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A review by kathywadolowski
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
3.0
It's my second read from Lisa Jewell, and another one that I found to be just ok. I'm not sure if maybe her style isn't quite for me... or maybe I just haven't found the right one yet?
Fam, her style is DARK. And I'm a fan of dark, I know that's not my hang-up here. One issue was that the burn was just a little tooooo slow. Instead of being engrossed, I found myself a little bored by all the details from all three characters' perspectives. I honestly could've gone completely without Lucy's perspective, which I found really unnecessary to the plot and just dreary. Henry's, at least, walked us through the events of the past; but Lucy added basically nothing.
Speaking of Henry's timeline: it was definitely necessary to understand the unraveling of all the people in the house, but it was also SOOOO slow and got more and more unbelievable. I also don't love an unreliable narrator, and the revelations/confusion about Henry's retelling got a little tiresome.
I also found the stakes to be somewhat low, because it seems kind of obvious who the characters are from the jump even if we don't exactly know what went down in the house. So there's no real like, ~thriller~ type race to the finish because there's not really a conflict? I don't know, something was just missing from the plot that would give it the kind of oomph I expect in a dark mystery/thriller.
Lisa Jewell is really well-regarded in the genre and there's no doubt she can come up with a twisted narrative, but I'm still waiting to be wowed. I'm not quite ready to give up yet, but I think I'll eventually stop giving chances?
Fam, her style is DARK. And I'm a fan of dark, I know that's not my hang-up here. One issue was that the burn was just a little tooooo slow. Instead of being engrossed, I found myself a little bored by all the details from all three characters' perspectives. I honestly could've gone completely without Lucy's perspective, which I found really unnecessary to the plot and just dreary. Henry's, at least, walked us through the events of the past; but Lucy added basically nothing
Spoiler
while dragging us through some really random "twists," like the literal murder of her ex-husband, that had no bearing on the central story/mysterySpeaking of Henry's timeline: it was definitely necessary to understand the unraveling of all the people in the house, but it was also SOOOO slow and got more and more unbelievable. I also don't love an unreliable narrator, and the revelations/confusion about Henry's retelling got a little tiresome.
Spoiler
Especially because we don't really "find out" what's up with him... he does extremely suspicious stuff in the present timeline (like locking Libby and Miller in his house!) and was clearly unhinged to some degree as a child, but we don't really get an answer to his mental state.I also found the stakes to be somewhat low, because it seems kind of obvious who the characters are from the jump even if we don't exactly know what went down in the house. So there's no real like, ~thriller~ type race to the finish because there's not really a conflict? I don't know, something was just missing from the plot that would give it the kind of oomph I expect in a dark mystery/thriller.
Lisa Jewell is really well-regarded in the genre and there's no doubt she can come up with a twisted narrative, but I'm still waiting to be wowed. I'm not quite ready to give up yet, but I think I'll eventually stop giving chances?