Reviews with content warning for Stalking - The Family Remains

Since this sequel serves a purpose of tying up loose ends & filling in the blanks, it wasn’t as thrilling or nail-biting as “The Family Upstairs”. BUT that being said, I still enjoyed it for what it was and I was happy to delve back into the lives of the Lambs. I appreciated the additional storylines and characters that tacked onto the original story, and although the loose ends were tied up just a liiiiiittle too neatly for my liking, I would still recommend this to anyone that has read the first (and if you haven’t read the first, you absolutely should).

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paperpetal's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

I read The Family Upstairs in 2020, and I recalled enjoying it. This was a less a mystery and more of a tame thriller, but I still enjoyed it. A little slow in the beginning, but picks up quickly. I haven’t picked up a mystery/thriller in a while, but this put me in the mood to start reading more of that genre again.

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norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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brynhayes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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jacs63's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

** spoiler alert ** I was told by someone that this wasn't very good, and boy, were they right.
It was truely awful and so disappointing, as so many people rave about Lisa Jewell.
I borrowed this one from the library and saved my money, and I'm glad I did.
I read in the 'Acknowledgements' that she wasn't going to write a sequel, but she gave in to pressure from her fans. Well, she needs to develop a back-bone.

I gave the book 2 stars, just for the fact that I am sure LJ can write. I'm just not sure that this is her best work.

The first book was 'good'. A bit over-hyped, as all books are these days, with pages and pages of adulation from other famous authors and social media people.
I was mildly underwhelmed though, but thought it was 'ok.' A different type of story, but it went on a bit.

This book is so much worse.
Nothing actually happens in it.
It's so BORING.
So many plot holes.
Interpol are a bit 'pants', aren't they? Knowing all about Lucy and Henry etc but letting them travel back to the UK on false passports, and doing nothing.
Rachel's character was a waste of good paper.
I only read the book really, because her most intriguing character in the first book, Phin, might make an appearance. Except he doesn't. Not till the last 2 chapters or so. And he does nothing. What a wasted opportunity.
LJ introduces a new character, with the Detective investigating the case, but even he can't save the story. He's so under-written.
There's one suicide from a secondary character, who does it to save another character.
There is a character who rapes someone, but this isn't new. He did it in the last book.
And.........nothing else.

I can't believe anyone gave this 4 or 5 stars, but then again there no accounting for taste, as they say.
My recommendation is, give it a miss. It's awful.

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lxcy153's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

A LOT OF TRIGGER WARNINGS
despite liking this book it was not mentioned before any of said trigger warnings were brought up in dialogue that these would happen so just be careful before reading. personally this book was the star to my reading journey as i haven’t prior to this book ever had a drive to read, thus meaning i hadn’t read the first one (due to what i have found this seems to be the sequel) despite this i still found this book east to follow along with. :)

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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I didn't realize that this was the sequel to The Family Upstairs when I started, and I probably would have waited a bit to be a better headspace because of all of the assault. But I still really enjoyed it, and I like the author's storytelling a lot.

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