Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

275 reviews

kyleebarillier's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

My major downfall was consuming this book in audio format. I spent the first half of the book incredibly confused with the POV and time jumping. Once I caught on and was able to follow, I was hooked. 
The twists and turns leave your jaw on the floor! I had no idea what was happening and even when I thought I had it figured out…Something else happened! 

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vexpress's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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anissawren's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0


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gloomiko's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad 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

5.0


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drstauffer918's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0


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cheesy_reader_77's review against another edition

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

3.0

My book club gave this book a 3.1. This book felt like it wanted to be good but it could never really get over the hump of just alright. One of my members didn’t like the characters. This book has multiple narrators and one of them turns out to be an unreliable one which was not favored. The author went into detail about things that really didn’t matter and left the more important things flat and 2 dimensional. 

***SPOILERS***
The book lost points when the author decided to write the gay character as the stereotypical gay villain with the heart broken trope. The book was called the family upstairs but it was more “family comes in and takes over a whole house super easily” the title didnt really do the book justice.

In all honesty, this book was a disappointment. The author set up great plot twists and opportunities for something to happen many times and it just fell flat. It felt like when a roller coaster goes up the hill clicking and then it just never really drops. The book could have also benefited from having less characters and having actual character development or get deeper with some characters as it leaves you wondering a lot. Overall, it was interesting while we were reading it but it is not a book that will stay with us, its not a book that we would think about really ever or we will talk about, it left little to no impression. 

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bex2271's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75


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hp62442's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5


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alymccaskill's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I felt so many emotions while reading this one. It’s well written and the plot was carefully crafted. Quite the psychological thriller that leaves you asking so many questions. It engulfs you, for sure. 

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ycboots's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0


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