Reviews with content warning for Bullying - The Family Upstairs

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

25 reviews

bastobika's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

👍 :
🏫 twisted family history
💕empathized with the characters
💯multiple POVs in different timelines
🔥slow burn
📖 tragic story with a happy ending

👎 :
👨‍👩‍👧 more of a family drama than a thriller
🚫 some components were hard to believe

💭 Overall Thoughts :

This book was a page turner despite being a slow burn with over 400 pages ! I loved the twisted and complicated family history that was unfolded beautifully through three perspectives from different people parallely in differ timelines. I deeply empathized with the traumatized teenagers and how they handled themselves.

The reveal about Libby’s birth parents were half expected and half out of the box which kept me engaged till almost the very end !

There were some parts in the plot though which didn’t seem quite realistic to me.

I could not relate how David got away with dominating for so many years and nobody noticed. For example, when Henry’s Uncle came and knocked for 7 days, didn’t get any response but didn’t do anything about it.

Also, when Henry introduced himself as Phin, drugged and locked Libby and Miller, took their phones and added trackers, it was weird that Libby and Miller didn’t question it later on that why Henry did this if his sole intention was just to find Libby.

And being a murder mystery, the murder itself wasn’t that interesting and also predictable.

But I still enjoyed reading the family drama ! And it’s such a poetic justice that I found David’s characteristics being reflected in Henry ! ❤️

Content Warnings

amgarrido's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

4.5

Content Warnings

our_bookish_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Not amazing, but not awful.
Told in multiple POV, altering timelines.

The story, as far as characters, got muddled and very confusing because there were so many in play during the parts in the past. I did not see the thing with Michael coming! I liked how it happened and that it did. I feel bad for the kids in the past and present and the hardships growing up, no kid should have to endure any of it.

Content Warnings