It wasn't until I started reading The Family Remains that I realised that it is a sequel to Jewell's earlier novel The Family Upstairs.
Having not read The Family Upstairs I found it hard to empathise or connect with any of the characters and DNF.

Are you kidding me ?? This is a 5 star book all day long ! This is the book that will keep you reading into the small hours. It ties up the loose ends from 'The Family Upstairs'. It was fascinating to meet the characters again.
I had read 'The Family Upstairs' and loved it so not sure how 'standalone' it is. I already knew the back story.
If you've not read 'The Family upstairs' then go and read it. Now. Go. Are you still here ??
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

I absolutely loved The Family Upstairs book, and like many other readers I really wanted to know what happened next. I was thrilled to see that there was a sequel. This book can be read as a standalone novel but I think that it makes more sense if you have read the first book.
There are a lot of characters to follow but there are recaps of the previous books. I needed this recap as I had forgotten some of the details of the previous book.
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I found it interesting and intriguing to find out what had happened to the characters.
There was a lot of mystery and suspense with a lot of twists and turns. The book is a compelling and thrilling read. I really enjoyed reading it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

I loved Lisa Jewells The Family Upstairs, so I jumped at the chance to read an ARC of The Family Remains. A psychological thriller included characters from the first book and introduces a host of new ones. If you haven’t read The Family Upstairs, you won’t be lost in reading the sequel. Lisa has interwoven the plots very cleverly.

A mudlark discovers a up bag of bones on the banks of the River Thames. The bones are those of a murdered young woman. DCI Samuel Owusu's investigation leads him to a mansion in Chelsea. In the same mansion where about 30 years earlier, three dead bodies were found in the kitchen. In the book, we are reacquainted with the Lamb family, Lucy, and two young children, Marco & Stella, all of whom are living with her brother Henry.
In a misguided effort to reacquaint himself with Libby’s father (Phin) Henry sets off to New York, this sets off alarms for Lucy.

A dark, intense, and thrilling read packed with extortion, abuse, murder. A compelling narrative where the individual storylines are brilliantly woven together.

I was unpleasantly surprised by this book given that the author is such a big name in this genre. I gave this book a good shot. I made it past 40% but still had no idea what was really happening. The goals of the protagonists were so murky and vague that I didn't know what the point of the story was or if there was any conflict and most importantly, why I should care.
The prose was okay, the pacing wasn't the worst, but the characters were all over the place and none of them were interesting, likeable or relatable enough to make me want to continue reading.

DNF

DCI Samuel Owusu receives a call to the River Thames where a 'mud-larking' group have unearthed a bag of human bones. They are tracked back to a notorious house on Chayne Walk that made headline news many years ago when a baby was found upstairs, whilst downstairs there were three dead bodies. The other children have disappeared. Samuel realises that he is going to be disturbing a lot of ghosts. Their history begins to catch up with the family-can you every get past the events they lived through?

I loved The Family Upstairs & was thrilled when I saw there was a sequel. I suppose you could read this as a stand-alone but to get the full impact you need to read The Family Upstairs. This is another twisty thriller with a dedicated detective thrown in! Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this terrific book.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Century for approving me for an ARC of this book.

After reading and enjoying The Family Upstairs I decided to jump straight into the highly anticipated sequel. I was interested to see where Libby, Lucy and Henry’s journey went to next and wanted to know if they would ever find Phin.

I would say The Family Remains is a slow burn character study of Henry and how his mind operates. He is a complex character and you can hardly blame the way he is after the childhood he endured in the house. The whole book seems to be at a simmering point throughout and I kept waiting for something big and twisted to happen but for me the punch wasn’t really there.

Running alongside Henry’s story was Rachel Rimmer, the current wife of Michael who also happens to be Lucy’s ex. Through a series of flashbacks we are told her story and how she came to be Michael’s wife. I found this part of the story more intriguing and could feel the sinister, twisted side of Michael was always hiding in the shadow waiting to pounce. I was keen to see how her treated Rachel compared to Lucy and how both women would handle the fall out of the events from the previous book.

Whilst this claims to be a standalone I would recommend reading the first one beforehand to fully understand the family and what Lucy and Henry went through. There are quite a few characters from the first book that pop up too so it’s handy to have some background knowledge of them.

There were aspects of this story that I really enjoyed but I didn’t feel it was to the same standard that I’ve come to expect with Lisa Jewell. Have you read this one? Let me know in the comments what you thought!

You always know you are in for a good read with a Lisa Jewel novel & this follow on from The Family Upstairs, was a definite five star read for me.
You could read as a stand alone but then you would only have half the story.
This was quite an addictive intriguing read with its well plotted storyline that holds your concentration.
As the story jumps between past & present we learn more about what happened to the children Rachel, Lucy & Henry.
The story unfolds when a bag of bones are discovered on the shore of the river Thames.
DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene & sends the bones to forensics.
Also in the bag is forensic evidence of a rare tree that is traced back to a Chelsea mansion.
The significance of this is alarming as that is where three people were found dead & a baby was found all alone upstairs but alive & well.
This is a compulsive immersive read that will hold you to the last page.
I love a good psychological suspense & the author has pulled out all the stops to take us on from The Family Upstairs.
Thoroughly enjoyed it .

As a sequel to the Family Upstairs this didn't disappoint. Lots of intrigue involving the two families and definitely not a predictable read. A great psychological thriller which I would definitely recommend.

Love Lisa Jewell - have read every book she has written. All of her chick-lit books, and her more recent genre swap to thrillers.
I adore her books, and always fly through them!
However, this is the first time I have not fully enjoyed a Lisa Jewell book.
I liked the first book in this series (The Family Upstairs) but this book just didn't do it for me. I'm not sure if it was because I had forgotten some of what was in the previous book or whether it was just the plot.
One of the main things for me was that there were far too many characters to keep track of (always struggle with lots of characters) and I did get a little lost at times.
Also, I didn't feel that drive to keep reading like I have before when Jewell's books.

Hoping this is just a blip and her next book will bring her back to form for me.

3.5
This review might contain spoilers for the family upstairs, so proceed with caution. Thank you!

In this sequel to The Family Upstairs we explore the Lamb's family more thoroughly. Unlike The Family Upstairs which was more dark and twisted this is a slow burn mystery with family drama and in-depth character study.

In the typical Lisa Jewell style, we get short chapters that helps a lot in flying through the book and the writing is very easy to read.

I liked the family upstairs more than this coz this was very slow and didn't have much twists but I really enjoyed reading more about the characters and their lives. There was one particular story line in this which had a very satisfying ending and I have given one star solely for that.

While this can be read as a standalone, I recommend reading The family upstairs first and then this coz you can get into the story more easily.

This is the sequel to The Family Upstairs and, although there is a bit of a recap, it is only really meant as a memory jogger rather than an alternative to reading the previous book so I am really imploring you to read that book first, if you haven't already. In fact, if you have then honestly, why are you bothering reading reviews, you know what you are getting, so go on and just do it!
We start with the discovery of a bag of bones - by a mudlarker - a discovery which will open up old woulds for a certain family who used to live in a certain Chelsea mansion. A family mostly reconnected after many years.
Meanwhile another body is found - a fresher one this time - in a house in France. His wife is informed of his demise and, well, doesn't really come across as either surprised or sad.
And then there's Lucy, Henry and Libby - still a bit haunted by their past and still searching for various things to complete their lives...
And that's all I'm saying as what follows is a bit interconnected and convoluted, even more so if you haven't already read the first book. In fact, I actually downloaded the audiobook to listen to as a refresher prior to going in to this book. Did the job nicely.
I am glad the author gave in and delivered what many people wanted. I am not sure she planned this when she was writing the previous book. I suspect not. But, like many others, I really wanted and needed to know what happened next. I was so far from ready to say goodbye to the characters. So yeah, thank you so much for that :)
All in all, a most satisfactory addition to what I thought was a cracking story. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

"All the things I want to do right now would end with me in a police cell."

I highly recommend you read 'The Family Upstairs' before digging into this book.

DCI Samuel Owusu has a cold case to investigate – a set of bones, nearly 30 years old, has been discovered in a bag in the Thames in London. And it's all tied to three suicides that happened in a mansion decades ago.

Lucy and Henry Lamb seem to be settling into the city, after the horrors of their childhood appear to be over. But when Henry discovers the possible location of Phin, the boy who used to live at the mansion too and with whom he was obsessed, he heads off in search of a man who clearly doesn't want to be found.

Libby Jones is trying to live a life in which she gets to know her new family. But when the police come knocking on her door, she doesn't know what to say. She's clearly lying to them. How can she protect her loved ones from danger?

In this sequel to the excellent 'The Family Upstairs', Lisa Jewell ups the tension. Will the Lambs be allowed to live their lives in peace, or will they be forced to account for their actions in their painful past? As DCI Owusu closes in, you can't help but root for the main characters. I connected with them. I felt like I understood them, which speaks to the brilliance of Jewell's storytelling. An engrossing and captivating sequel.

Thanks to Netgalley for this book in return for a review.

This is the sequel to the brilliant The Family Upstairs and I was worried it couldn’t possibly be as good. It is, however, fantastic. Reminders to the first story are done with just the right touch and the characters come to life again very quickly.

We pick up the story as the now grown up teenagers from the house attempt to live their lives until bones are found and their previous stories are revisited. There’s excellent suspense and intrigue, as you’d expect, with just enough new characters to be satusfying. Lisa Jewell says she doesn’t like writing sequels but I’m glad she did.

Early one morning on the shore of the Thames, DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery. When Owusu sends the evidence for examination, he learns the bones are connected to a cols case that left three people dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion thirty years ago.

Rachel Rimmer has also received a shock - news that her husband, Michael, has been found dead in the cellar of his house in France. All signs point to an intruder, and the French police need her to come urgently to answer questions about Michael and his past that she doesn't want to answer.

Lucy Lamb has finally come home after thirty years. She is just about to purchase their first ever house when her brother takes off to find the boy from from their shared past whose memory haunts their present.

This book picks up when the previous book, The Family upstairs, ended. The first half had a slower pace than the second half. The characters are all living better lives and interacting as a real family. The chapters bounce between different timelines, I did find the story a little confusing and hard to follow due to the stories switching from character to character in different timeframes. Everything eventually came together. The story covers abuse, murder and hidden identity. It also has an eerie vibe to it. This is a well written and disturbing read.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #RandomHouseUK #Cornerstone and the author #LisaJewell for my ARC of #ThefamilyRemains in exchange for an honest review.

A sequel to The Family Remains and Lisa Jewell takes us back to some familiar characters to see what happens next!

To be honest it would probably have been worthwhile to re-read The Family Upstairs before tackling this one as some of the details were lost in the midst of time but nevertheless I was intrigued by the obsessions that rage between the Lamb family and others who cross their path.

As always Lisa Jewell weaves a brilliant story, criss-crossing both time and country to take us on a journey which inevitably has its roots in the past.

An enjoyable read which despite stretching the realms of reality, kept me turning the pages way too long into the night.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would & think I would have enjoyed it even more if I left it a bit longer between reading the first & second book!

I loved the addition of the new characters & enjoyed the element of the police investigation!

3.5* rounded to 4*
Full review to show on my Instagram review page (the.readinglife) shortly

I really wanted to love this but in all honesty I really didn’t think that the family upstairs needed a sequel. I really didn’t care about any of the characters and you ultimately know the outcome of the “mystery” the entire way through.

I did like the typical Lisa Jewell writing style and changes of point of view between the chapters which did make it quite an easy read.

All in all, not my favourite Lisa Jewell but I did go in with low expectations on this one.

The Family Upstairs was my first Lisa Jewell's book and I loved it so much that it led led to my compulsive reading of all her psychological thrillers. You can imagine my happiness and anticipation at its sequel, and pure joy at receiving an AR of The Family Remains.
Lisa is a fantastic writer, she writes crimes, but with a heart: you're sucked into dark, twisted stories, but there are always some moving scenes inside them that will bring you on the verge of tears. The characters are so deep and well depicted, real and raw that you can't but feel for them and root for them.
This book was a wonderful read and I'm recommending it to everybody. Buy this book, you won't regret it and if you haven't already read it, buy The Family Upstairs also and read them both.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Lisa Jewell books and this one is another 5 star read.
You can read this as a stand alone book, but I recommend that you order both and read The Family Upstairs first to get the full benefit of the story.
Returning to Henry Lamb and his mixed up family, we are able to tie up loose ends and also enjoy more plot twists and excellent story telling.
A must read!