This book kept me engaged the entire time. I would definitely recommend it to someone or even (possibly) read it again. It made me want to check out the author's other work.

This was a great sequel to the The Family Upstairs, which previously was my least favorite Lisa Jewell. I feel this book helped tie up the parts I felt were missing previously. I liked how they gave everyone a good ending, and Henry stayed just as strange.

Thank you so much to NetGalley & Atria books for the advance e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I LOVE Lisa Jewell's stories, so when I heard about this one I knew it was a must-read for me. I listened to the first book on audio a few months ago in preparation for this release. I think that wasnt the best for that book because I don't think I retained enough to get a good understanding for this sequel.

None the less, I loved this book. It was a great story with compelling characters. I love the way this authir can take a slow burn book and give it a huge twist ending that makes the slow-ness worth it. I also really enjoyed the short but concise chapters - makes it a quicker and more devourable read for me!

Overall I really enjoyed this one. Lisa's books have become such a staple for my fall reads TBR and I look forward to them every year now!

My biggest complaint about this book is that the American characters (those they encountered in Chicago) spoke like Brits. For example, an American would never say, "I picked him up from the airport and took him back to ours for dinner." This author needs to learn how Americans speak or at least have an American edit that dialog.

The back-and-forth between different POVs got a little confusing; would have been better if each chapter was labeled with the character's name.

I really enjoyed this read. There were some parts that I was a but confused at only because there were so many different characters but in the end it all made sense. I really liked the ending, although I have to say I was expecting another crazy twist but it was almost refreshing that it didn’t go in that direction.

I am typically a huge Lisa Jewell fan, but unfortunately this one fell a bit flat for me. I read The Family Upstairs a while back and really enjoyed that novel. I found that this one was a REALLY slow burn, and I often got lost when it came to who's point of view i was reading. This book is marketed as a sequel, but also could be a standalone. I don't think this would be a great standalone, as it was confusing keeping up with the characters. I think it would be especially confusing if you didn't read The Family Upstairs. Overall, this book was alright, however not very memorable.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance reader copy of this book. I loved the first book and couldn't wait to read this one. Just as good in my opinion. I love the twisty way several stories come together. 4 stars

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for a copy of Lisa Jewell’s The Family Remains.

The Family Remains is a sequel to Jewell’s 2019 novel, The Family Upstairs. The first novel in the series ended without necessarily requiring a sequel, yet left many of the characters adrift after escaping a traumatizing situation. The Family Remains brings a sense of closure to their lives, allowing the characters time to rebuild and process. Although, of course the story is not so simple, as that would make for a very dull book!

In The Family Remains, siblings Lucy and Henry are faced with confronting their past, when Henry decided to track down an old friend. Henry is a mysterious character and it is unclear if unresolved childhood damage has turned him into a dangerous adult. Lucy, who has been living under a different identity and fears exposure, is compelled to risk her secrecy and fly to Chicago to find Henry. Exposure for the siblings is further risked when the body of a pop-star washes ashore on the Thames, a decades old murder that involves the siblings.

You do not need to have read The Family Upstairs to understand or enjoy The Family Remains. They are independent books. However, I feel that my experience of the sequel was enhanced by reading the first book. I wish I had read them back-to-back, as I had forgotten many details of The Family Upstairs Jewell does not often write sequels, but I was pleased that she decided to revisit these memorable characters and give them closure, especially Henry.

I’m a huge fan of Lisa Jewell and I have read most of her books. Although I enjoyed The Family Remains, I felt it was a little slower paced and not as engaging as her other books. Perhaps it was due to the necessary information drops to remind us of the events in The Family Upstairs. Also, the first book was very chilling and unexpected, while The Family Remains had less overall tension. It was more of a closure story than a straight-up mystery, which made me feel happy for the characters that I had grown to like, but also didn’t lends itself to the normal surprise of her other books.

One small thing that drove this California native crazy…Lucy’s family goes to burger chain In-and-Out during their visit to Chicago. This chain does not exist in Chicago! Because I knew this, it momentarily took me out of the story.

If you’re a fan, absolutely read The Family Remains. If you’re new to Jewell, read The Family Upstairs.

I have always liked Jewell's books but this one really dragged for me. I had read the Family Upstairs which I enjoyed so I was familiar with the characters. I don’t find this a thriller or that it really had a mystery. At times I was confused who was speaking as there are timelines going back and forth. Also didn’t like how it rushed an ending.

The Family Remains
My thanks to #NetGalley and #Simon&Schuster for the advance copy ebook of #TheFamilyRemains by Lisa Jewell, in exchange for an honest review. I am a huge Lisa Jewell fan, and I eagerly await new titles, and this one did not disappoint! A continuation of #TheFamilyUpstairs, The Family Remains brings us back to the Lamb family and all their glory. I highly recommend reading The Family Upstairs first, as it will help the reader better understand the nuance of this sequel. I just love the drama that surrounds this family! It’s a suspenseful, psyc

I am always a huge Lisa fan, and this one was amazing per usual. I loved the sequel diving into Henry’s life! I would highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the chance to review this book.
One of my favorite questions to ask other readers is, “What authors are on your auto-read list?” Lisa Jewell has been one of mine for the last couple of years, so I was excited when I first heard about her new book, The Family Remains. I was even more excited to hear that it was a continuation of The Family Upstairs, published back in 2019.

First off, you do not need to read The Family Upstairs prior to reading this book. You can absolutely read The Family Remains as a standalone. In fact, I think you can argue that the book is more exciting if you read it as a standalone because much of the plot of The Family Upstairs is rehashed in The Family Remains. It’s been several years since I’ve read The Family Upstairs, and even though it took me a second to keep the characters straight in my head, I was glad I did not refresh my memory by reading a summary of The Family Upstairs first. However, reading the second book first will absolutely spoil the “surprises” in The Family Upstairs (as will reading the rest of this review).

The Family Remains picks up soon after The Family Upstairs left off. Libby Jones has just sold her childhood home, and she’s splitting the money between her mom, Lucy Lamb, and her uncle, Henry Lamb. The family has also made arrangements to go see Libby’s birth father, Phin Thomsen, in Botswana. Henry, who is still nursing an obsession with Phin so deeply ingrained that he dyed his hair and had plastic surgery to look like him, catches wind of the trip and tries to casually tag along. However, his obsession shows through the cracks. Shortly after Lucy and Libby reveal that Henry is coming with them, Phin suddenly disappears. Henry can’t bear to let Phin slip through his fingers again, so he pulls off some next-level stalker moves and finds out that Phin went to Chicago. Henry frantically pursues Phin to Chicago and begins closing in on his location. When Lucy figures out that Henry is gone, she enlists the help of her son, Marco, to find his location. Then, uneasy by her brother’s stalker-ish behavior and the intentions behind it, she chases after him before it’s too late.

While the Lambs are in Chicago, Libby’s life begins to crumble after she is contacted by local police. A mudracker found a bag of bones in the Thames River, and the police soon identify them as belong to Birdie Dunlop-Evers. Birdie played a prominent role in The Family Upstairs, so this storyline brings her tale to fruition. Libby tries to protect her family from the fallout, but she keeps getting caught in her lies. Journalist Miller Roe is also back, and he’s having no more luck with the police. Will the authorities find out what happened in the Lambs’ house of horror?

If two storylines aren’t enough, we have a third one that plays out in this book. Rachel Gold, a 20-something jewelry designer, meets a magnetic older man named Michael Rimmer in a drugstore. Within a few months, the couple is married in a whirlwind romance. Michael seems like the perfect husband until their honeymoon, when Rachel suggests that they make things a little more interesting in the bedroom. This suggestion unleashes Michael’s dark side, and Rachel begins to see the danger lurking to the surface. Before she knows it, Rachel finds herself deeply entwined with Michael’s ex-wife, Lucy Lamb. When Michael ends up dead, Rachel has some explaining to do.

This book adds depth to The Family Upstairs and gives fans of the book a satisfying sequel to the original. Questions I had at the end of the first book were definitely answered. However, while it adds depth to the original story, there’s not a lot of new material. Most of the book chronicles Henry’s hunt for Phin, which was among my least favorite parts of the book. I really enjoyed Rachel’s story, but it only accounted for 1/3 of the plot. If you read The Family Upstairs, I think you leave this book thinking, “That felt like a summary of the first book.” If you didn’t read The Family Upstairs, I think you leave the book thinking, “I’m a little confused about what happened in that house, and I want to know more about that.” I’m torn between whether I think this book should have been a sequel or whether it should have been a couple extra chapters in the original book. While I think The Family Upstairs is a must-read for thriller fans, The Family Remains is one I could take or leave.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

When I heard Lisa Jewell was returning to the Lamb universe with a sequel to "The Family Upstairs," I was a bit wary. "The Family Upstairs" had been so carefully crafted, so intricately plotted that I worried a sequel may not live up to the first novel. I am thrilled to report that I was entirely mistaken. "The Family Remains" is everything I could have hoped for in a second installation of the Lamb family saga. We revisited some of our favorite characters, Libby, Lucy, and Henry, we learned more about the only very briefly mentioned Rachel Rimmer from the first novel, and we met the intrepid DI Samuel Owusu.

DI Owusu appears on the scene when a mudlarking group unearths a bag of bones tossed into the Thames. When he discovers their connection to the murder-suicide of suspected cult members at 16 Cheyenne Walk, he can't help but wonder if he will be the one to finally put this decades-old cold case to rest.

Rachel Rimmer wakes with a start as an early morning phone call informs her that her husband, Michael, has been found dead in the cellar of his vacation home. Police find themselves grasping at straws and turn to Rachel to provide answers about her marriage and her husband. Answers Rachel is desparately trying to avoid giving.

Finally, we return to Libby, Lucy, and Henry Lamb. Everything should be turning up roses for our golden trio after the sale of their ancestral home and the millions waiting for each of them in their respective bank accounts. Instead, Lucy finds herself unable to relax with the specter of Michael's murder lingering over her shoulder. Henry finds the constant intrusion of Lucy and her two children too much to bear, and upon receiving the news that Phinn has fled his Botswana Game Lodge, takes off on a manic and unplanned trip to track him down.

With all of the suspense and the action of the first novel, "The Family Remains" is a must-read for fans of Lucy Foley, Sarah Pinborough, and Ruth Ware, this is truly Lisa Jewell at her finest. Readers will be unable to tear themselves away from the story and will be left with as many questions as they have resolved.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

'The Family Remains,' by Lisa Jewell is a follow up to 'The Family Upstairs.' If you enjoyed the former you will be gloriously sucked back into the family drama. The pacing was perfect, the plotting well done. Great read - but I would recommend it as a sequel and not a stand alone for maximum impact.

Lisa Jewell did it again! She had created another page-turner. I loved The Family Upstairs and was thrilled when I got the chance to read The Family Remains, the sequel.

So. THE family is back, and together with them, the Chelsea mansion, the place that started and ‘almost’ ended everything. Why almost? Because if it ended, we wouldn’t be having a sequel. Ok, bad joke. Let’s move on.

We learn of three events taking place. First, a dead body has been found in the Thames River, and brought to the hands of Detective Owusu. He soon learned that it was connected to a cold case, thirty years ago, which took place in the Chelsea mansion. Second, Lucy was finally returning home after fleeing London thirty years ago, and was about to purchase her first home with her children, until suddenly her brother, Henry took off in search of a boy he was obsessed with many years ago. Then, we are introduced to Rachel Rimmer, who fell head over heels with Michael Rimmer, Lucy’s ex-husband, and married him. But this man didn’t appear anything that he claimed to be. These mysteries would soon reveal how connected these characters are to one another and how it will come to an unexpected end.

I loved meeting the characters again ESPECIALLY Henry (he’s my absolute favourite) and was happy for Lucy who had finally move on, trying to start a new life. What kept me turning the pages were those told by Henry and Rachel. Henry was crazy creepy yet there was something dark and weird about him that kept me turning the pages, wanting to find out how it would all turn out for him on his hunt for Phin. Then we have Rachel whose life changed after she married Michael. But the marriage didn’t end well. Michael was manipulative, conniving and vengeful, and I was hoping to see that he received deserving ending!

Overall, a satisfying ending to this series. I’d recommend it to Jewell fans, especially those who have read its prequel. I agree with some readers who mentioned that you’d appreciate the sequel more if you’d have read The Family Upstairs, because in the prequel, the reader would learn more about the characters. Reading its sequel helped me recall them and the events, but were it read as a standalone, I feel like it wouldn’t do it justice. So, if you’re interested in getting started (which I highly recommend!), read this series in sequence. And if you aren’t already a fan of this author, and you love a good slow-burn thriller, try this series!

I started seeing quite a number of reviews on this book before I picked it up which made me reluctant to do so. What I kept hearing was "what is the purpose of this book" and it was "not needed." While I may tend to slightly agree I still had a good time reading it. I love Lisa Jewell's writing and she just has a way of sucking you in to a story from page 1. It was also fun to be with the characters again for book 2. I will always love reading about Henry's shenanigans and would read a book while he is solely the main character.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read a copy!

For lovers of The Family Upstairs, this follow up book satisfies the desire to see what happened to the characters who had such a chilling start to life. Lucy, Libby, and Henry are back as well as some other characters are back to help us finish the story. We are brought back to the Chelsea mansion where a body has been found nearby. As the detective starts to investigate, he is quickly introduced to the history of this house and the once children who used to live there. Do they have a connection to this body? Both those who have read the first book and those who haven't will find an intriguing mystery wrapped up in a very intersting family drama. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The Night She Disappeared so I was excited to read this new book by Lisa Jewell. I did not enjoy this book at all. I did not read The Family Upstairs and maybe that would have helped with making sense of this story. There was no mystery and it was more of a confusing domestic drama. Thank you #NetGalley for my copy.

The Family Remains is a fantastic thriller by Lisa Jewell.
This book is a follow up sequel to The Family Upstairs.

I really loved this book. The author digs into more of the story from the previous book.

The characters are complex, flawed and unpredictable.

The twists kept me reading until the very end.

This is yet another good read by this author. I love most everything she writes and this is no exception. The plot is always fast paced and engaging and it always has characters which are believable and beautifully broken .
Thanks for letting me review this book to Netgalley and the publisher