The Family Upstairs is a really great and creepy story of a girl who was the only one left behind when her parents committed suicide and her brother and sister disappeared. I really got into the story and background of the main character, Libby... which is pretty twisted but very interesting and original. I found the references to a cult very fascinating and the story was well told and believable.

I really enjoyed this book! I have read her stuff in the past and just felt meh about it but this one I really really liked. The characters were compelling and I liked how it flipped from one character to the next as you read a new chapter and the present to the past. The story was interesting... mystery inheritance, suicide pack, cult... what’s not to like. There were times when I was reading where my heart was racing or I was actually scared of what was going to happen next. I would recommend this to anyone who likes twisty thrillers and is looking for a quick read. I got an ARC.

Lisa Jewell writes riveting, suspenseful psychological thrillers and this one is just as good as her other books. The plot is very unique: Henry and Martina Lamb have it all. They have two perfect children, a fat bank account, many influential and famous friends, and a big, beautiful house in the Chelsea area of London. They're supposed to be living their best life. But below the surface of their idyllic life lies turmoil for Martina Lamb, because she suffers from severe depression. Martina invites over some magnetic people that become the houseguests from hell and end up never leaving. This story is about the people and the events that led to 3 corpses and 1 abandoned live baby being found in the house.

The story switches back and forth from the present and past. The present rotates between the character perspectives of the Lamb kids - Libby, Lucy, Henry - and their first & third person POVs. The plot is so intricate and the situations change so quickly that anyone who daydreams for even a few seconds will have to go back and re-read what they missed. I admit that I had to do this a few times.

Alternating between the present and the past is really a great touch in this book. I always love this style of writing. It builds strong character development and helps me understand each character's personality and motivations. I'm still trying to decide whether I think these characters are likeable. The jury is still out.

There were a lot of characters in this story. Many of them changed their names and it became a bit confusing at times. I should have taken notes on each person, their names, and their relations as I read it. One standout character in the book is the house itself - 16 Chyene Walk. It's similar to the houses in books like Shari LaPena's An Unwanted Guest or Ruth Ware's The Death of Mrs. Westaway. It's described so vividly that I could picture it and it was really creepy.

This book is about mental health, control, tyranny, family, power... and some cringe-worthy things like sexual abuse. It has a creepy, cultish vibe. It's not a feel-good book at all, but it's a good story that has twists and surprises and kept me reading all the way until the end.

Wow. This book opened up with what I think is everyone’s dream scenario - inheriting from an wealthy unknown relative. Libby has inherited a house, a mansion really, from family members she never knew. Adopted from an early age, she has no idea who her true family is and the history they shared - a history including murder, abuse, cults, and secrets. So many secrets.

Told from three very, very distinct POVs, the book unfolds in three stories that seem to run parallel to one another; only a few threads seemingly to connect them. We garner bits and pieces of the past, trying to figure out just how the puzzle pieces fit together.

And then BOOM, the three different sides crash into one another and you learn about the true horrors inflicted by the family upstairs. The entire picture is made whole and you’re sent reeling. I was intrigued and disgusted in the same measure - I couldn’t put it down.

The ending! Oh, the ending. I need a follow up. I need to know where these characters go from here or else I’ll just keep making up stories in my own head.

If you’re lucky enough to live in the UK, I believe this books has already been release, so pick it up now! For those of us in the US, it releases November 5, so prepare your bookshelves!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ • FOUR not so family friendly stars

This book! Wow!

The Family Upstairs was my first Lisa Jewell book and I am so glad I own more of her books, because I will for sure be picking them ASAP. The way she is able to craft a story, and slowly reveal new mysteries and plot points is astounding.

This book is all about a 25 year old woman named Libby. When Libby was a baby she was found in her crib, with her parents and another person dead in another room. She was adopted and never knew her story. Soon after Libby turns 25 she inherits the house she was found in and starts to learn about what led to her parents apparent suicide.

The book also follows to other characters. Lucy and Henry. Lucy is a struggling single mom with two kids, trying to make her way, with dark secrets. Henry's chapters take place in the past, telling us the story as it played out.

I found myself thinking about this book constantly, wanting to read it at all times of day.

"The baby is now 25"
25 years ago, Libby Jones was adopted. She did not know where she came from or really who she was. That is until a letter arrived in the mail telling her she was now the sole owner of Le Cheyne. As she visits the home, she is certain she is hearing something coming from the upstairs. She enlists the help of her friend and coworker Dido, as well journalist Miller Roe to help her investigate and dig into her past. Meanwhile 39 year old Lucy is struggling to stay afloat. Now a single mom of two young children, she floats in and out of homelessness with barely a penny to her name. She then receives a mysterious text telling her simply, "the baby is now 25."
She knows she too needs to get to Chelsea to Le Cheyne but the road will not be easy. Standing in her way are passports for her and her children, which she cannot afford. She uses ex husband Michael to get what she needs but finds herself in a precarious position when she goes to collect the documents. We also learn more about Lucy and her brother Henry from his standpoint. Lucy and Libby tell us the present, while Henry tells us the past.
As I got further into the story, I realized I just could not put it down. I actually closed another galley by one of my favorite authors to finish this one.
This book has love, lust, heartbreak, death, malice, murder, money...amongst a whole slew of other characteristics. You truly feel engrossed in each characters story.
Once you get to the big twist towards the end you may smack yourself in the head and say you should have seen it all along.
The Family Upstairs is a definite must read!

Wowzers! Read this in one day at the beach. The book really pulled me in with these characters who came to life! Gripping and a bit gothic and I loved every second of it!

*** 5 Stars ***
Expected Publication: November 5, 2019

Another Lisa Jewell.. and another GEM!! (See what I did there??)
Libby Jones parents died in a suicide pact when she was an infant. When she turns 25 and finds out she has inherited the house from a trust set up for her.. a house worth millions. A house with a very sketchy creepy past. This story alternates from different character point of views and different time periods and at first I started to get overwhelmed with all the characters and names. However very shortly everything flows together and the character development is spot on. Such a great mystery that I could not put down.
In typical Lisa Jewell fashion, the last pages had me jaw dropped. She really is my favorite author these days and this totally lives up to the anticipation. Highly recommend!!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Century for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is in a 3 person narrative with different time periods.From the start I found that the story line dragged and had little to no redeeming characters that I connected with.
The whole cult like premise was odd and not something that I found interesting, to be honest.
I have really loved this author in the past, but this book fell flat. I will try her again though!
I received an ARC from Net galley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow I devoured this book in one because I literally couldn't put it down.

Lisa Jewell created a master piece of mystery thriller with fantastic twists, well crafted characters, and an amazing totally unexpected ending.

On her 25th birthday, Libby Jones was contacted by a law firm informing her that she had inherited a house which was trusted for her by her biological parents.
Now Libby finds herself in an utterly confusing situation, her biological parents died in an apparent suicide pact, she was left alone in her crib and her siblings nowhere to be found.

She now has to dig really deep to know what really happened to her parents, where are her siblings, and is there someone who would go to any length to make sure that the truth never resurface.

This is an explosive fantastic read and although the beginning took me sometime to figure the various characters and time periods, the rest of the narrative was more than a rewarding experience.
I highly recommend this book.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Atria Books, and author Lisa Jewell for a chance to review this brilliant book in exchange for an honest opinion.

First off – why have I not been reading Lisa Jewell’s novels before this?! I couldn’t put this book down.

Libby Jones knows she was adopted and also knows there was some controversy about her past and her birth parents. At the age of 25 she knows all will be revealed as she receives she long awaited letter and “inheritance.” Here is a blurb from the book description so you have the setup:

Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.

What a setup. I was intrigued from the beginning and found myself surprised by revelations in the book. The main setting is London but you have scenes in France as well. The story is told from different perspectives. Libby’s brother Henry narrates the past story line and we get an inside view of the crazy scenarios in his childhood home. In the Libby chapters you’ll read about her search for the older siblings, Henry and Lucy, as well as researching information on her socialite mother and well-to-do father, Martina and Henry Lamb. At the end of each chapter I would want to continue with Libby’s search, yet when young Henry narrated I didn’t want that to end.

This book is categorized under adult fiction, mystery and thrillers. A+

Lisa Jewell is a British author of popular fiction. Her books include Ralph’s Party, Thirtynothing, After The Party, a sequel to Ralph’s Party, and most recently The House We Grew Up In, The Girls in the Garden, and Then She Was Gone

Publication date is November 5, 2019. Much thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book. I was not compensated for a review, opinions are mine.

An interesting mystery. The title and subtitle were, in my opinion, misleading. It is not so much a family upstairs, but one that integrates into the house and what happens as a result. We follow the story in the past and present through several different voices. I liked how we see the same things from various perspectives. Not my favorite of Jewell's books, but a good read.

OMGoodness! I could not put this book down. It is so twisted and dark as one mystery after another is revealed. It is like watching a train wreck, you just can’t look away. Ms. Jewell hooked me from the first page.
Many thanks to Atria Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received a free e-copy of The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell from NetGalley for my honest review.

Three people are found dead in the kitchen of an exorbitant home in Chelsea, London. All cloaked in black robes, their deaths being very suspicious. Libby, who was a baby, was found on the second floor of the home. She was alive and removed from the home and raised by her adoptive parents.

On Libby's 25th birthday, she inherits the big mansion that her family was murdered in. The truth behind her family begins to unravel in the mansion she was discovered in.

This story is told from three different perspectives. A twisted plot with lots of twists and turns.

Wow Lisa Jewell does it again! I have yet to read a single book she's written and not liked it she's definitely made it to my auto buy list! Following Libby and her hunt for answers about her birth parents and her past was so interesting I just wanted to know the answers as much as she did! I also really loved the atmosphere of a old mansion by the Thames it gave the whole story a thrillery sort of atmosphere I really loved. This book was just incredible it had suspense and mystery but also thiller vibes and even family drama vibes I loved it! I've definitely became a life long fan of Lisa Jewell and I'm already anticipating whatever she writes next! Thank you so much for this review copy!

I felt lost and confused for the first couple chapters of this story. I'm pretty sure that was intentional. Even as you get further in and more is revealed, The Family Upstairs leaves you off-balanced and unsettled right until the very last page. There's an unravelling of a mystery and the past, of multiple characters and their points of view. It was an interesting read, written in a different kind of way, that left me questioning things at the end. In a good way.

On her 25th birthday, Libby Jones receives news that she has just inherited property in a well to do section of town. Libby has known she was adopted almost her entire life, so finding out she inherited property from a relative shock to hard working Libby. In the next chapter, we learn that a woman named Lucy has received a text message: "The baby is 25."Lucy is homeless with her two children, and this text message she received bothers her. Then we meet Henry. We don't know if any of these people are related to the other. This book goes through several different narrations, with wonderful story telling. I finished this book in about a day and a half, it was so good. I didn't want to stop reading. The ending wraps up nicely. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

While I have been a big fan of Lisa Jewell in the past, I had a hard time connecting with this book. There are so many similar "suspense/thriller" type reads out there that when one does not grab me from the start, I struggle...and that's how I felt with this one- which greatly disappointed me as I was so excited to read this!
While I found the storyline interesting, it also at times felt all over the place. Maybe that was done on purpose to confuse the reader a bit but I just felt so lost. When I have to go back over and over again to re-read pages, I know this is just the book for me. I felt that the last 1/4 of the book was indeed the best part but to get there was a struggle. I do really enjoy this author typically so I hope to read more from her in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell was an extremely one of a kind dark drama/psychological thriller & the first of its kind that I’ve not only read before by Lisa but the BEST of its kind of read so far this year.

A family that had it all, fame, fortune and love. Slowly letting it slip away by greed and overtime losing almost everything. Still having the house they take in a couple with two kids temporarily that offer to help the family monetarily and with ways of enlightenment. This family’s temporary stay slowly becomes permanent bring and ends in bringing yet another couple to live in this house. Things begin to disintegrate rapidly; health, happiness, money, food & family boundaries and in its place a cult like leadership forms. The disturbing and frightening future that now has become reality has some asking if they will make it out alive.

Told in three interwoven stories from the children born into the original family. Libby the baby found abandoned in the house; who now is just finding out about and inheriting the Mansion on her 25th Birthday and Lucy & Henry who were children lucky to make it out alive.

Fast paced and completely addicting; get ready to finish this book in 1 sitting because you won’t want to do anything else!

An engaging Story... I have heard about Lisa Jewell but had not read any of her prior books.... After this, I will go back to her catalogue when looking for a good easy page turner mystery/tale.