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A review by bastobika
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
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
đź‘Ť :
🏫 twisted family history
đź’•empathized with the characters
đź’Żmultiple POVs in different timelines
🔥slow burn
đź“– tragic story with a happy ending
đź‘Ž :
👨‍👩‍👧 more of a family drama than a thriller
đźš« some components were hard to believe
đź’ 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 ! ❤️
🏫 twisted family history
đź’•empathized with the characters
đź’Żmultiple POVs in different timelines
🔥slow burn
đź“– tragic story with a happy ending
đź‘Ž :
👨‍👩‍👧 more of a family drama than a thriller
đźš« some components were hard to believe
đź’ 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
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse