Thank you so much to NetGalley and John Marrs for this e-arc! I screamed when I saw this was available on NetGalley.

This rating pains me. I'm so sorry if you ever see this, John 😭 I'm one of his biggest fans and will forever recommend The One, but this book was just a miss for me.

What I love about John is that he comes up with original ideas and intertwines them with great research, good writing and little excerpts of articles that make the whole story feel realistic.

I wouldn't refrain anyone from reading this book at all. I think I'm just very seasoned in true crime stories as of late and this didn't interest me the way I wanted it to.

The only thing I definitely was not a fan of, was the Shakira reference 😂 it made me cringe so badly.

If you like the nature vs nurture thriller trope, this one is definitely for you!

What an absolutely disturbing book (disturbing in a complimentary way)
I saw a few of the ‘twists and turns’ coming but not others especially not the end !!
Such a good book. If I had children I really don’t think I would be able to read this book. I spent much of the time shocked and the rest of the time reminding myself that it isn’t real!
Although the topic is heavy, the style of writing makes it easy to read through the story. The short chapters in different views make you want to read more and more. I did stay up until the early hours saying “just one more chapter”

Thank you to netgalley for the advance copy of the book

Wow! What a twisty book which is impossible to out down.
Totally hooked but this book which is in the style of narrated by the different characters.
I enjoyed trying to predict which character was the anonymous narrator.
John Marrs is an author whose books are amazing and to look out for on the shop bookshelf. However, I’’m not sure how the next book can live up to this one!!

Thought this was fantastic, creepy and amazing. It kept me engage throughout. I look forward to more from this author.

Another excellent chilling thriller from John Marrs.
Mia and Finn are busy turning a derelict house into their dream home when Mia unexpectedly falls pregnant. Mia discovers a chilling message scored into a skirting board: I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC. Their dream home was once a house of horrors.
Who killed all the children? John takes us on a spine tingling journey to find out!

Okay so I am a dedicated reader of all John Marrs' books. So I was really happy to get my gands on this one.
Keep it in the family is the story of Mia and Finn a couple that is about to start a family, move houses and be happy.... or not???
Well maybe yes if it weren't for lots of baggage (spoken literally) from the past!!!
Lean back and enjoy this story!
Thank you #NetGalley #Amazon Publishing UK for this ARC

First of all thank you to NetGalley and John Marrs for the chance to read this ahead of its release in October.

Just when I thought John Marrs books couldn't get any darker than his previous books I've read, it does!

Keep it in the family is a very twisted tale and the secrets this family harboured are so dark and creepy!

I thought I had guessed the twist at the half way mark but I was wrong and that's what I like with John Marrs he always has you guessing until the very end when all is revealed!

I enjoyed the writing style with the multiple perspectives and alternating time lines and felt it was done really well!

This book comes with lots of trigger warnings so please look into these before reading!

I've given it a three star because it was an uncomfortable read!

John Marrs you absolute sicko! In a good way of course!
This is John Marrs at his finest and I would say his best book so far. I don’t want to use the obvious phrase ‘twists and turns’ but there were so many that I couldn’t guess what was going to come next.
I don’t know how he does it so well but let’s crown John Marrs the king of psychological thrillers!

I am a huge John Marrs fan and was delighted to get an advance copy of this novel. John Marrs is a master of thrillers. Keep It In The Family had so many secrets, so many twists and turns and packed with intrigue to keep the reader turning the page. The first few chapters are slower paced I feel to his previous novels but as soon as the pace quickened I couldn't stop reading and raced through the book.

Another winner from John. I can't wait to read another!

4 stars

Mia and Finn have just bought a do-er upper to finally get them out of living in the in-laws annexe, unfortunately in the renovations they uncover some secrets, some closer to home than expected.

I love John Marrs and enjoy his dark thrillers and his style of writing from multiple perspectives, in which this did not disappoint.

I see other reviews saying they figured out the 'twist' early on, but I do think that if you read a lot of this kind of book you tend to have so many theories going around in your head you're bound to get it right - at least that's what happened with me! Some of the events and twists and turns are so so dark you have to wonder how he comes up with this stuff!

I felt like I wanted to know a bit more of the history of this story, I feel there was a lot alluded to but not explicitly described.. my mind takes these things to the darkest corners! Kept me up at night thinking over what may have happened in those rooms...

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Finn and Mia buy a fixer upper from an auction without ever laying eyes on it. When they see it in person, they realize it is a nightmare and will take a lot of time to fix. During the renovation, Mia finds out she is pregnant, then shortly after, they find bodies of dead children in suitcases in the attic. Mia delivers the baby early and then finds that she can't let go of what was found in their attic and begins to investigate to the dismay of those around her.

4.5 stars.

This book was dark and I enjoyed it. I read it in about a day. There were enough new revelations throughout the book to hold my interest and when I thought I had it all figured out there was still more to the story. I like this one about as well as What Lies Between Us. I look forward to this author's next psychological thriller.

Unbelievably Menacing…
Dark, chilling and unbelievably menacing. A derelict house becomes a dream house for Mia and Finn. Or does it? In fact, it’s soon to become the stuff of which nightmares are made when the young couple make a very gruesome discovery indeed. With more twists than you can shake a stick at, an underlying terrifying menace and with a carefully crafted cast this is, perhaps, the darkest yet.

I like John Marrs, mostly, as an author. The One and Passengers are really great, and I loved What Lies Between Us so much.
Some of his other books, I occasionally have problems with. One of the things I don’t enjoy is the consistent use of female infertility as a plot point. It seems to be a part of almost every book.
Perhaps John Marrs has had this happen in his life, in which case, I’d love to read about it from a male perspective. But for me, I’m a bit sick of thrillers where the woman can’t get pregnant and it negatively affects her entire life.
Another trope I can’t stand is when the woman who can’t have kids, magically gets pregnant when she’s been trying for ages and now she stops trying, suddenly it happens. This is way too played out.

With this being said, and with these issues in the book, you’re probably reading this thinking, ‘well, you sound like you hate it but you gave it 4 stars?’
And that is true. I liked it enough to give it 4 stars. This was dark, I think the author’s darkest book so far! It kept me on my toes, and I really enjoyed the horror aspect of this book and that it wasn’t afraid to go where it did. It made me realise, all the way through the book, that literally anything could happen. Nothing was off the table. And I found the story satisfying - an understatement, I found it enjoyable.

I will yet again keep John Marrs as an auto-read. I can’t wait for another book from him. How they keep to this standard!!!

As a major John Marrs fan this book I struggled with this book. It was way too long rambled way too much and the plot drawn out making it unbearable to read.

This is my third John Marrs book but probably my least favorite one. I guess because I love his writing so much, I had high expectations from this book. I grabbed an advanced copy of the book from Netgalley as soon as John announced it's availability on his Insta page. Reading the first few chapters of the book I thought it would take a paranormal twist in the plot. I did enjoy reading the book and there were enough surprising reveals to keep the reader interested but somehow the wow factor was missing. When I read 'What Lies Between Us', I just couldn't believe how twisted the characters were and the plot was brilliant. But in this book I just couldn't make myself invested in the characters.

Mia and Finn have just bought an old and rundown house, even without checking out its current state. When they reach the place, they are appalled at how much renovation would be required to make it habitable. They live with Finn's parents and its quite apparent from the very outset that Mia and Finn's mother, Debbie, don't get along with each other. Finn's father, Dave, is a handyman and along with him Finn starts the long and arduous task of repair and reconstruction of their house. Meanwhile, Mia falls pregnant and the couple are overjoyed because they've been trying for quite sometime.

During the reconstruction they come across a horrible, nightmarish secret that the house withholds in a hidden room in attic. The nature of the crime that's discovered is shocking and gruesome and the lives of the four people in the family will never be the same.

I like how John writes his characters because most of them are morally gray. They can never be categorized as right or wrong. Since the chapters are written in multiple first person narratives, the reader can see how every character justify their deeds. The shifting narration does get confusing at times and add to that the jumping of time periods whenever there is a chapter narrated by the killer, I had to sometimes look back to the beginning of the chapter to see who was narrating it.

I still have most of John Marrs' book in my TBR, but this one, unfortunately, just didn't hit the mark with me.

Thanks to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing and John Marrs for the advanced e-copy of the book in exchange for an honest opinion.

My all-time favorite John Marrs book is THE GOOD SAMARITAN, and while this one didn't have that same level of darkness, it was still a twisted, creepy read!

Mia and Finn are desperately looking for a place to call home. Mia's in-laws had plans to buy a derelict house with the intention of rehabbing it and selling it, but they graciously backed off and allowed the couple to bid on it, sight unseen. After seeing the house, the couple is quite uneasy, but after finding out that Mia is pregnant, they are more determined than ever to make their project into a home...until they find out what's in the attic.

Told in alternating timelines from differing points of view, we are brought back to the house's dark history and the people who lived there. The twists were plentiful, and this was an excellent exploration of "nature vs. nurture." Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this early read. KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY will publish October 18, 2022.

I’ve started a review on this at least three times now & I’m at a loss for words, or I have too many words & don’t know how to properly get my thoughts out on “paper”. As a whole I really dug this book, if I had a do-over I would still read it! This is also my first book by Marrs & certainly won’t be my last. This was a super easy read (in a good way) that made for an easy cruise through the book..I read it in over the course of roughly two days with many (many! haha) interruptions😜

Creative storyline. Characters that were kind of awful, but not in a way that made me dislike it, but more in a way that worked for the story to where the characters matched with what was taking place between this messy secretive family.

At times some of the book was imo predictable but maybe the author didn’t necessarily try to make it less obvious? I also had a feeling who the villain was early on but maybe all these suspense books are giving me a better intuition. I think the things that bothered me most (about the writing not the story because in general this is a dark story) was some of it seemed like filler, like instead of being actual dialogue it was more read out like a journal entry by the character so it was not necessarily boring but lacking..lacking in excitement I felt. The ending was satisfying & complete which is always appreciated😜

If you have this in your tbr read it! If not you’re probably not really missing out on a must-read but I did enjoy this book, it just wasn’t one that left me feeling wowed to where I will be telling my fellow readers to go read it.

Thank you to NetGalley & Amazon Publishing UK, so appreciative for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review!!

4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Another great book by John Marrs! This one was all over the place (in a VERY GOOD way)…and it really had me thinking. I would make predictions and think “Nah! That seems too obvious so it can’t be that person” but then I had a pretty good suspicion who the killer was. (Especially since my friend and I were buddy reading it and we put our heads together making guesses…FYI this is a fantastic book to buddy read or add to a book club). I don’t really know how to explain my feelings about the characters without giving away spoilers. All I can really say is that I didn’t like any of them 😂 BUT it didn’t affect my feelings on the book or storyline itself. I can’t go into detail or I’m afraid it will sway your opinion before you even start the book.

This one was really hard to put down. It was very twisted and disturbing!! The ending was satisfying BUT there were a few parts in the ending that annoyed me or seemed a bit “over the top”. It’s hard to say what they are without giving anything away. This book is definitely one that you should go into blindly with no hints of what happened. I understand WHY the author ended the way he did (the epilogue) and it was a total “WTF ending” BUT part of me wishes it would have ended slightly different….but absolutely no complaints on my end! This was a great book! It comes out in October and I HIGHLY recommend picking up a copy!!

The reason I gave it 4.5 stars (rounded down) was strictly due to the couple things that I felt were unbelievable. I mean the whole story is absolutely CRAZY but was so well written that you just wanted to keep reading, so for that alone it deserves the 4.5 stars!! This is the 3rd book I’ve read by John Marrs and he is a fantastic author!!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

To see other reviews I’ve left, check out my Instagram and Goodreads pages:
*Instagram - bookworm_traveler808
*Goodreads - Cherihy808

John Marrs is a favorite author of mine. This book was absolutely fan-freaking-tastic! There are so many twists and turns and secrets you’ll have whiplash by the time you get to just 50%! I don’t think I’ve ever read that much suspense in one book prior to getting to the 50% mark. Normally 50% is when the good stuff starts happening but this book is so jam packed from page one until the-very-end! Wow! Totally recommend! I love how each character had their own chapter so we knew what was going through their mind! 10 stars!

Is there a mistake in chapter 43 which notes 39 years ago? I think the chapters of 38 and 39 years ago are flipped…someone is “gone” in the 39 year chapter but the 38 year chapter tells that story of how. Which is backwards, looking back in time.