Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

131 reviews

ryendnae's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Suicide and Murder

Minor: Alcohol, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Child death, and Adult/minor relationship

ashtonjamesdean's review against another edition

dark tense

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Rape

sare1125's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Death, and Child abuse

frankensteinscreature's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

I have rather conflicting feelings about this book, I picked it up as a blind date with a book and it’s not something I would usually gravitate towards. I think the writing style was objectively bad but it did draw me in (I suppose that is what thrillers are supposed to do). It could have been good if not for the horrendously stereotypical and frankly homophobic depictions of the one queer character clearly written by a straight woman that does not like gay men. The sort of predatory relationship that she wanted for the story did not need to manifest itself in such a homophobic way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Murder, Domestic abuse, Rape, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Abortion, Confinement, and Adult/minor relationship

loonysaurus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Abandonment, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Torture

Minor: Deportation, Abortion, Gore, Homophobia, and Infertility

minnie_bee_holmes's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Check trigger warnings before reading. This made me feel kinda dark after I finished it- it was such a wild ride. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia

h_elene's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Abortion, Abandonment, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

lydia_reads's review

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Violence, and Animal cruelty

stellahadz's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This book definitely had a cool premise, but some parts of the execution fell a bit flat. The "cult" aspect of the story could have been way more interesting if there were more of an explanation as to why

Henry and Lucy's parents fell prey to David's manipulation

. I also didn't find the big reveal especially surprising. It seemed like a lot of the plot relied on the idea that evil people are just evil for no reason, which is rarely true. The plot was just creepy enough to keep me reading the book, and the unreliable-narrator aspect was also compelling, I just would have loved for the characters to be a bit more fleshed-out. I'm not totally sold on reading the sequel; I might go back to it later. I think this book is good as a beach read or something quick and digestible, but it's not one of the better thrillers I've read. 

(Also, this is a minor complaint, but the descriptions of Lucy's dog's bowel movements were *entirely* too detailed.) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Miscarriage

Minor: Blood and Excrement

ashwatever98's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Child abuse

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment

Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, and Incest

This book was a fantastic read. The flow between chapters was flawless and was very well thought out. This is probably one of my new favorite reads!