Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

178 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

ashsupahfire's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

It took me some time to finish the first 40% of the book. Same with most thrillers, it’s a slow start where we set the scene. I finished the rest of the book in one sitting. 

I also would not call this a thriller as there was no stakes, just a mystery in an old house. 

If they would have keep the mystery of the lurking person in the house going on longer, or connected the ex husband to the mystery, or expanded on the being locked in Henry’s room thing longer, maybe

All of the subplots felt forced but the narrator of the 1990s cult section is what we really kept me sprung on this book as a habitual DNF’er. The present day storyline does get its big twist but I will still say the cult storyline is where I intensively read. 

Would have been nice if they expanded more on the two siblings clearly having the murder gene. Sure both were accidentally but neither felt phased by it. Or maybe that was an oversight of the author or not having them display any empathy for their dead parents. In a way I can see how all 3 deserved to die but both went immediately into clean up and escape mode. Clemency seems to be the only one traumatized.

I could read a second book where they learn more about the children of the cult 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia and Stalking

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Animal death and Vomit

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

eloisetaylor's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Physical abuse

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

caprireads215's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Infidelity, Murder, Animal death, Violence, Pregnancy, Confinement, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Torture, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Gaslighting, and Adult/minor relationship

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