I had such such high expectations of Lisa Jewell’s latest, I’d read a lot of good reviews and people raving about this novel but I in all honestly didn’t love it. It was fine, but very slow to get into the crux of things, to the point that I took a while to read it as I just couldn’t stay engaged. Henry is also a fairly unlikeable character and again I think this played a part in me not really enjoying it.

Old Secrets, New Discoveries…
Old secrets and new discoveries in this sequel to The Family Upstairs. A bag of human bones and tree seeds discovered on the banks of the Thames may give clues and direction to an unsolved mystery from many years before but how long can a family’s secrets remain hidden? With an expanded and well crafted cast of credible characters and an unsettling storyline this is a riveting and immersive read, plotted to perfection. Compelling and compulsive.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advance copy of this book. Not one I will read again. I read it all but found the characters very under developed and didn’t really like any of them or find them plausible. Henry, in particular annoyed me and the ending made me sigh with frustration. If there’s a third book with this family I won’t be reading it. Sorry, but there were so many things which didn’t add up or ring true.

Really enjoyed this. Liked the characters, cared about what happened to them, I wanted to know how the various threads of the story would all come together.
It is apparently a sequel but I hadn’t read the first book. This didn’t impact on my enjoyment of this story. Highly recommended.

Wow what an utter fantastic and gripping follow up book this is to read. It's been a while since I read book 1 so took me a bit to get into the book and remind me of the back story before you fully got into the book. But a great story and one I highly recommend but you do have to have read the first book to get this one.

I enjoyed this book but unfortunately it wasn't as brilliant as the previous book in my opinion. It's a good story, and well-written, but it never completely gripped me.

Sequel to the Family Upstairs.

Its June 2019 and a bag of human bones is found on the banks of the Thames.
The bag contains clues and they take DCI Owusu back 30 years to the Chelsea mansion where three people lay dead and a baby lived.

Can the msytery of the murders finally be solved?

Nowhere near as brilliant as book 1. The ending was a bit of a let down. Still worth a read though. .

A compelling read if a little disjointed in places. I always Lisa Jewell’s books and this was another good one, although perhaps not her best.

Wow, I really enjoyed this book, it kept me captivated from the start! I hadn't read the prequel to this book, The Family Upstairs, but I still really enjoyed this book as I read the story without preconceptions about the characters and this added to the mystery of "whodunnit"! It can defintely be read as a standalone.

The Family Remains centres around the discovery of human bones in a river, a murder that seems to have happened 25 years ago. Through The ferensic evidence, the detective connects them to a house in London, which has been empty for a long time and had recently sold. The sub stories introduce us to Lucy lamb, her three children and her brother Henry Lamb, all of which are living under false names. The siblings are looking for their friend Phin, who is also the father of Lucy's eldest child (adopted as a baby but has recently been in contact when she inherited a large house) but they haven't seen him for over 20 years....

I think  it would be interesting to go back and read the Family Upstairs to see how much of the story was revealed in the first book. I think the character of Phineas is quite elusive, i'm guessing that he may have featured  in more detail previously.

An intriging read, I really enjoyed it!

The Family Upstairs is one of my favourite thrillers of all time and I couldn't wait to step back into this world when the sequel was announced.

The Family Remains begins with a bag of bones believed to belong to a woman killed many years ago being discovered in the Thames. As DCI Owusu follows the clues left in the bag back to a mansion in Chelsea where thirty years ago three people lay dead and a baby slept upstairs, old secrets that have long stayed buried are discovered.

Jewell shifts the focus away from Libby and really expands on her rich cast of characters as we delve back into the Lamb's and Thomsen's stories. Jewell has such a talent for creating a web of complex characters and I particularly enjoyed Rachel's backstory and the development of Lucy's story which came with this.

As I've come to expect from Jewell, The Family Remains kept me on my toes right until the very end but it's also a much deeper story about love and obsession and begs the question just how far will you go to protect your family? This is an unsettling psychological thriller and a satisfying conclusion to the series and I'm already eagerly awaiting her next book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lisa Jewell does it again with the family remains., a fast paced thriller of a story. This is written as a sequel to the family upstairs but I can also be read as a stand-alone. The characters are well built and there are a couple of different storylines which work perfectly together. The chapters are short and full of suspense and I couldn’t put it down as each chapter left me wanting more.
Highly recommended and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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<p>Sequel to her popluar novel The Family Upstairs, Jewell herself admits that she does not like writing sequels, but she recevied so amany requests asking what happened after the Family Upstairs ended that she decided to tie up the loose ends and questions that were left.</p>
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<p>She does introduce some new characters to tie up a plot point that occured outside of the main family story but is still important to understand that characters motivations and dynamic.</p>
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<p>Well written with the characters akready well defined if you have already read the previous book, however there is enough inoformation regarding the previous events that you do not need to read the first book, however I cannot imagine why anyone would not want to read it as the first is a brilliant book.</p>
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<p>The Family Remains is a great sequel to 'Upstairs' bringing a thrilling yet heartbreaking at times conclusion the story of the Lamb family.</p>
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<p>The only issue I found is that for the first 15 or so chapters I was confused as to how certain family members were related, getting Lucy and Libby confused at times and, a family tree at the begining of this book would have not only helped but would have been in keeping with the style of the story.</p>
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<p>Another great read from Lisa Jewell, whose characters, plots and writing style never disappoint.</p>
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The Family Upstairs left me wanting more and Lisa Jewell definitely delivered that in the Family Remains! The book was full of suspense and I couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed finding out what happened next with the characters of the first book. The ending did make me wonder if there will be another book as it appears Henry is up to something!
TW: Rape, abuse.

❓Have you read The Family Upstairs?

🙋🏻‍♀️I have! And I enjoyed The Family Upstairs. One of my fave ones by Lisa Jewell! So I was looking forward to reading her new release. And…. Unfortunately for me, this was a little bit disappointing.

👉The writing felt a little bit different than her other books. I normally love Jewell’s compelling writing. For some reason, I didn’t gel with it in this one from the start to finish. Did the editor change? I don’t know why, but it didn’t grip my attention like I expected it to.

👉Sure, it has some investigation by DI and a couple of dead bodies in the plot, but the mystery was just not compelling enough becsuse we already know their story from Book 1. After I finished it, I realised this book is not a psychological thriller. It’s more about the characters finding closures and to show how they are doing after the first book. You will understand the characters better after reading this second book, but for me it wasn’t worth it because I just wanted a crazy, twisty thriller.

After reading the first book I was intrigued to see how the second book for follow on and if would be as good. The book didn’t disappoint! The story picks up where is left off a year later, giving us more details with what happened to the family members and some new twists and turns along the way, didn’t want it to end, absolutely loved it

Lucy and Henry have escaped the family home of horrors. This is the next chapter all about survival. Intriguing. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

5⭐️

Lisa Jewell strikes again with this brilliant read! 🔥

The Family Remains is the sequel to The Family Upstairs and it does not disappoint!

What a read! This book answered questions I didn’t even know I had about the The Family Upstairs and had me hooked! I loved the focus on Lucy’s ex-husband Michael and also loved learning about those who survived 16 Cheyne Walk and what happened in their lives after their escape.

This read explores some powerful female characters and also highlighted the obsessive nature of Henry which was first explored in The Family Upstairs. I felt like this book was very different to the first, but in an excellent way.

This sequel was definitely needed and contained some twists which were beautifully wrapped up in the end.

Many thanks to Lisa Jewell, NetGalley and Century UK (Randomhouse UK, Cornerstone) for this ARC!

I highly recommend this fast paced read that will be published on 21st July 22!🔥📚

⚠️ Please check out the trigger warnings!

Having read the family upstairs which left many questions hanging, i was absolutly delighted to be able to read this follow on. Now feeling very satisfied that i know how and why things happened in the first book.

When the human bones are found out if the river thames DI Owusu has a task on his hands to identify them, particularly as they are not from recent years.

Rachel experienced an extremely short abusive marriage but on her visit to gajn revenge it seems somebody has beaten her to.

Henry has fled England in a desperate attempt to find his childhood love Phin...except the relationship was never reciprocal and Phin definetly does not want to be found.

A brilliant book with many twists, highly recommend.

Unlike pretty much every other reviewer, the fact this story is a sequel (to ‘The Family Upstairs’) escaped me. I haven’t read that one - no idea how I missed it! Putting that aside though, I didn’t feel confused or like I was missing anything at all though so although this book would undoubtedly make more sense if you have read the first one, I do think it stands alone.

Ok, that’s that dealt with!

The story opens with a mudlarker on the Thames finding a bag of human remains…. Jewell tells the story from different characters’ perspectives and across multiple timelines but I found it easy to follow and enjoyed finding out about the characters’ personalities through their chapters.

This is an intriguing story, full of interesting and sometimes unnerving and downright horrible people. I guess people who have read the first book will know who the victim is, how they were killed and what led to it - or maybe not - but I didn’t feel I had missed out by not having read the first book.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and couldn’t put the book down, I’m quite glad I have The Family Upstairs to read - although I definitely know what happens in the end 😂

Thank you #Netgalley for a preview copy in exchange for my thoughts.