I really enjoyed this book! It definitely makes true the statement "theres no more messed up institution than family". SO many twists and turns that beg the question....how close are sibling bonds, actually?

Thanks, netgalley for the arc/audio book!

This was a great read. I was constantly left guessing what would happen next. The Bishop sisters are intriguing, each in their own way. Charlie is such a likable character and I found myself rooting for her, no matter the cost. Hurricane Larry added a nice background to all that was happening. I can’t wait to read another book from this author!

🪨Book Review🪨
*
Summary:
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.
*
Rating- ⭐️⭐️⭐️
*
My thoughts- this one releases in August and I was super hyped to receive an advanced audiobook for it. While it was beautifully narrated and super atmospheric , think gothic hotel in the middle of an intense hurricane with crazy family drama, it ultimately fell short. I saw the twist coming a mile away and I did not like any of the characters, which was my main problem. I should have connected with Charley, but I found her super disloyal and quick to throw away people who actually cared about her because she thought the nephew was hot. All in all, it was very atmospheric and has some juicy toxic family drama, it just fell short.
*
QOTD- what did you do this weekend ?!
*

Great narrator. Lots of family drama but this book didn’t meet my expectations. Heard a lot about this author but was slightly disappointed. Would definitely give Jamie Day another try.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this early! However, this book wasn't it for me. I liked the author's debut, the Block Party, but this one felt equal parts slow, eye rolly, convenient, formulaic and over the top. This book is about a young girl named Charley who is a housekeeper at a hotel owned by the Bishop family. The handsy, wealthy owner dies and now his 3 daughters are coming to the hotel to stake their claims. A huge hurricane is also on its way, so the whole crew quickly gets stuck at the hotel, just as other people start dying. The only people at the hotel are Charley, the sisters and their spouses/kids, a random woman who is secretly hiding out there to get away from her abusive boyfriend, and a cop and lawyer. There are a couple other employees that are a minor part of the story as well. The set up of this book takes a long time and honestly did nothing for me. The sisters all blended together, there wasn't much tension and overall I just didn't care. Then we get a flashback section about the girls in their teen/early adult years and it helped us to know more motives and relationship dynamics but instead of making me care more about the characters, it just felt like I was being spoon fed motives and a reason to be suspicious of everyone. Because the cast of characters was all a dysfunctional family, I never really felt concern for Charley. Clearly they were just working out their drama with each other in murderous ways, and since we were getting this from Charley's perspective, it felt more like we were watching a homicidal soap opera instead of something thrilling and intense. The creepy kid aspect was really off putting for me. One of the women have a 14 year old boy who is strange and talks in riddles. There is a scene with tarot cards and potential possession that I really didn't like. The conclusion to the whole thing is so convenient its laughable and it wasn't shocking. Overall, this book just had me rolling my eyes, replaying parts to try to regain interest and sort of feeling like I wasted my time. It was fine enough, but not something Id recommend.

This was a pretty middle of the road thriller for me. I enjoy locked room mysteries and this kept me decently entertained. It felt like the story was being set up for a long time. Even 75% in, I didn't think there was much action. I enjoyed the main character Charley, but the 3 sisters were pretty obnoxious, which I guess was the point. This would be good for a newbie to mysteries.

I listened to this on audio. Saskia Maarleveld did a great job narrating.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC!

Charley is a chambermaid at a hotel. When her boss dies, the three Bishop sisters and their families come to the hotel to hear a reading of the will. The book offers an exciting premise complete with a hurricane on the way, revealed secrets, and murder. Unfortunately, the book fell flat for me. I didn’t connect with the characters and I found it to be repetitive.

Nineteen year old hotel housemaid, Charley, has experienced a lot at her young age. She works tirelessly at the Previpice hotel on the coast of Maine to afford her living expenses and still save e bough to pay for the care of her grandmother, whose memory is fading quickly. When the hotel patriarch dies his family, the Bishop sisters, descend upon the hotel to get what they think they deserve. With a storm raging outside and egos soaring inside, no one can be trusted. After 2 people end up dead, no o e feels safe and no one is above suspicion. With the WiFi knocked out, and some residents injured, how can they get help and will they stay alive long enough to do so? Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC. This is my honest review.

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY by Jamie Day and narrated by Saskia Maarleveld was the crazy family suspense that was a perfect, popcorn, summer read out July 16th by @stmartinspress & @macmillan.audio

Charley is the maid at the Precipice, a family owned hotel on the coast of Maine. The patriarch has died and the family has gathered to have the will read, and no one seems happy to see each other. When one of the party ends up dead, it is revealed that everyone had a motive. Charlie is stuck with this dismal family reunion until the approaching hurricane passes, but tries to keep out of their crosshairs!

This was a soap-operatic family with few redeeming qualities. To have the viewpoint of the proverbial fly-on-the-wall was a fun choice, as the maid is often invisible. I did guess a major reveal pretty early, but still had fun watching it all unfold, grateful for my family!

I thoroughly enjoyed having both digital and audio options in which to enjoy. I am a fan of Maarleveld, and will probably listen to just about anything if she is narrating. She captured the story so well and I am grateful to the publishers for access via @netgalley.

What I keep seeing is that when in Maine, beware of being caught in a storm in a creepy old house.

I really enjoyed this Jamie Day novel, and found it held my attention throughout with all its twists and turns.

This is the story of one messed up, twisted family that’s lifelong secrets are ones they desperately want to take to the grave with them. But someone is bound & determined to make sure their secrets are revealed.

A great thriller that had me guessing until the end!

Oh my, all families are crazy, but insanity doesn't run in the Bishop family, it gallops. This is an Agatha Christie type who-done-it with lots of twists and turns and a cast of fascinating characters. I always love a Maine setting and the old inn during a hurricane is an especially intriguing claustrophobic setting. Our heroine, Charley, is engaging and wise beyond her years. Couple of minor plot flaws, but One Big Happy Family kept me intrigues and interested throughout. This is for the audio version and while I generally love this VoiceOver artist, her voice is a bit mature for a teenage character. I had to keep reminding myself how young Charley is.

Charley is a maid. A maid who has been secretly skimming money from hotel guests while she cleans their rooms. But one can’t blame her too harshly, she is trying the best she can while being underpaid and having the responsibility of taking care of her grandmother’s nursing home bills. She is willing to do whatever it takes to provide for her nanna, even if she has to put up with her sexually harassing boss. But when he suddenly dies Charley hopes that the family who has chosen to stay at the hotel when the will is read will be more charitable.
As the family proceed to arrive they seem to have brought more than just a hurricane with them. When prophecies and ominous writing appear, jealousy, revenge and secrets cloud the families judgment that eventually result in murder. But who is to blame, what are the family's secrets? Charley must find out before she is the next to die.
Overall rating 4/5
Written in an Agatha Christie “whodunit” plot line I half expected Charley to gather the family around the sitting room to reveal the killer … or maybe she does. I would have loved more romantic tension or dramatic irony between the characters to give the characters more grit. If you love cozy mystery with a slightly more thriller vibe this book is for you. I was, however, a bit thrown off by the narrator who sounded stuffed up.

*Thank you to Jamie Day, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for the ARC copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press @stmartinspress, NetGalley @netgalley, and Jamie Day for allowing me to read an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) for an honest review! Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Jamie Day for also allowing me to read an ARC of The Block Party last year for an honest review.

I read The Block Party last year with some friends as part of a Buddy Read and was able to read One Big Happy Family together this year with one of those friends too! We agreed that both books are great although very different from one another. We ended up enjoying One Big Happy Family a tad better than The Block Party but definitely recommend both to any thriller lovers out there!

Hurricane Larry is about to touch the coast of Maine and the Precepice Hotel. The owner of the hotel recently passed away, leaving employees the responsibility of closing up and overseeing the safety of guests. Most guests evacuated. However, the hotel owner’s children and grandchildren gather at the hotel during the hurricane for the reading of the will. The book is filled with lots of surprises, twists, and turns. Not everyone is who they seem and a Clue type guessing game begins. i.e..Who fired the gun in the dining room? I can share that it definitely wasn’t Ms. Scarlet or Colonel Mustard…but that’s all I’m going to reveal!

Rating: 3 stars!

I found myself a little bored listening to this book (no fault of the narrator). The storyline is a typical locked-house in a hurricane mystery where people start dropping like flies with a big reveal at the end. The overall story fell a little story for me though..

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really difficult to get into, and to finish. This book was honestly super slow, and way longer than it needed to be. A little too many twists and turns that maybe I just missed but made us deter a little too much from the main storyline and made it more confusing than it needed to be. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Narrator Saskia Maarleveld knocks it out of the parks in the narration of One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day. I liked the depth portrayed in each characters and even characters that could have sounded the same or similar had their own distinct voice. Great job!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC.

The best part of this whole book was this quote-
"Are you the girl who sent my husband enough eggplant emojis to open an Italian restaurant?"
💀

It was too much drama for me, but would be great for fans of Liane Moriarty or similar authors!

This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. The story takes place at a hotel where the FMC, Charley works. A storm is keeping them from leaving and mysterious murders are keep happening. While I did feel it was a tad predictable I did enjoy seeing it play out. Charley was an interesting character to me and I liked learning more about her and her backstory.

One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day
⭐️⭐️⭐️

I struggled with this book due to the overwhelming number of characters, which made it difficult to keep track of who the sisters were and their various involvements. I frequently found myself going back to relisten sections for clarity.

However, the ending truly surprised me and saved the book from a lower rating. It was mind-blowing and tied the story together in a way that made sense.

I believe I would have enjoyed the book more if I had read it instead of listening to it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Well, this one will definitely keep you on your toes!

George Bishop is the owner of a hotel in Maine. He also just died…
His three girls: Vicki, Iris and Faith have not seen each other, or their father, in years, but as the will is going to be read they all head to the hotel in Maine…

Charley is a maid at the hotel. She has seen hard times, and does whatever she needs to, and can do, to keep her head above water, and to take care of her gram…

Rodrigo manages pretty much everything at the hotel. He and Charley are friends…

As the Bishop girls are returning to the hotel, a severe storm is heading their way too!

Just as all of this is taking place, a young woman named Bree approaches Charley asking for help…

This one just keeps getting better as it goes…
People disappearing. People dying. People that are not who they appear to be…
And…strange messages coming through. Odd occurrences.

As I said, it will definitely keep you on your toes…and guessing!

On a side note…I did figure out ONE of the mysteries maybe an hour before the ending. Everything else…threw me for a loop!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an ARC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

#OneBigHappyFamily by #JamieDay. Narrated beautifully by #SaskiaMaarleveld.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

Release date was 7/16/24, so you should be able to find it on shelves already.


Feel free to like, follow and friend me on: Goodreads,
IG @ #BookReviews_with_emsr or
My Facebook Book Club: Book Reviews With Elaine.

Thanks so much for reading! And if you ‘liked’ my review, please share with your friends!! 📚⭐️