I usually like Lapena’s books because they’re quick, engrossing reads, and to be fair, this one was too. The only disappointing thing was I felt like the murderer was SO obvious the entire time. That was a bummer because the three main suspects had great reasons to be accused but I could never get caught up in the suspense of their questioning because I knew it was this other character the whole time.
SPOILERS!
Alex Marks moves to New York City hoping for a fresh start—just a quiet life with her copywriting job. But when she hears about the murder of her childhood hero, Francis Keen, everything changes. Keen wasn’t just any journalist; she was the beloved voice behind Dear Constance, a famous advice column. Her death shocks everyone, but the killer was never caught.On a whim, Alex applies to take over the column, never thinking she’ll actually land the job. But once she does, strange letters start showing up at the office, making her wonder—why hasn’t the murderer been found? And could her new boss, the powerful editor-in-chief Howard Dimitri, have something to do with it?As Alex digs deeper, she realizes she’s not just uncovering Keen’s secrets—she’s stirring up ghosts from her own past. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous things become. Can she solve the mystery before she ends up just like Francis Keen?
Emily is having the time of her life--she's in the mountains of Chile with her best friend, Kristen, on their annual reunion trip, and the women are feeling closer than ever. But on the last night of their trip, Emily enters their hotel suite to find blood and broken glass on the floor. Kristen says the cute backpacker she'd been flirting with attacked her, and she had no choice but to kill him in self-defense. Even more shocking: The scene is horrifyingly similar to last year's trip, when another backpacker wound up dead. Emily can't believe it's happened again--can lightning really strike twice?Back home in Wisconsin, Emily struggles to bury her trauma, diving head-first into a new relationship and throwing herself into work. But when Kristen shows up for a surprise visit, Emily is forced to to confront their violent past. The more Kristen tries to keep Emily close, the more Emily questions her friend's motives. As Emily feels the walls closing in on their coverups, she must reckon with the truth about her closest friend. Can she outrun the secrets she shares with Kristen, or will they destroy her relationship, her freedom--even her life? (from Goodreads)
On the surface, the Barclays appear to be a picture-perfect family, but underneath, they’ve spun a tangled web of lies.
When their young nanny falls to her death—was it an accident or something darker?—things spiral out of control. Nine-year-old Rose, who witnessed the fall during her parents’ bitter divorce, has gone silent and developed a chilling habit of collecting sharp objects. Enter Stella Hudson, a lawyer tasked with uncovering who’s a victim and who’s a potential murderer. But good luck finding the truth when everyone’s hiding something.
Stella usually avoids clients under thirteen because of her own troubled past, but her mentor, a respected judge, insists she’s the only one who can handle this case.
The moment she steps through the ornate iron gate of the Barclays' lavish DC mansion, Stella realizes things are more twisted than she imagined. The house feels eerily plastic, devoid of glass.
As she digs deeper into the secrets the Barclays are desperate to keep hidden, Stella finds herself in a dangerous game where her past collides with the present. Everyone’s a suspect in the nanny’s death: the mom, the dad, the grandmother, the nanny’s boyfriend, and even little Rose. Can Stella protect the girl who might just be the one she needs to watch out for?
I love books that make you suspect everyone, and this certainly did the trick. Not only does Pekkanen make you distrust the entire Barclay family, you also start to distrust the people she’s working with in a professional capacity.
I had no clue who did what and who was going to betray Stella until the end of this book, which is always a good sign, in my opinion. I hate figuring out the mystery too early, as satisfying as it may be to get it right. I think the ending here was really touching and hopeful, too.
My mom got this book from the library and said she read 3/4 of it in one day. I feel like I've been in a reading slump since the new year, so I was definitely in the mood for a book I couldn't put down.
And this really delivered! It's something I would call a cozy thriller, in that it doesn't really mess with my emotions but the suspense does keep me turning pages. (Okay, is there really a sub-genre called cozy thrillers? I love me some cozy mysteries but I won't lie - some of these thrillers almost give me a heart attack because they're so over-the-top. I want the suspense but I don't want to put my health at risk.)
In all seriousness, I call it that because I didn't really care about the main character. She was interesting and unique and I had no clue what her backstory was or what she would do next, but I wasn't invested in her survival. She was somewhat flat, and I mean that in a good way! I didn't want to care about her - I just wanted her to entertain me.
And she did. I read this book on Sunday, start to finish, and I genuinely had no idea how it would end. I call that a job well done.
With that said, I feel like trying to explain the story would either confuse you or give it away, so I'd suggest reading the blurb and seeing if it strikes your fancy. And if it does, comment so we can talk about it because I got lots of thoughts!
I love a good suspense book, especially when nothing else seems to be catching my attention. Lisa Jewell is always a good choice when I want something well-written and twisty.
I first read The Family Upstairs as a Book of the Month choice in 2019. I loved it back then, but once I heard there was a sequel, I knew I needed to re-read the first so I could appreciate it completely. Thankfully, my memory is pretty terrible, so while I knew I read the book and loved it, I didn't remember anything beyond the general storyline. This is actually a great quality as an avid reader because it means re-reading felt pretty darn close to reading it for the first time!
I love how Jewell creates storylines that are full of mystery, but the pacing keeps the suspense like a rollercoaster so you don't feel exhausted and ready to flip to the end. Her characters are all really vivid, which helped make the twists seem more organic. They each had distinct voices, too, which I feel like a lot of authors struggle with when they have alternating narrators.
The end was a great twist with some loose ends, but it didn't feel hokey. It felt realistic, like the way things wrap up in real life that makes you think, Ok, that's done... for now. And thankfully, Jewell felt that way, too, and wrote a sequel!
Even with the loose ends, I wasn't sure what was going to happen in The Family Remains. I think it's a great storyline, though, giving Jewell a chance to fill in some holes left by the first book without making it seem like she's retelling the same story.
I also love that she wrapped up all the loose ends and then, at the very end, tugged one loose.
Will there be another book? I don't know, but I'd read it! The story and characters now live on in my imagination, so I'd love a chance to peek into their lives again.
Have you read these books? Share your thoughts in the comments! Recommend some other suspense books, too!
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| You and Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes |
| I’ve had The Book Thief on my shelf forever but wasn’t in the mood to read it the two times I tried, and I was worried this book would be just as dark. I listened to this as an audiobook and absolutely loved it! Marc Aden Gray, with his Australian accent, was the perfect narrator since the characters are Australian. He seemed to have fun with the narration, changing his tone according to the story, and even changing his voice for different characters. This really helped pull me into the story. Most audiobooks I’d tried to listen to previously were read more straight-forward, so my mind wandered instead of paying attention to the story. I Am the Messenger made me think of radio shows from the time before TV, when families would gather ‘round to listen to a story, instead of turn on the TV and expect to be entertained. The audiobook was well-done, but I would have loved this story regardless of how I read it. There was a bit of suspense and mystery throughout the whole story, and I really identified with Ed. His story of accidentally foiling a bank robbery and then becoming an unwilling messenger of goodwill was intriguing. The ending, however, has to be one of my favorite book endings ever. I kept thinking about it - and that’s all I’ll say! Read it for yourself and you’ll understand why it might have ruined me for all other books! See my detailed review here. |
