This is a first Jamie Day book for me. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this one. It started of fine. We were getting to know the MC Charlie and how her day to day life was, amongst a hurricane that was referred to frequently. We met the next characters and I did not like any of them. I became annoyed listening to Oliver speak in rhymes. If he had been a main character I would've had to DNF this one.
This thriller was also more about family drama. We were lots of back story for the family members. About halfway, I grew bored. There was just too much of the drama and not enough thrill. I was surprised by the ending and the epilogue was good. Overall though it was just a not bad but not great feel for me.
I had originally received the digital book ARC and had started reading it. I couldn't get captured by the story so I waited for the audio. I also received the audio ARC so this review is for both. The audio was easier for me to listen to but the narrator was difficult to listen to at first due to a nasal sound.

Thanks to Netgalley, St Martins Press and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read this ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One Big Happy Family
By: Jamie Day
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Pub Date: July 16, 2024

This is another new author for me. This was a fun read that reminded me of the game clue. The family dynamics in this one is so toxic. You know it’s all going to go horribly wrong. Three sisters who all have secrets from the other.
Charley is the maid at The Precipice hotel. A family owned place run by George Bishop. George has unexpectedly passed which brings his three daughters and their families to the hotel for the funeral and reading of the will. To add more chaos to the situation there is a hurricane bearing down on the coast of Maine. But before long the bodies are going to start dropping and no one has any idea what’s going on. Will Charley get things worked out before everyone dies? The narration was perfect. Saskia did an excellent job!
Thanks to Macmillan Audio, Jamie Day and NetGalley for this galley.

This book was a big roller coaster. It had a lot going on. From the stowaway guest to the family drama. I enjoyed the family drama! It was a fine book, not my favorite but I’m glad I read it

Thank you to @macmillan.audio for the gifted ALC!

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆
This locked door mystery gave me total Clue vibes and had me wondering whether Colonel Mustard really did it in the library with the candlestick. Full of secrets and lies, family drama and a hurricane to add to the suspense, I was hooked from the beginning. The story started out strong but after the halfway point, it became somewhat predictable and I pretty much had it figured out. There were a few minor twists that I wasn't expecting, but overall it was your typical locked door mystery with a little too much predictability for my taste.

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸
The audiobook was great! Saskia Maarleveld narrated the story and I loved her in The God of Endings so I was excited to listen to another book narrated by her. She did not disappoint. I listened at 1.5x speed but bumped it up to 2x once I was losing interest. Everything was clear and easy to understand. I definitely recommend the audiobook over reading this one!

I love the cover art of this book!

Hurricane Larry is heading towards the Maine coast. Family owned hotel and the father has just died and that brings the 3 adult daughters home with their families. Add in a few hotel workers and 1 guest who is hiding out from someone and you have a full house of chaos and mystery as people start to die. I wasn’t expecting the ending twist and I enjoyed this one. 4 stars.

The Book and the Narrator both were amazing!
I was hooked from the very beginning, this is some serious family drama that will make your head spin for days.
There was so very many twists, affairs, who's who and what happened in the past to make you feel crazy.
It's so worth a read or listen, it's not anything like I expected. It was even better than I would have thought.
If you enjoy family drama, murder, who dun it's with some suspense and fun get this asap!

With the recent passing of their father, the Bishop sisters--Iris, Vicki, and Faith--have come for the weekend to claim what they think is rightfully theirs. But with a hurricane looming and each of the Bishop sisters keeping dangerous secrets, things will get even more complicated.

I read this author’s first book and didn’t love it but I wanted to give it another chance. Honestly, I think I am just not the right reader for her work. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, MacMillan Audio and the author for the ARC/ALC.

This book is very slow moving, the characters are dreadful, and the drama/twists were too over the top. The narrator did a great job though so I did listen to the whole book instead of DNFing.

19 year old Charley is barely making end meet; she has to pay for her grandmother's medical care and she lives and works as a maid at the Precipice, an old family hotel. Ownership is now passing to the three Bishop daughters since their father has died and Charley's future at the hotel is questionable. The sisters have gather to hear the will while a hurricane is approaching. At the same time, Charley is hiding someone she just met in a room who needs to escape her abusive boyfriend and the three Bishop sisters have secrets of their own; now that they are all locked together in the hotel with no escaping, secrets may not stay hidden for long, and not everyone may make it out by the time the storm abates.

This was a fun quick respite from work and stress; I half listened and half read it and flew through it in a day. If you're looking for a popcorn mystery/thriller this is a good one - the twists and turns are there, they're not going to blow your socks off (and some are a bit predictable) but it is a pleasant escape. I was engrossed and invested the whole time and for that I would recommend, it's a great throw in your beach bag and keep you busy for a day; or listen to it while doing errands and it will definitely make a long drive, laundry or dishes more fun.

3.75

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC to review

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

2.5 ⭐️ for this book.

Charley is a chambermaid at The Precipice Hotel in Maine. When the owner passes away, his three daughters and their families come to claim what they believe is rightfully theirs. Not everyone who stays at The Precipice will leave...

I had high hopes for this book. Part 1 was okay; I lost interest about halfway through. Part 2 started into the history of the sisters and murders started happening. Overall, I felt like the book dragged on, with unnecessary chapters/scenes and details I didn't need to know. It felt a little predictable (looking at you, Bree) and I wasn't overly impressed with the ending. I didn't understand, however, why the Bishop sisters needed to pay for Charley's grandmother's nursing home bills if Medicaid was covering it all, as the author stated in a previous chapter. Make it make sense, Jamie.

I'll give Jamie Day another try but this one just wasn't it for me.

This is a fun family thriller. We get to know the Bishop family very closely as they come to claim their Father’s family-owned hotel off the coast of Maine when he passes. When they gather to hear their Father’s will… they are all surprised to hear his final wishes. The maid, who lives at the hotel and depends on it to live, is also part of the saga.
Three ⭐️’s because it didn’t pull me in as much as I would have hoped. I still would recommend it to others as a perfect summertime thriller for fans of Sally Hepworth or David Ellis.

Wow. I read The Block Party last year, and while I loved it… this was GOLD. From the twists, to expertly timed pacing, to the character development? Wow. Some of the twists made me gasp. They were probable but not predictable which is exactly what I want to see in a thriller. Definitely will recommend this.

I was not familiar with this narrator before listening to this, but I feel as though she brought emotion and life to this group of characters.

Unfortunately I don’t think Jamie Day is for me. This was my second book by her. The story was slow, the characters were horrible and the plot twist was very predictable, the best thing about this book was the narration- great narrator, one of my favorites.

This upcoming thriller by Jamie Day was the perfect read for my vacation,and I found myself sneaking in reading time at every opportunity!

Set at a family-owned hotel on the Maine coast, the tension between the Bishop sisters is obvious as each one returns for the reading of their fathers will. Charley, the hotel maid finds herself in the middle of all the family drama, especially after the young woman she is helping hide from an abusive boyfriend is discovered! With secrets, a looming hurricane, and nonstop twists, this book is perfect for fans of gripping family dramas and suspense.

Huge thank you to #netgalley and @macmillianaudio for the advanced audiobook copy!

I was so excited to get an advanced copy of this audio book though NetGalley, because I adored The Block Party.

I would give One Big Happy Family 3.5/5 stars, overall it was a good storyline and kept me guessing, but there was a lot of information and connections so I kept having to rewind and play chapters because I would get lost. I did enjoy the strange family dynamic throughout the story and Jamie Day did a great job of keeping me guessing.

The book definitely felt a little long for my liking, which may have contributed to me having to replay to parts.

Though it was broken down into 4 parts, I felt there could have been some trimming in the plot to streamline the story and keep my attention better. The backstories were loooooong and to a point they seemed a bit unnecessary.

Overall I did enjoy the book and will definitely be keeping an eye out for future release by Jamie Day!

This book is a really slow moving thriller. While I enjoyed the atmospheric writing, at times it became superfluous. There was so much showing and not enough telling, in my opinion. I was not very invested in this story.

Charley works as a maid at the Precipe Hotel, stealing from guests to make enough money to keep her grandmother in the retirement home she lives in. When the hotel’s owner passes away, his daughters – the Bishop sisters of Iris, Vicky and Faith, arrive for the reading of the will as a hurricane forces everyone to stay indoors at the hotel.

Charley is unsure whether she will keep her job, or the secret of the friend Bree that she is hiding at the hotel while Bree is trying to escape from an abusive relationship.

Vicki the eldest, is greedy, arriving with husband Todd and son Quinn (who Charley is very attracted to). Iris is the ex-convict, drug addict, and Faith is the stylish model who arrives with wife Hope and son Oliver.

Once the murder occurs, we are in a classic locked-room mystery as the Hurricane roars outside the hotel, and Charley tries to survive. Family drama is the main theme as we try and figure out who is the murderer.

I quite liked Charley’s character, despite the thefts, but didn’t really like any of the others. The story is told from multiple points of view and felt quite confused to me at several points. Lots of backstory slowed the plot for a while in the middle.

I listened to the audiobook, and I don’t think that helped with my confusion at some points in the plot. Maybe this was a book that was better to read rather than listen to. The narrator certainly tried to keep the ‘voices’ separate, but it didn’t always work for me.

This was good. I feel like one of the characters should have been brought in later in the book because I knew something was up with them right away. Since this book is told in parts we get more info on the characters in each part. The sisters all blended together and all had some type of issue. They all have secrets to hide and fear what would happen if they would get out. When people started dying and going missing I could not figure out who was behind all of this.

Some of the twists in the end didn't seem as shocking but there are a lot of suspenseful moments in this one. The letter at the end with the shocking news was kind of random but I did like it!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC. To begin, I want to say the narrator in this book was phenomenal. I loved the different voices she used for each of the sisters in the story. This made the audio so much more entertaining and enjoyable for me. This was a great thriller book with lots of twist and turns. The characters were very relatable, and I was intrigued by their stories from the very beginning until the end of the book. Each sister had their own personality and secret which made the story flow and the ending was perfect!! This is a new author for me, but I will definitely be reading her other books in the upcoming future. I highly recommend this book.!

One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day was a great book to listen to thanks to the talented narrator who took on the characters in exciting and captivating alternate voices.

The Bishop sisters have a long history of dysfunction and things only escalate when their philandering father dies. The reading of the will brings up some horrible memories of past mistakes and leaves the family battling over who deserves what - and why. Trapped in their hotel with the threat of a storm looming, violence and threats lead way to murder. This is an excellent whodunit that will keep you entertained from beginning to end.