Okay this one took me a minute to get into but once things got rolling, they ROLLED!! The way the characters all played key parts in the overall deception and kept me guessing was well played. I never knew who to trust or even why or why not. I do wish more was explained about the ties between Charley and Bree. Some hints I assumed were sprinkled in seemed to fizzle out with no connections or revelations (no spoiler but hint hint to some comments about Charley looking like Christine) but still the story was a nice wild ride with twists and turns all over! I'd recommend for readers who enjoy locked door stormy mysteries busting at the seams with deep dark family secrets and deceptions.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read in exchange for my honest review!

This one fell flat for me. The beginning is really slow on the setup and the ending is eye rolling. Love the cover, but the mystery didn't do it for me. I am starting to think this is a genre that I might not be into. In this case, I may be able to say "it's me Jamie Day, not you".

This book was a bit of a disappointment for me. I thought it was going to be so good. I didn't connect with any of the sisters and have just read a couple of caught in a hurricane or storm recently. I thought the back stories were ok and the book is well written. It's just not for me.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I always enjoy locked room mysteries and really devoured the crazy family antics in One Big Happy Family. What a nutty family the Bishops are- almost every one of them! I really liked Charley although most of the other characters were quite dislikable. Jamie Day is a new author for me and I definitely plan on checking out her back list- I really like her writing style.

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it now in your local and online bookstores and libraries.

First of all, I love this cover, it's what first drew my attention to this book. Second, mystery thriller? Yes, please. And lastly, a dysfunctional family, seriously? Count me in!

Carley is just trying to live her life and care for her elderly grandmother. She's got a job, not the greatest, but it's a job, and a place to live. When the Bishop sisters show up to claim their inheritance, that all could change, especially with the threat of a hurricane and a murder or two.

This is definitely a page-turner with a lot of interesting characters, some you're just going to love to hate. When bodies start to fall, everyone turns on the person next to them and no one knows who to trust. The person that seems to be in control changes from hour to hour and you never know what's going to happen next. I loved it!

Jamie Day is a new-to-me author, with this being her second novel. I'm thinking she's going to become one of my must-read authors. Highly recommend!

This book was phenomenal. Jamie Day has a fantastic writing style that really allows you to immerse yourself in the story and delivers it at just the right pace to keep you unable to put it down. Charley is such a strong character and while the entire cast is great, she shines through from beginning to end, between her love for her friend Rodrigo to how she takes care of her nana. Figuring out who was behind not only the deaths, but WHY they were happening was definitely a challenge and came as a shock once all was revealed. I also enjoyed the ending (no spoilers) and how things worked out. This is definitely a 5 star read!

Lots Of Moving Pieces, Yet Feels Slow Somehow. I think a growing peeve of mine- maybe not yet a pet peeve, but certainly a major annoyance - is using a "hurricane" bearing down on a location and yet using it poorly... which is what happens here. Why a hurricane when a normal storm system would have worked just as well for plot purposes??? Hell, here in *Florida* (much less Maine, where this is set and where they get far fewer hurricanes), our daily thunderstorms (particularly in the summer) are generally worse than many of the hurricanes I've lived through here in North Florida (including Irma, just a few weeks after I moved here).

Beyond my irritation with the misuse of the hurricane though, which is admittedly a personal thing, the story works reasonably well, if seeming a bit slow and perhaps a touch unrealistic/ idiotic with some of the moves some of the characters make. But hey, we're all idiots at some point, right? It just seems like our supposed "heroes" in this particular tale are particularly stupid at times... which grates some people more than others. (Indeed, reading over the other reviews, it seems like many have a hangup on this similar to my hurricane one above.) And yet the stupidity ultimately works to make this novel work, and perhaps that is the reason it is here - this near 400 page book may have been reduced by at least a third and perhaps as much as a half had one or two characters made even a single better decision, perhaps a couple of better decisions. And maybe Day had a word or page count to meet.

Still, there's nothing objectively wrong about this book, and it *is* an enjoyable read that is *certainly* better than other books and is a solid way to lose a day or a few afternoons in a fictional world... which is becoming so much more important as election season ramps up in the US again. So forget the politics for a bit and pick up this book. You may be disappointed a bit in it, but it will still be better than spending that time watching the news. :)

Recommended.

Wow! I didn’t think Jamie Day could outdo her last novel but she did! I devoured this book in one day and loved every minute of it. I thought I guessed all the twists but boy was I wrong, I loved that this book kept me on my toes, I never knew who I could trust or whose side I wanted to be on.
Those sisters, they may have their issues, but I really liked how close they were. Charlie was a very likable character from start to finish, it’s hard to believe that she was so young. Quinn, he is interesting. Loved the stowaway. I enjoyed Ollie’s rhyming. I guess I just loved this book so much I couldn’t or change anything.

Thank you so much NetGalley for an ARC! I really appreciate you letting me read this amazing book! It’s one I am definitely adding to my forever shelf!

I read Jamie Day's The Block Party last year and loved it. So I had high expectations for her new book One Big Happy Family.

I immediately liked Charley - I love an underdog. The setting was a promising one. It is almost a locked door mystery as a hurricane is moving in and the storm eventually leaves the characters stranded at the hotel.

Some of the plot points were predictable. As soon as we were introduced to the Bishop family, it was obvious what one of the secrets was.

It didn't keep me from really enjoying the first half of the book as there were plenty of other questions to be answered. I was curious how Bree fit into the story. I'm always suspicious of people who are overly friendly and instantly act like your BFF and it carries over to fictional characters.

However, somewhere near the middle of the story, I started losing interest. Some of it I think is we get more details about the secrets so it was easy to put the pieces together and though the reader has figured it out, it is chapters and chapters later (almost the end) before the characters do and then it basically had to be spelled out for them.

There were also some other issues. I found it strange for one character to think "the fetus is not even out of utero" while seeing the baby on an ultrasound. I understand that it was the 1980s so the technology was still kind of new, but the words used just didn't sound like the character. Then there was the whole thing about the flashlights and the lights going out - I kept thinking they have their phones don't they all have flashlights on them. A final example of some of the wording that irked me came towards the end of the novel when it felt more like I was reading a melodramatic romance novel: "[He] ... eager to return to his beloved [sic]" (I removed the names so not to spoil the story. In this section, there were also references to "one true love".

This book started out pretty strong so I'm disappointed that the middle and end often felt like it was spiraling into the ridiculous. With that being said, I never considered not finishing it and it wasn't a chore to finish it. It is mainly because I liked Charley and I wanted to find out how it all worked out for her.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Friday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2024/08/one-big-happy-family-by-jamie-day-review.html

Thank you @netgalley for this free copy of One Big Happy Family. This whodunit thriller is the perfect stormy weather read! So much family drama with so many secrets. After their father passes away, the Bishop sisters and their families reunite for an interesting and intense will reading at their family hotel while a hurricane is looming. People start dying, more and more secrets come out, and the ending definitely surprised me!

🎉 Happy Pub Day! It’s Tuesday and there are a lot of great books published today, many are summer thrillers! 🔪 This is one that I was able to read early thanks to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio - the opinions I’m sharing are my own!

I really enjoyed Jamie Day’s release last year of The Block Party and have been looking forward to sharing this year’s summertime suspense with you!

🎧📱 One Big Happy Family
I started on my kindle and swapped to the audiobook
✍🏻 Jamie Day
🗣️ Saskia Maarleveld
🗓️ Released Today - July 16,2024
📚 Published by @macmillan.audio @stmartinspress
➡️ synopsis in graphic

🌀 What a crazy ride this book is! I really like the locked room/stranded setting with the hurricane brewing! It added an element of intensity to the story!

🏨 The sisters are not well behaved and have secrets oozing out of them, not to mention, greed, lies, and a lot of family drama. They all bring something to the story and give you pause to enjoy your own family or compare notes 😆

🌀 I liked all the twists and turns, it took us awhile to get to the end but the journey was full of interesting surprises which I enjoyed in this thriller!

🔪 If you like any of the elements I mentioned in the graphic grab this book and jump in! The setting in Maine and the storm added more for me.

🗣️ The audiobook narrator Saskia Maarleveld did a great job differentiating the characters and that helped to keep it all straight.

🏨 The ending is satisfying, so pull up a chair and visit The Precipice Hotel, full of a dramatic family members and secrets to tell!

With their father's passing, the Bishop sisters are reluctantly drawn back to The Precipice Hotel for the reading of his will. It has been years since they last visited, and each sister harbors dangerous secrets they are desperate to keep hidden. Charley, the maid, dreads their return, having received ominous warnings about them. Compounding the tension, a looming hurricane has driven away all other guests, leaving only the three sisters, their families, Charley, and an unexpected stowaway Charley has taken in. When a murder occurs before the hurricane hits, the question looms: will more chaos ensue as they find themselves trapped at the hotel?

The story was a slow read for me, and I struggled to stay engaged. The main character, while portraying maturity externally, often came across as immature in her internal dialogue. It was particularly jarring when she focused on trivial concerns like romantic interests while facing significant danger to her own life and others.

Charley, who has been on her own since a young age, is a maid at the Precipice, a hotel in Maine. When the owner dies, his heirs are expected to arrive to claim their inheritance. Before their arrival, a young woman arrives and begs to be hidden there from her abusive boyfriend. Charley agrees but stresses that she must stay hidden because she could lose her job with a non-paying guest. A hurricane is expected at the time the three sisters are due to arrive with their families. None of the sisters seem to have much in common with each other or their families. It seems that they all have secrets. Not everyone who checks in will check out alive.

Also reviewed on B&N (1IrishEyes430) and Kobo (IrishEyes430)

I really enjoyed Day’s debut novel The Block Party so I knew I had to add One Big Happy Family to my TBR list.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my gifted ARC

Short Synopsis:
The Precipice is a legendary, family-owned hotel on the rocky coast of Maine. With the recent passing of their father, the Bishop sisters—Iris, Vicki, and Faith—have come for the weekend to claim it. But with a hurricane looming and each of the Bishop sisters harboring dangerous secrets, there’s murder in the air— and not everyone who checks into the Precipice will be checking out.

Thoughts:

I haven’t read a thriller in a few weeks so I was all for the change of pace and really enjoyed this one.

I love books about sisters because as the oldest of three girls I know how dramatic sister dynamics can be. The Bishop sisters did not disappoint!

There is a lot of backstory in this thriller but I didn’t mind it. I enjoyed getting to know each Bishop sister which made for more complex characters.

There is a lot going on with this thriller and I didn’t predict the ending until more than halfway through which is always a win.

Overall, I would recommend One Big Happy Family as a quick, enjoyable summer read.

I was excited to start this one as I really liked the authors last book. Unfortunately this one fell flat for me. No likeable characters and the twists weren’t wowing me. Looking forward to seeing what the authors come out with next.

Thanks to netgalley for my advanced ecopy

One Big Happy Family… or is it?

This story revolves around the infamous Precipice Hotel, its employees, and the daughters of the recently deceased hotel owner. I enjoyed that this story was broken up into four parts with relatively short chapters in them.

There are many characters in this book but I found it easy to keep up with them. We meet Rodrigo, the front desk manager, and Charley, a chambermaid, who both work for the hotel and are preparing for incoming Hurricane Larry. The owner of the hotel, George Bishop, has recently passed away, thus leading his three daughters, Vicki, Faith, and Iris (along with a few other family members) to come back “home” for the reading of the will.

There was so much drama in Part 2 and I devoured each chapter.

There was a ton of action and spilled secrets to keep up with in Parts 3 & 4, but I also felt like the last half of the book was dragging on and on to be honest. In the first few chapters Part 3, if you’re really paying attention, you can figure out the main twist.

Overall, this book was enjoyable and I am a sucker for a good book cover! I really like this author’s style of writing and loved his previous book The Block Party. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Netgalley, and the author for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

One Big Happy Family is a twisty mystery about a very dysfunctional family. Charley is the young maid at a beautiful family owned hotel. When the owner of the hotel dies, his three daughters and their families come to the hotel for the reading of the will. Every character has a secret and everything is not as it seems. Definitely a fun, exciting read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC: I read this advanced copy several months ago. I found it engaging and the characters were well developed. The twists felt a bit contrived, but the descriptions of the class struggles felt very realistic. A well written mystery.

Very soap opera like. This family is crazy and though a bit far fetched, somehow this whole crazy tale was believable.