As a so-called domestic suspense/thriller, this is more bizarre and disturbing than I initially thought but not very suspenseful or thrilling. A bunch of guests come to stay in a fancy London home and somehow end up dominating it over its original occupants, leading to devastating consequences. I was confused by how things are apparently just allowed to happen — from strange, cult-like behaviors to truly appalling acts — and how powerless the household seems to be in the face of these newcomers, whose source of such strong, overpowering influence is never really clear to me. This influence is told to the reader but not really shown, perhaps due to the limits of the first-person narration of the past events.

I also found it disappointing how the sample for the Simon & Schuster Audio edition that I bought spoils a major plot point, because it's taken not from one of the beginning chapters like in most audiobooks but from much later in the novel — almost three-fourths in, actually. After a certain point it was easy for me to guess the rest of what really happened in the house, aside from a few small surprises, and the resolution to the story falls flat. I preferred the narrators for Libby's and Henry's parts rather than the stiff-voiced one for Lucy's.

The Family Upstairs - 4 stars

Der Insasse - 4 stars

Sieh mich an: Jeder hat Narben. Manche sind nur besser zu sehen. - 4 stars

Favorite book(s) of the month:

e v e r y t h i n g

Books started this month but haven't finished yet:

Still, Just One of the Royals, Becoming

Random ramblings:

I just don't know. November started so very good and towards the end, I didn't get anything done. Could have something to do with the fact that Pokemon Shield got released and I lost my grip on all things not Pokemon related. COULD HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THAT. I don't regret anything, tho.

Those familiar with Lisa Jewell will recognize her penchant for locked doors and secret family connections in her new novel, The Family Upstairs.  Jewell has a flair for portraying extreme family dysfunction in a way that carefully treads the line of credulity, given the outrageousness of its complicated plotting.  In this book, Libby Jones is Jewell’s main heroine: a strait-laced young woman whose life has been meticulously controlled and planned after a chaotic upbringing by a foster mother who was caring but haphazard.  Her organized life is turned upside down, however, when she receives notice that she has reached the age of inheritance from her birth family’s estate.  Libby learns that she is now the owner of the mansion where her parents died of mysterious circumstances almost 25 years ago when she was a baby.  From the articles she has read, investigators assumed that a suicide pact among cult members was the likeliest explanation, and that there were other children in the house who were never located.  She was found abandoned but in good health when the bodies were discovered. What Libby will soon discover is that her acquisition of the house has also spurred others to return to the site with agendas of their own.  Jewell slowly unpeels the true events of the deaths in the house through alternating points-of-view from the children who were party to the events.  With its many twists and connections, unreliable narrators and biases, The Family Upstairs is an addictive read that compels the reader to willingly swallow largely unbelievable plotlines with relish. The novel could be described as a combination of Flowers in the Attic (by VC Andrews) and Helter Skelter (Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry) or other stories of cults/extreme family-based societies.  With an ending that is satisfying but tantalizingly open-ended, Jewell’s latest will provide her fans with some more exciting hours of reading pleasure.

Thanks to the author, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I realize that I'm in the minority on this one, but The Family Upstairs just didn't do it for me. It's told from three perspectives, which wouldn't be a problem except that one of those perspectives is written in first person while the other two are in third. I understand the reasoning behind it, but that doesn't change the fact that it was a distraction for me. There are a fair amount of characters to keep up with, but they are distinctive enough to keep them sorted in my mind. The problem is that the story gets bogged down in unnecessary mundane details. I can appreciate well-drawn characters and painting a picture to show where they're coming from so the reader can get to know them, but this goes a little too far with that - so far that the three characters the story focuses on start to drift away from the plot at times. This one still could've been an okay story for me, but the more I read, the more I felt like it just didn't live up to its potential. This book had the potential to be an excellent dark and gritty story, but it's stretched to the point of being convoluted, and that was just disappointing.  

english review only (spoilerfree)

audible audiobook

Summary: You thought they were just staying for the weekend. They looked harmless enough - with only two suitcases and a cat in a wicker box.

But soon things turn very, very dark. It happens slowly, yet so extraordinarily quickly.

My review: Slow start but damn does it pick up!!!

This book is seriously creepy, not in the bloody murder or ghosts and hauntings every where kinda way. But in the, don't let strangers into your house and let them take over your family and your life kind of way. JESUS!!!

The writing was amazing. The way the audiobook was produced was amazing. I loved that we had three different narrators for the three POV's. It made it super easy to tell them apart, to just have a different voice to all the characters. I LOVED it.

The three main characters. In the beginning I was super confused but damn, all these twists, turns, and revelations. Get over the slow part of the book and this book picks up and throws some crazy shit at you. I LOVED IT.