LISA JEWELL – THE FAMILY REMAINS ****

I read this novel in advance of publication through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The name Lisa Jewell ensures you of a good fast read. Her plots rattle along with hooks at the end of each scene to force you to read the next. And her stories, though convoluted like The Family Remains, are ingenious and mostly believable.

The plot here concerns a decidedly unpleasant man whose wives he abuses; an equally awful woman whose bones found in a black sack in the mud banks of the Thames starts the balls rolling, and a rather tortured gay man who uses the name of a man he once loved and has remodelled himself on his looks.

He isn’t the only character to use more than one name, nor the only character to murder someone. The story flits breathlessly from London to the south of France and the gay district of Chicago. Bit of a roller coaster but I enjoyed the ride.

Had it not been for a rather long, mostly unnecessary, flashback towards the end, and a sentence that went on for nearly a page which left me breathless, but in a bad way, I would have given it five stars. I look forward to her next.

Thank you NetGallery for the opportunity to read this title in advance in exchange for an honest review.

Lisa Jewell does it again. As with most of her other books, this had me hooked from the very start. This is a sequel to The Family Upstairs, and it reunites the reader with the children from the initial book now they are adults. If you're a fan of Lisa's books, you will not be disappointed

I wish I had re read the Family Upstair before reading this book. I loved it but it was a few chapters until I started remembering what had happened and where the characters all fitted in.
It begins with a group of mudlarkers uncover a bag of bones and the Police are called.
DCI Samuel Owusu arrives to investigate and identifies them as human bones. Rare seeds are discovered with the bones and remnants of expensive towels used to wrap the body in. It leads the investigation back to the house where three people were found dead and a young baby alive in a cot upstairs.
The story is intertwined with a young jeweller, Rachel Rimmer, who has a whirlwind romance and ends up in a disastrous marriage to an older man, Michael, who it turns out was previously married to Lucy Lamb, one of the previous occupants of the house of horrors.
Lucy’s brother, Henry, goes to Chicago to find Finn, another occupant of the house of horrors, closely followed by Lucy who has been blocked from contact by Henry on his mobile phone after not answering her calls.
The book comes to a glorious end with lots of twists and turns, an excellent read.

I had read the first book in this series but I had not connected with the characters. This book is set 4 years later and continues the story of a very dysfunctional family. Lisa Jewell brings the story together in her usual style almost drip-feeding the information, which reveals the many twists in the story at a steady pace. This book felt more coherent and I really enjoyed it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the advance copy of this book.

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley and this is my honest review.
I was pleased to get this book as I had read the first one and enjoyed it so I was intrigued to see how the story continued. Henry is definitely one of the most interesting characters but I do have a soft spot for Lucy as well. It was interesting to see Rachel’s story unfold, I actually think that was one of my favourites from this book, my least favourite was probably the Samuel storyline but that’s possibly because I don’t think Birdie deserved the effort he put into finding out what happened. All in all a great sequel to The Family Upstairs!

From The Family Upstairs to The Family Remains - 4 years between for this sequel. This is extremely jaw-dropping, goosebumping and gripping thriller. Everything is connected very well, well enough to make you shocked. All the newly added characters and existing characters, their moods have been changed, have grown up and so on. The intonation, the precise vocabularies used, the vividly scenery described sent chill down my spine. I loved how this book captured my attention in the first chapter, the author went right in and she did not slow down til the last sentence. I loved the characters and really enjoyed how it was written! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm a big fan of Lisa Jewell and was excited to see a sequel to the Family Upstairs.
This is another great book by Lisa, with a real sinister undercurrent throughout. We are back with Lucy and Henry, now living together in London.
At the same time, remains are discovered which lead a detective back into the case of the old house and disappearance of Birdie.
I really enjoyed this.

I'm a big fan of Lisa Jewell but the prequel to this, The Family Upstairs isn't one of my favourites. I don't think you need to have read the first book to follow this sequel but it just wasn't for me. The narrative flits between different characters which is a bit confusing and I found that the story just didn't grip me which wasn't ideal for a thriller.

The story’s main line is the discovery of bones at the river Thames. It was clearly a murder a long time ago but why have the bones only appeared now. They are indeed the ‘Family Remains’ as in the title. The detective team trace where the body came from and the uncover details about a fractured family. There are many characters in the book and their relationship is complicated. At times, the story can be confusing as a result. The dysfunctional nature of the family is hard to believe but the story is well told. The ending is fairly predictable. This would not be high on my reading list.

This book is a sequel to The Family Upstairs and, although it could be read as a standalone, I’d recommend reading it first.

DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the banks of the Thames when a mud-larker discovers a bag containing human remains. With them are clues which lead back to the house in Chelsea where so much happened thirty years ago. The children who lived there at the time are now adults and moving on with their lives, especially now that the house has finally been sold.

A brilliant plot and an utterly gripping book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, and Cornerstone for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

Love this author and this novel is as good as the rest! Loved as it’s as sequel to The Family Upstairs. Really enjoyed the read and the characters.

I had read the book before this one and in my opinion you do need to read them in order. This one is just as good as the first one and totally gripping. Some bits did make me cringe and want to read through closed eyes at the sheer tension but equally that’s what also makes it a great book. From start to finish its un put downable!

I was invited to read this and accepted the invitation thinking I had already read the Family Upstairs but I have not, so found this book quite confusing in places, particularly the relationship between Phinn and Henry.
That said it has some intriguing characters (mostly awful and hate-filled!) and touches on some lovely places.
I would not recommend reading unless you have already read the Family Upstairs as it really does rely on your having knowledge of the family and their relationships from the first book..

The Family Upstairs is the book I have been hotly anticipating ever since Lisa Jewell’s newsletter told me it was on its way. My only disappointment is that I read it in two big greedy gulps over two days and now I have to wait ages for her next one. That’s the only slightly bad thing I have to say about this book.

I won’t repeat the story, but it does work a lot better if you read The Family Upstairs. It’s much easier to figure out the family relationships. There’s a new character in this book, Rachael, the wife of Lucy’s ex, aka “the worst person in the world.” Some of Rachel’s scenes are harrowing and her story does feature heavily in the book. I did wonder, however, where Clemency had got to as she was referred to but not mentioned, so unless I forgot some detail from The Family Upstairs, I did find her absence a bit odd.

The book has several narrators, and this works well. Henry Lamb is the main voice and is a very complex character, not always likable by any means. There’s a game of cat and mouse from start to finish and the suspense is strung out masterfully, making it very hard to put down.

Once again, Lisa Jewell is at the top of her game. After forcing myself to finish or persevere at so many books, it’s a breath of fresh air to find one that I simply couldn’t turn away from until I knew the ending. Sheer bliss!

How exciting to have a sequel to The Family Upstairs at last. Everyone that I know who has read it was left wanting more, and Lisa Jewell has delivered. The Family Remains will give readers closure on what happens next and lets us see how the survivors are coping.

I am not going to go into too much detail on the story, there is a synopsis for that. And you really don’t want to know too much. You will want to have read The Family Upstairs though. Even though the author does a great job of recapping the events of Cheyne Walk, to really understand the characters, especially Henry, you need the full background.

A mudlarker finds human bones along the Thames and calls the police. The bones lead them to Chelsea, and the house of horrors. It has finally been sold and the former residents are trying to move on with their lives. They are all damaged and the bones bring back memories they would rather not have.

Once again, Lisa Jewell has written a clever and twisty tale of many characters. Multiple timelines and plots all work together to get a better understanding of what happened in the house in Chelsea and to these characters.

Highly recommend to fans of the first book. Thanks to Random House UK for my advanced copy of this book to read

5 stars to Lisa Jewell for this much awaited sequel. Rachel Rimmer is called during the night by the French police to notify her husband, Michael has been found murdered. But Rachel already knows this and who the killer is.
The story also focuses on Lucy Lamb and her 2 children, who need to find her brother, Henry after he disappears, desperate to find Phin from their childhood. Their unusual childhood is brought back as police find bones in the Thames which they believe were linked to the house at Cheyne Walk.
It would definitely be advised to read The Family Upstairs for this sequel to have the most benefit,
A true masterpiece, full of anticipation and intrigue.

As per usual, another absolute delight to read. I couldn't remember much of the previous novel but it soon came back once I started the new book. I love the writing style and the multiple timeliness and overlapping stories. It's all very well narrated and paced. It also all ties together at the end in a timely manner without feeling rushed or forced, it's all quite organic. I love the characters and they're all distinct and unique. Absolutely perfection as one would expect from Lisa Jewell

I love Lisa Jewell and this does not disappoint. It ties up all of the loose ends from The Family Upstairs.
If you have enjoyed Lisa's previous books you will love this one.

I decided to reread The Family Upstairs before reading The Family Remains, which turned out to be a good decision as I didn't remember a single thing about it. While the latter can, I dare say, be read as a stand-alone, it's certainly enhanced by a knowledge of what's gone before, and that knowledge helps to make sense of stuff like a dramatis personae section at the beginning which includes "Henry Lamb also known as Phineas Thomson" and "Phineas Thomsen also known as Finn Thomsen". I think I would have been quite confused at points had the previous book not been fresh in my mind.

Anyway, The Family Remains picks up the story of Libby, Lucy, Henry etc and also introduces a new character in Rachel - mentioned only in passing in the first book - who is the second wife of Lucy's ex-husband Michael. Another new character is DI Samuel (not Sam!) Owusu, a detective investigating the discovery of bones washed up from the Thames.

It's an interesting setup, since as readers we know what has happened and don't especially want Samuel to uncover the truth. (Unfortunately he's both determined and good at his job.) Then there's the ever ambiguous character of Henry, newly surrounded by family but remaining obsessed with the boy who got away, Phin.

As always from Lisa Jewell, this was a great read. I'd have liked a bit more of Libby's boyfriend Miller, a character I loved from the first book who barely features here, but I guess there's not much of a role for him, or for that matter for Libby herself. It's really Lucy, Henry and Rachel's story. I liked Rachel's character - she's confident and proactive and while she can still fall prey to an abusive man, she's not about to stay that way. I liked Samuel too.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review.

It is the sequel we all asked for and the closure we all needed!

There are a few timelines & stories running though this book and I enjoyed every single one.. Human bones found at the bottom of The Thames, an investigation which takes us back to the events that unfolded at Cheyne Walk, the unnerving & unstable mind of Henry Lamb & the lovely Rachel Gold and her brush with the evil Michael Rimmer…

I wish I had skimmed The Family Upstairs as a quick reminder before starting this, however it didn’t take long for it all to come back to me as I was turning the pages.

Not as gripping as the previous book however I am a huge Lisa Jewell fan & thoroughly enjoyed this book from cover to cover. I feel privileged to have had to opportunity to read & review prior to release.

Thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone & NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book! .