Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

38 reviews

kjm_x's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism

laurxndx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

kelseyr713's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Loved this twisty thriller. Not many loose threads left at the end, but enough for a final twist of the knife. I made a few predictions while reading and none of them were correct! I would be curious about a sequel, I think there’s certainly enough here for one.

Reread in 2022 before reading the sequel, yay!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Murder, Drug use, Stalking, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Homophobia

macaronsandmermaids's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Grief, and Infertility

amberinbookland's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Infertility, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Child abuse, Blood, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

__whatemilyread's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Rape, Murder, Infidelity, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Child death, Animal death, and Blood

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, and Mental illness

utelylivin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

This one wasn't really a "thrilling" to me, but I liked how the story jumped between the perspectives of multiple narrators. It kept me interested to keep going. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Suicide, Rape, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Blood, Cancer, and Child death

xsophiecat's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Blood, Death, and Infidelity

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Pedophilia

The premise was intriguing, but sadly the ending did not deliver the promises made earlier on. The concept of

the unreliable narrator

could have been used to greater effect; in actuality, what happened was

some slight confusion and meerest hint of danger

. Overall, I would have been far more satisfied with the weird, grotesque ending/explanation that was hinted at throughout, rather than the more timid ending given.