This was an exciting and suspenseful whodunit set in a great location. I really enjoyed listening to this story unfold! The narration was excellent and this was a really engaging audiobook.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC. All thoughts are my own.

I could not finish this book. The characters were very unlikable. I was not interested in the story at all after many chapters.

I listened to this audiobook while on vacation at the beach which provided the best location for this wonderful thriller read. The narrator did a fantastic job and the author has a lot of twists and turns which keeps you on your toes. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

This locked-room thriller was full of family drama and suspenseful moments. I liked that the drama and creepiness were escalated by Hurricane Harry raging outside during the turn of events. The characters' quirky personalities also added intrigue to the story. The reader never knew what would happen next, what family secret would be revealed, or who had murdered George Bishop because everyone had a motive. I had my suspicions about Bree from the beginning, but the reveal twist at the end was a surprise. The one thing I didn't like about this story was the sisters' backstory chapters. I thought it gave away too much information before the reader needed it revealed. I would have preferred to find out the family secrets at the same time as Charley because it would have added more mystery and shock to the story. Although this wasn't my favorite book by the author, I would still recommend it to readers who love a good thriller!
The audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld was enjoyable to listen to. It was read with lots of animation and expression that added to the suspense of the story. I also liked that each character was given a different voice. It made it easier to determine who was speaking.
Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC and audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

Getting stuck in a hotel during a storm with a murderer plays out pretty much how you would expect. Lots of twists and turns, kept me guessing right until the end, and plenty of “just 5 more minutes” moments.

I was excited to listen to "One Big Happy Family" by Jamie Day because I enjoyed their first book "The Block Party." Charley is a maid at The Precipice hotel. The owner of the hotel died and the family has come to discuss the will. Unfortunately , there was a hurricane heading straight towards Maine and the hotel. Soon the power is out, phone lines are cut, and murders start to happen. I found this book to be fairly predictable. I enjoyed the last third of the book where the majority of the action took place, but found myself tuning out during the longer background setting scenes. This was a well written fairly entertaining thriller. That being said, Saskia Maarleveld is a marvelous narrator and one of my favorites! Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio eARc.

I struggle to remember this book because I did not like the narration of it. Overall, I think if I read this book in print I would have enjoyed it, but I didn't really like the audiobook.

This remarkable novel took the world by storm with its multitude of unexpected twists and turns that left my mind reeling.

This book features an exceptional cast of characters. The Bishop sisters, with their very different looks and personalities, create a dynamic presence. Their father's passing and the subsequent reunion at their childhood home provide a powerful backdrop for one of the most enthralling stories I've come across in quite some time.

Normally, I avoid stories with many characters, but in this case, the author pulls it off perfectly. The intricate interweaving of their lives is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Delving into the secrets and surprises nestled within the novel, I have to admit that I was unable to foresee the direction of the plot, despite my usually keen ability to anticipate endings. However, this novel blindsided me with its conclusion in the most extraordinary manner. I adored every aspect of this book, from its vivid setting and well-drawn characters to the absolutely phenomenal storyline. Bravo, Jamie Day! Many thanks to NetGalley for generously providing an advanced copy of the novel.

The dark foreboding cover lends well to this plot and read. Sucked in from the very first page as the events unfurl you can't help but keep diving in.

I could not get into this book after trying a few times over the past few months, I really liked our protagonist, Charley, but even Charley could not get me through this story. I ended up DNFing this book around the 80% mark and listened to the end. I loved the narrator, this was only because I could not get into the story and keep the momentum going. Part one was so slow, I started to skim to just get to where the story starts to take off. Sometimes a slow start pays off, but I did not think it did in this book. Part Two continued to stalls the plot. I didn’t think the sisters back story needed this much time or could have been explained faster and leaving out information would have probably helped me to enjoy the rest of the book more because our hand was held through the plot. I am an over explainer so I get it but I dont enjoy it in mystery books. Overall, I didn’t love the story but I did love Charley and the narrator!

One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day

So I loved The Block Party and was super excited to receive this as an ARC through Netgalley…it’s been out for over a month now.

It’s a fun “whodunnit” thriller!

Family together after a recent death, in a hotel, storm has them stranded. Marks all the great beginnings of a thriller.

I honestly think I would have gotten into it more if I physically read it.

I couldn’t get as pulled into this one as usual, I found it predictable and repetitive, but still worth reading!

⭐️⭐️ out of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was the perfect summer thriller! I really loved this action packed thrillers with twists that gave me whiplash!

🎧 One Big Happy Family-a standalone

✍️ By: Jamie Day-new to me author

🗣️ Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld voiced all characters. The narrator's voice fit the characters with standouts from Charley, Bree, and Rodrigo. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrator worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrator paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along with the E-book and audiobook.

📃 Page Count: 384

🏃🏾‍♀️Run Time: 11:12

🗓️ Publication Date: 7-16-24 | Read: 8-23-24

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for this ARC and ALC 💙! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Genre: Mystery/Suspense, Thriller

🌏Setting: Jonesport, Maine

Tropes:
❤️family drama
❤️small town
❤️hidden truths
❤️LGBTQIA+ rep


⚠️ TW: child abuse, DV, murder-death of parent, foster care

POV: 1st person- Charley

💭 Summary 💭:
The Precipice is a family-owned hotel by George Bishop who recently died. His three daughters Iris, Vicki, and Faith have come for their share. Hurricane Larry is coming and the Bishop sisters are holding onto some deadly secrets, but the nineteen-year-old maid Charley Kelley who knows more than meets the eye.


Side cast: Bree-a woman on the run Charley gives sanctuary to at the hotel, Rodrigo-works at the hotel and is Charley's friend, Hope-Faith's wife, Oliver-Faith and Hope's son, Todd-Vicki's husband and Quinn-Iris's son

My Thoughts: This was a great murder mystery with many layers. There's our narrator Charley, a maid and thief who knew what kind of man George Bishop was. She sacrificed for her grandmother Nana who lived in assisted living. She was nice to Bree-a stranger in need but dreaded the Bishop sisters' arrivals. Each of them had their own agenda and wanted their inheritance. They were greedy and willing to kill to get what they wanted. It reminded me of King Lear and his three daughters. I'm glad they made amends (kind of), especially for Charley and her Nana.

Range of emotions: 😬🤔🙄
🌶️: Spice 1/5
🎧: Narration 4/5
😭: Emotion 4/5
❤️: Couple n/a
⭐️: Rating 4/5

Colorful Adirondack chairs will always catch my eye so I admit I would have probably selected this book regardless of the premise or author. After loving Jamie Day’s last book, The Block Party, and these pastel beachside chairs (empty because of course that storm is rapidly rolling in) on the cover, I knew I wanted to read One Big Happy Family. A great setting, a locked room format, and a complicated ending make this an engaging read.

The teaser doesn’t fully capture the essence of the book, which to me is the main character, Charley. Everyone else can be messy, horrible, mysterious, or pretentious—but Charley is the driving force of this book. I immediately liked Charley, who works as a maid at the Precipice Hotel. The hotel is old, charming, and legendary. Her job allows Charley to scrape by helping to pay for her grandmother’s care while Charley lives in a converted storage closet at the Precipice. When she was offered room and board by the now-deceased owner George Bishop, she felt lucky. Now she realizes that she is trapped.

Charley’s backstory is heartbreaking—a father who she’s never met and who abused her mother, prompting her to move back home. A mother who wanted to escape life and eventually became addicted to drugs. An overdose. A nana who is in the early stages of alzheimers with no one to care for her costs but Charley—a nineteen year-old chambermaid. You can’t not feel for Charley!

As the book opens, hurricane Larry is bearing down on the hotel, and guests are cancelling right and left. The hotel isn’t empty, though. It’s about to be so full of drama your head will spin. And that drama comes from the children of the late George Bishop, who are gathered to hear the reading of his will. Which of the Bishop sisters is the worst? I’d probably choose Vicki or Faith, but they are all awful. Vicki is the eldest and owns a jewelry story. She’s married to a greedy, pompous man named Todd. Iris is the middle sister and a recovering drug addict and ex-con. She’s now found religion. The youngest, Faith, is a former model who loves being in the spotlight, and her wife Hope is an earth-mother type. Vicki’s adult son Quinn attracts Charley’s attention. Meanwhile Faith’s son Oliver seems withdrawn.

A woman Charley met a week earlier arrives seeking shelter. She’s fleeing an abusive relationship and needs a place to stay where he can’t track her credit card. She offers Charley cash, which she is in desperate need of after her Nana’s rent went up. Charley agrees to hide Bree in one of the rooms, but she knows if Vicki and Todd catch her, she will be out of a job. Surely they’ll be too self-absorbed to notice, right?

As you can guess with a book describing a happy family in a sarcastic tone, the gathering and the will reading do not go as planned. The attorney Brenda Black is slimy and apparently has a troubling past with perpetuating racial bias in the courtroom. Rodrigo refuses to work the weekend, and with the cook Olga quitting, Charley is going to be left with the drama of the Bishop family (and her stowaway Bree). Vicki comes out the best with the will. Iris and Faith are not happy with their father’s last wishes.

It's the beginning of a weekend filled with secrets and murder. Cell reception is spotty, the hurricane has trapped them inside, and someone (or more than one) is out for blood. The number of hidden tidbits from the Bishop’s past had my head spinning. Charley has a front row seat to the meltdown of the sisters. Can she survive the weekend? It seems someone wants to quiet her for good.

I loved the setting and I thought Charley was a fantastic leading character. The Bishop family was so toxic, but well-written. The sisters have their own troubling pasts that make them somewhat sympathetic, despite their current behavior. The short chapters kept the book moving. I didn’t like this as much as The Block Party, but I thought it was solid and it kept me entertained. The second half dragged on a bit, but the ending made up for that.

The audiobook is great and helped with the pacing. I will definitely read whatever Jamie Day writes next!

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for my copy. Opinions are my own.

This audiobook was hard for me to get into. It was giving beach read for sure and something that my aunt would very much like but I was not enthralled.

I want to start off by saying I have read Jamie Day's previous book The Block Party so much that I was excited to get my hands on a copy of her second book. I found this one to be a bit less thrilling that her first, however. While I did think the premise for the book had a lot of promise- with the locked door murder mystery of it all, it fell very flat for me. I kept coming back because I wanted to see how it ended, but I felt like the story telling wasn't as suspenseful or entertaining as I wish it would be. There were times in the book I actually rolled my eyes because of the actions of our main protagonist Charley. The pacing felt slightly off, with some of the book dragging on and other parts passing at light speed, and I just left wanting a bit more. That being said, it was an entertaining way to spend the day listening to this book. The narrator did a great job telling the story, and I appreciated all their voice work. Therefore, while it felt a bit mid-tier for me, if you're a reader who enjoys locked door situations and a little bit of whodunnit, this might just be the book for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced listening copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

Listened to this book on a long car ride and it was exactly what I was looking for. Started off a bit slow and then picked up. Have to confess it wasn’t overly believable but on a long car ride - I’m just looking for entertainment. While I enjoyed the “Block Party” more - this helped pass the time! An entertaining summer listen! 3.5 stars! I appreciated the opportunity to listen!

I had both the eARC and ALC and I found the audio called to me most.

Charley is a maid, working hard to try to keep her grandmother housed in the adult home for the care she needs. The family that owns the hotel where she works rivals Dynasty or Dallas with the DRAMA.

This one was intense, full of unlikeable characters. Murder. Oh yea, there's also a hurricane looming.

I loved this author's prior book and this one was also a fun twisty drama filled one!

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and MacMillan Audio for an eARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review.

One Big Happy Family
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Jamie Day

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

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.

Each sister wants what is rightfully hers, and in the mix is the Precipe's nineteen-year-old chambermaid Charley Kelley: smart, resilient, older than her years, and in desperate straits.

The arrival of the Bishop sisters could spell disaster for Charley. Will they close the hotel? Fire her? Discover her habit of pilfering from guests? Or even worse, learn that she's using a guest room to hide a woman on the run.

My Thoughts: I loved the author’s debut novel, The Block Party, so I knew when I saw this one, I was onboard without too much reading of the blurb. I am not always a fan of locked door mysteries, however, I did enjoy this one. You have a locked door mystery mixed with an element of domestic sister aka evil incarnation sisters. The Precipice is a legendary family hotel on the coast of Maine, on the rocky coast specifically. Three sisters, Iris, Vicki, and Faith, come to visit to stake their claim on the hotel after their father’s passing, and each sister brings secrets that they would rather keep buried. And to make things more exciting, the chambermaid Charley Kelley, has her own secret, she is young, smart, resilient, and loyal to a fault. The arrival of the Bishop Sisters can erupt Charlie’s secret to the top, or will the reading of the will go beyond any misdeed that Charlie has committed? Let’s not forget the hurricane that is on the horizon threatening the hotel and surrounding properties.

The story is a multiple character narration, each providing their own perspective POVs. Our main protagonist Charlie really does still the show and her biggest sin of pilfering from the guests can be forgiven, at least in my eyes. Charley is a young girl who would do anything to take care of her nana, even pilfer a little from the guests. Charley stays onsite and her nana is in a retirement home. When Hurricane Larry threatens the hotel at the same time as the Bishop Sisters hurricane comes through, it is a race against time. The eldest sister, Vicki is married to Todd. Todd is also portrayed as a villain. Vicki is bad-tempered and has a vicious streak, while Todd is a manipulative greedy man who will step on others. Middle sister, Iris, former drug addict and ex-convict, who has a new spiritual life. The youngest sister, Faith, is the model and is married to Hope, a very zen person with a spiritual outlook on life. Quinn, who steals Charlie’s heart almost immediately is the son to Vicki and Todd. Lastly, let’s not forget the attorney who has been called in to do the reading of the will, Brenda Black. Throw all of these characters together in a locked room, we get characters developed with depth, betrayal, secretive, and well-portrayed. The author’s writing style was complex, multifaceted, twisty, suspenseful, and engaging (once you get through Part I).

There were three parts to this story. Part I was really slow but it built up our characters and some of their backstory. Part II really starts to delve into the plot and the sister’s backstories and even some of their harbored secrets. The last two parts (Part III and Part IV) really is where the action occurs with tension, compelling, and just grips you. The last two parts really fires up the plot in twisty layers. While some parts were a little over the top, and some belief suspension was required, I still loved it and it still gripped me, even if some parts were predicable. The plot has twisty suspenseful layers and the ending ties up things nicely, even if a little over the top.

I had both the digital and audio version of the ARC and preferred the audiobook. The narrator, Saskia Maaleveld did an amazing job with voice variation interweaved with character distinction. Her flow and pitch was spot on. I was able to listen to the entire audiobook at 2x with no issues keeping up. This was a well written book that I really enjoyed. It was compelling, gripping, and suspenseful. I highly recommend this to other readers, especially if you enjoyed locked door mysteries.

I was blown away by Day's debut The Block Party so was eager to dive into this one. I didn't love it as much as The Block Party but this still kept me intrigued. The Bishop sisters were fun to read about with their secrets and shameless behavior. I rooted for Charley but it was obvious Bree wasn't who she said she was. The sudden flashback to the sisters' lives and their backstories took me out of the story a bit and it lost some of its momentum. Once we got back to present day, I was eager to get back to Charley and the situation with the hotel, but then it never quite reached the excitement and tension from the beginning. Overall, it was compelling enough with its twists and perhaps fans of locked-room mysteries would enjoy it more than me.