Ratings131
Average rating3.8
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of None of This Is True comes another page-turning look inside one family’s past as buried secrets threaten to come to light.
Be careful who you let in.
Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.
She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them.
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.
In The Family Upstairs, the master of “bone-chilling suspense” (People) brings us the can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets.
Featured Series
2 primary booksThe Family Upstairs is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2019 with contributions by Lisa Jewell.
Reviews with the most likes.
WOW. Holy shit wow. I was so afraid that I was allowing the Bookstagram hype to get into my head too much over this book...and that when I finally got to read it I'd be sorely disappointed.
I had no reason to be afraid. And it was even better than I thought it could possibly be.
If you're looking for an action packed thriller than this isn't it. This is a slow burn. This slowly sinks it's claws into your brain and by the time you've realized it it's got a grip and it won't let go.
It's told from a couple of points of view and 2 timelines and every chapter it switches so you're basically always getting JUST enough before taking it away and feeding you something new.
I started last night and I'm already done even though I'm tired and should be sleeping because my kids, much like myself, are early risers. And now here I am, everyone is asleep, and I don't know wtf to do with myself. WORTH IT.
liked the unique story but last quarter of the book sucked and ruined everything
Not what I expected it to be.
This is my first read from Jewell, so I'm not entirely familiar with her work. This book is filled with dysfunctional family drama, secrets, and twisted stories. I'm a sucker for that so I definitely had to finish this book to find out what really happened in the mansion and what happened to Libby's family.
I wish it was a little more creepy. I didn't get attached to any of the characters, and it felt like the narration started going in circles, but overall I enjoyed the book.
This is a SOLID creepy thriller with good characters and a plot that moves along nicely. Libby is an interesting and complex character with a well-written history that added to her development and multi-layers - a feat I really appreciate when authors do right. A bit confusing at times, I will say, but still a thrill of a read and something I enjoyed a lot.