Book review: The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Well hello to you my reader chums! I've been reading many good books lately and one of them is The Family Upstairs. This book was honestly incredible and addictive, to say the least, and I couldn't put it down. 

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Here are my thoughts on the book...

Book review: The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Plotline

The book is based around a house, located in Chelsea, London. A baby is found alive and healthy in the cot but 3 dead bodies are also discovered downstairs with a note. The bodies have been left for several days and nobody knows what's happened and who has been looking after the baby. It's a mystery in the vacant, huge house.

Characters and relationships

This book is complex, twisty and a page-turner and the characters go hand in hand with that. The story is told from three different perspectives, by Lucy, Henry, and Libby, and how their lives overlap. The way it's written really shows off the characters and the descriptions are impeccable; so raw and honest.

I found myself really liking both Lucy and Libby and their honesty towards their life, whilst Henry had a strange appeal about him, but it's interesting to see the story unfold from all their perspectives. The relationships which I found were so important were Lucy and her kids, Henry and Phin, and Libby with her work colleague Dido. I learnt a lot about Lucy's character from how she was with her kids; a caring mother who is trying to do anything to get them back to London, her home. Henry and Phin had an odd relationship, and the way the book unfolds, I understood why they were this way. Libby is a free spirit and like any young 20-something year old who I related to page after page.

There are plenty of different characters in the book and significant ones at that, especially those who live in the house and finding out what really went on (no spoilers here.)

Overall thoughts on the book

I cannot rave about this book enough. From the first page, I was hooked into reading what happened and what went on, and what the big mystery was. The way the book is divided into three different perspectives helps build the suspense and feeds into each other, as I made my way through the book.

The plot twists are what really intrigued me the most in this book. As things began to play out, a twist would come out of nowhere and I was gobsmacked by a lot of them. I can't really get over how addictive the read was and how clever the chapters intertwined, and how the character's lives linked, in more ways than one.

Beautifully complex and crazily twisty, the book is something I would recommend to any reader. It surprised me at every chapter and there were so many elements included in the story that I couldn't put it down.

Ending

After an intense read, I wasn't too sure how the ending would play out. However, it seemed to be incredibly satisfying how things fell into place, and I felt really content as I read the last page. I'm not going to give anything away, but what I will say, that the ending was pretty light and a complete contrast to the complexity most of the novel had.

I hope you enjoyed this book review. What are you currently reading?

Thank you for reading <3

2 comments

  1. I've heard so many things about this book and it has been on my radar! Love the fact that there were twists in the book and you couldn't even tell that they were coming! Oh my gosh, I want to read this ASAP!!
    Charlotte / Charlotte's Picks

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    Replies
    1. It's honestly insanely good!! Thanks for the comment lovely xx

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