A great read with the caveat that it is a sequel and won’t make do much sense without reading The Family Upstairs first. I read this last summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. Most of the events and characters came back to me as I read the new novel. Loved getting the answers to many of the questions that had been left up in the air.

Like everyone else (!) I read the Family Upstairs and was totally hooked and desperate for a sequel so was thrilled when I received The Family Remains from netgalley.

For some reason, though, the book itself felt a bit flat. It didn’t seem to properly stand up on its own. Now, I doubt many people will read it without reading the first one, but without a prior knowledge of that story a reader would be totally lost. Perhaps I should have reread it before I started The Family Remains and it might have reconnected me to the characters. I just found it slightly hard to get into this time and to care about.

Given all the other rave reviews this is clearly a lone opinion and the book will do really well. Something was just lacking somewhere with this that wasn’t with the Family Upstairs. Nothing much seemed to happen, somehow!

Absolutely excellent! I did not think The Family Upstairs could be beaten and started this book with one eye open. I soon realised my hesitation was not warranted. This book is pure entertainment which picks up the pace straight away; I was immediately back in the world of Cheyne Walk and its host of inhabitants from the time gone by. And boy, I was I happy to be back!

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.

The long awaited sequel to The Family Upstairs. Which stands really well on its own. Lisa is great at creating solid characters and does not shy away from them being flawed. The theme that everyone is good and bad character intertwines with the themes of damage and restoration. Another brilliant masterpiece from Lisa Jewel that would appeal to fans of any genre.

Back in May I finally got around to reading The Family Upstairs and it proved to be one of my favourite reads of the month. A group, mainly children, held in a cult-like household led to a riveting read. However, I'm sure I wasn't the only reader who finished the book wanting to know more. Thankfully author Lisa Jewell has satisfied my curiosity by writing a sequel, The Family Remains.

Most of the events in The Family Remains take place a year after the end of The Family Upstairs. Lucy, Henry and Libby are learning to be a family and get their lives onto a normal footing. Libby is making plans to track down the mysterious Phin but at the last minute something spooks him and he disappears. Henry then takes off, trying to track him down.

While all of this is happening a black sack containing the bones of a small female is discovered in the River Thames and a police detective connects the remains to the house from the original story. He's determined to track down what happened and who is responsible.

We also have a storyline set three years ago involving Lucy's ex-husband and how he met his current wife. At first this storyline, even though it is a really intriguing one, doesn't seem to fit in with the main story. As we approach the conclusion everything eventually fits together with a very satisfying finale to this thread.

The main story begins with a quick recap of the events in the first book. The narrative then moves forward very quickly. Henry is an intense, brooding character. A human chameleon with almost sociopathic qualities. As he hunts the elusive Phin you wonder what his end-goal is but you also wonder why Phin is so determined not to be tracked down.

When the traumatic events of 25 years ago are recounted in greater detail there are feelings of anger and sadness. You wonder how anyone can develop into a normal adult having experienced such events.

As we reach the conclusion to the story there is a sense of trepidation and dread. Lisa Jewell keeps the reader in suspense right up to the satisfying conclusion - however, I have my doubts that we've seen the last of Henry. Henry's story seems to have a life of it's own.

You really can’t go wrong with any of Lisa Jewell’s novels, she is such an engaging author, the only thing I would add is make sure you have read the first book in the saga, not that this doesn’t stand alone but you won’t appreciate the full trauma of what the Lambs experienced

Brilliant sequel but can read as a standalone. Complex, twisted characters, brilliant plots intertwined. Couldn’t put it down 5 ⭐️

‘Four deaths, an unsolved murder’

One morning in 2019, on the banks of the Thames, a bag of human bones is found by a mudlarker and it’s DCI Samuel Owusu’s job to solve the mystery and find the murderer. Following a trail of clues discovered with the bones which include seeds of a rare tree, the path takes us back to the house in Chelsea where a baby was discovered all alone but clean and well-fed, and three dead bodies were found thirty years ago. The house which Libby inherited in book 1, The Family Upstairs.

Taking us to Chicago following a brother and sister, and back to France a few years earlier, this book twists and turns and paths switch and cross over, all coming to a neat conclusion at the end.

I hadn’t planned on reading this book just yet, but having just DNF’d another book and feeling in a bit of a slump, I found I had clicked on this one on my Kindle and was hooked from the start. It was just what I needed. A fast-paced, murder mystery which had me trying to work out the connection between all the characters as well as throwing me off the scent a tiny bit with a red herring which had me on edge. This is a brilliantly compulsive sequel and if you haven’t read The Family Upstairs, I suggest picking it up before The Family Remains is published in July!

I was so excited to get my hands on The Family Remains. As soon as I started reading, I was absorbed...then realised if I re-read The Family Upstairs I could prolong this reading treat! So that’s what I did and I’ve had a great week rediscovering the characters at the big house in Cheyne Walk and finding out what happened to them. Both books are tightly plotted and impossible to put down. I really cared about the characters, especially Lucy and Rachel. I was on the edge of my seat sometimes wondering what Henry was up to! There are some beautifully-drawn family relationships, for example, Rachel and her devoted father. So much to enjoy in these books - five stars!

5 stars

I was soo excited to be selected for an ARC of this book.
I'm always apprehensive about sequels, despite being desperate to read them, as they rarely live up to expectations and in the case of this book, the hype too.
These characters clearly still had a lot to say, there was definitely plenty of story, still to be heard and Lisa Jewell told it beautifully.
This book had me hooked from the start, I was very curious after finishing the last book, as to what happened next and now I know.
Anyone who loves thrillers and who loved the first book, should not be disappointed, as this book was well worth the wait and in my opinion, definitely lived up to its hype.

Wow, wow, wow. What a sequel! I’m a big fan of Lisa Jewell, but I must admit that The Family Upstairs wasn’t one of my favourites. I saw so many glowing reviews about it though that I thought I must’ve missed something, which is the only reason I decided to give the sequel a try. And boy am I glad I did! First things first, You really need to read the first book, this one doesn’t stand alone. And secondly, strap yourself in! This book has a much faster pace and doesn’t do the thing that sequels sometimes do of trying to recap a whole previous novel. The characters were already developed and didn’t need a reintroduction, which allowed us to leap straight into the story. I’m so pleased I decided to give this a try, it’s right up there with Lisa’s best writing.

Well worth waiting for! I couldn't put the book down, I was desperate to find out what happened to the characters. I soon remembered the original book and was transported back tot he house! You could read this book as a stand alone but so much better to read the first book.

Wow. I was absolutely hooked. I don't know how Lisa Jewell does it every time, but this book was AMAZING. It followed the lives of the characters from The Family Upstairs, with some plot twists, new developments and some answers explained. If I could go back in time, forget that I've read it, I would. Just so I could read it again!!

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! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️