crime investigation conducting by DI Samuel Owosu after a mud larking professional found bones of 25 years old ballerina thrown at Thames River.

And Michael Raimes found murdered brutally at his house in France , the very same man was married with Lucy Lamb: one of the victims who has been raped and abused at the mad house!
But those mysteries unfolded so slowly! The reason you’re so drawn into this sequel: your desire to find out what happened to those characters! This book is a CLOSURE! In my opinion, the way how things conclude is so fair!

I have to remind you how the story ended at the first book:
Innocent, famished, tortured, psychically and psychologically abused kids accomplished to escape from the mad house and that evil couple David and Birdie: scarier than Natural Born Killers’ Mickey and Mallory got what they deserved. The little baby Serenity is raised by foster parents, becoming very nice, gold hearted young lady called Libby inherited the mad house and learned the traumatic truth about her parents, having a fulfilled relationship with her journalist boyfriend Miller who wrote an article about mad house!

And as I told, the bones of a young woman found in Thames and another murder case in France may be linked to the Lamb siblings!
What happened to them exactly?

Lucy moves Henry’s house with her two teenage children, reconnecting with her daughter Libby, looking for her own house with the help of inheritance money her daughter kindly shared with her and uncle Henry.

They also found traces of Phineas, living in Botswana. They even plan a family reunion but Lucy finds out Phin already hit the road as soon as he found out their intention.

Henry who is not only using Phineas’ name, but his looks with his bleached hair and reconstructed face, whitened teeth has no intention to give up so easily. We know how obsessed with Phin and his obsession grew throughout the years. But what will he do when he finds him? In the past things got escalated between them. Henry already chained him to the radiator and forced him drink love position that poisoned, didn’t he?

I tried to give a quick recap of the events from the first book and extra information about new storyline.

My last conclusions:
Don’t read this book as a mystery, just read it to find out the closures of the characters. It was perfectly and honestly written. Henry was the most interesting, complex, dark and broken character of the book and I absolutely loved his POVs. His character reminded me of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho ( especially his future life, his extra meticulousness, his obsessions, his luxurious life style, his troubled emotional state) I easily connected with him and in my opinion he definitely deserved a second chance after what he’s been through like all the others.

Quick note: As a big fan who devours Double Double burgers weekly , I found a FALSE INFORMATION in the chapter 45! There’s no In&Out Burger store in Chicago. The spokesman of In&Out already told that they don’t have any plans to do so. That information has to be corrected.

Overall: I love the conclusion and I enjoyed to revisit the characters of the book who are middle aged in the new book and I am so happy Michael got what he deserved.

Lisa Jewell is my all time favorite authors! I read anything she writes with full contentment by canceling everything in my life.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

THERE IS NO IN N OUT BURGER IN CHICAGO MISS JEWELL
but I forgive you queen, bc this book was fantastic as always. I think I enjoyed it even more than The Family Upstairs. Jewell’s books usually focus more of character dynamics as opposed to trying to solve a mystery (usually she gives us the answers within the first half) but this one had many twists and turns and family drama…top tier Lisa Jewell

When I finished The Family Upstairs I needed the sequel immediately. This was exactly what I wanted from this book! Suspensful and exciting. Another gem from Lisa Newell.

(Please check CWs if you plan to read this.) The Family Remains is a sequel to The Family Upstairs and while it isn't fully necessary to have read the first book, it definitely helps to get a fuller picture of the trauma that the Lamb/Thomsen/Jones family have endured. This sequel takes a really interesting turn, picking up right where the previous book left off to give us more insight into the loose ends. The first book was really very dark and grim, and this one gives us that same experience. I liked that we got a chance to follow several different characters and I thought the way the stories were intertwined was cleverly done. I also think Lisa Jewell did a great job of knowing when to hold information back from the audience; this was done at one point in particular and I felt it made the payoff stronger. Overall, I enjoyed this book more than the first because I was already filled in on the content of the first and this book felt more tense and true to the thriller genre!

I do want to note that I saw another reviewer mention this and I have to agree, that the description of this book makes it out to be something different than what I experienced reading it. The blurb makes it seem like we are solely following Rachel's quest to finding her husband's murderer, when in actuality that is only 1/3 of the different stories we follow.

*Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for a review!

Lisa Jewell' s sequel to The Family Upstairs is remarkable and an extraordinary continuation and completion of the saga. Of course, being the novelist she is, the twists and turns and new cases for the detectives kept me guessing until the amazing conclusion. Once again, it was mystery at its best.

A mudlarker finds human remains on the bank of the Thames and as the police try to identify the victim they are led into the twisted family history that has survived The Family Upstairs. The Family Remains was a page turner that visited old friends and left the reader wondering "what is Henry going to do next???".

Lisa is one of my favorite authors and I have read everything she has written. I’ve never been disappointed in any of her books though some are definitely more suspenseful than others. The Family Upstairs was one such one. It is a stand out and I still think about it. I was over the moon to find out there would be a standalone sequel. You will find some of the memorable characters you loved from the previous book. I will say that the blurb for this is a little misleading and even just going in blind will work for you.

I want to say I may love this one more than the other! The book is based on two mysteries which are where is Phin and who killed Birdie. You will lose yourself as you jump into the story with the characters and feel as if you are experiencing their fast beating hearts when things get scary. Hold onto your seat for all the twists and turns you will,be taken on. Even the characters you may not like you will find yourself rooting for.

Whether this is your first Lisa book or your 5th this is one that you don’t want to miss out on,.