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ClareR (5556 KP) rated Watching You in Books
Jul 21, 2018
Well, this had me guessing right up to the end!
This has all the ingredients for a good thriller or mystery: a teenaged voyeur, a potentially unreliable witness with mental health issues, teenaged girls with a crush, career driven men, unfaithful spouses. Quite a lot for a book that's under 500 pages long!
An unspecified dead body appears in the first chapter, and the book then goes on to tell us the sequence of events that lead up to that moment. There are some interesting police interviews tucked in now and again too, that help to clarify (or sometimes obfuscate!) what is actually going on.
This was really good. There was no way that I was going to guess who was murdered and by whom, until the end - I liked that touch. The end was a proper bombshell moment. Great writing from Lisa Jewell!
An unspecified dead body appears in the first chapter, and the book then goes on to tell us the sequence of events that lead up to that moment. There are some interesting police interviews tucked in now and again too, that help to clarify (or sometimes obfuscate!) what is actually going on.
This was really good. There was no way that I was going to guess who was murdered and by whom, until the end - I liked that touch. The end was a proper bombshell moment. Great writing from Lisa Jewell!
The Stranger in My Home: I Thought She Was My Daughter. I Was Wrong.
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The Number One eBook Bestseller What would YOU do if your child wasn't yours? Utterly compelling,...
Christine A. (965 KP) rated The Family Upstairs in Books
Jan 13, 2020
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.
Although I marked several of Lisa Jewell's works "want to read", I never got around to picking up one of her books. I was excited to be given the opportunity to review her latest, "The Family Upstairs".
As of 12/3/19, it has a 4.05 out of 5 with almost 14,000 ratings. Maybe it was due to my wanting to read her books for years or the high rating but to say I was disappointed would be an understatement.
It is billed as a mystery/thriller. I may have enjoyed it if I had just considered it as a work of fiction, without the mystery/thriller label. I did not connect with the characters or with the story. I think this is mostly because I kept waiting for the mystery/thriller to begin.
The book itself was a quick read. Some reviewers had difficulty keeping track of the characters and the timeline. I did not and thought was easy to keep track.
I know most of this review is not exactly positive but I still plan to read another book by Lisa Jewell. I hope it was just this book I did not connect with and not the author.
This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 1/12/20.
Although I marked several of Lisa Jewell's works "want to read", I never got around to picking up one of her books. I was excited to be given the opportunity to review her latest, "The Family Upstairs".
As of 12/3/19, it has a 4.05 out of 5 with almost 14,000 ratings. Maybe it was due to my wanting to read her books for years or the high rating but to say I was disappointed would be an understatement.
It is billed as a mystery/thriller. I may have enjoyed it if I had just considered it as a work of fiction, without the mystery/thriller label. I did not connect with the characters or with the story. I think this is mostly because I kept waiting for the mystery/thriller to begin.
The book itself was a quick read. Some reviewers had difficulty keeping track of the characters and the timeline. I did not and thought was easy to keep track.
I know most of this review is not exactly positive but I still plan to read another book by Lisa Jewell. I hope it was just this book I did not connect with and not the author.
This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 1/12/20.
I Found You
8.0
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In the windswept British seaside town of Ridinghouse Bay, single mom Alice Lake finds a man sitting...
fiction mystery thriller suspense I Found You Lisa Jewell
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated I Found You in Books
Nov 19, 2018
Great Characters (1 more)
Interesting Plot
A Thrilling Read!
I found out about I Found You by Lisa Jewell in a magazine about upcoming books. When I read the synopsis, I knew I had to read it. It sounded really good! Luckily, it didn't disappoint.
The pacing was a little slow in places. However, it was still decently paced enough to hold my attention. The last quarter of the book was fast paced, but not in a bad way where I didn't know what was going on. For the last quarter of I Found You, I found myself fully immersed within the pages. I had to know what was going to happen next.
The world building is very believable. It's not something that happens every day, but I can still picture it happening. The plot of I Found You was very enjoyable. I don't think I've ever read anything like it. It was interesting to read about the past as well as the story from two different women's point of view. It was also very interesting to see how their worlds were about to collide. There are a couple of plot twists that I had been trying to figure out from the the beginning which I got wrong. All of my questions about the story were answered by the end of the book as well as any loose ends.
I thought the characters in I Found You were very well written and fleshed out perfectly. All of them felt very real. I would have liked to learn more about Alice's past, but she was still a well written character. I enjoyed reading about Frank as he tried to get his memory back, and it was very interesting going along for the ride with Lily as she tried to find her missing husband. I loved how protective Gray was of his sister Kirsty and how much he loved her. I hated Mark, but that was the point. Mark was written to be a horrible person.
Trigger warnings include drug use, underage and of age alcohol use, violence, swearing, sexual assault, death, and implied sex.
Overall, I Found You was an enjoyable read. The plot was very interesting, and the characters felt very real. The pacing was a bit slow sometimes, but it always held my attention. I would definitely recommend I Found You by Lisa Jewell to everyone aged 16+. It is a thrilling read for sure!
The pacing was a little slow in places. However, it was still decently paced enough to hold my attention. The last quarter of the book was fast paced, but not in a bad way where I didn't know what was going on. For the last quarter of I Found You, I found myself fully immersed within the pages. I had to know what was going to happen next.
The world building is very believable. It's not something that happens every day, but I can still picture it happening. The plot of I Found You was very enjoyable. I don't think I've ever read anything like it. It was interesting to read about the past as well as the story from two different women's point of view. It was also very interesting to see how their worlds were about to collide. There are a couple of plot twists that I had been trying to figure out from the the beginning which I got wrong. All of my questions about the story were answered by the end of the book as well as any loose ends.
I thought the characters in I Found You were very well written and fleshed out perfectly. All of them felt very real. I would have liked to learn more about Alice's past, but she was still a well written character. I enjoyed reading about Frank as he tried to get his memory back, and it was very interesting going along for the ride with Lily as she tried to find her missing husband. I loved how protective Gray was of his sister Kirsty and how much he loved her. I hated Mark, but that was the point. Mark was written to be a horrible person.
Trigger warnings include drug use, underage and of age alcohol use, violence, swearing, sexual assault, death, and implied sex.
Overall, I Found You was an enjoyable read. The plot was very interesting, and the characters felt very real. The pacing was a bit slow sometimes, but it always held my attention. I would definitely recommend I Found You by Lisa Jewell to everyone aged 16+. It is a thrilling read for sure!
Tallulah22 (211 KP) rated Then She Was Gone in Books
Jan 8, 2020
This is the first book that I have ever read by Lisa Jewell and I was NOT disappointed. The characters were so well written that I felt what they were feeling and I was going through all of the motions with them. The plot was one that hooked me in straight away and kept me there until the very last sentence.
It was recommended by my mum who wanted someone to talk about the book with after she finished it in a day and it was another day before I was able to join her in conversation.
We both drew the same speculations as we read about what we thought had happened to Ellie and who was involved and these changed with every chapter that we read. Some of mine were a bit more outlandish in my mind but it all came together with bits and pieces of all of our ideas in a perfect culmination.
I felt bad for characters in the end and there were a couple that I despaired over the ending of but it was what needed to happen to them for the book to be as good as it was.
Truly a great read and we are on the look out for more books by this author.
It was recommended by my mum who wanted someone to talk about the book with after she finished it in a day and it was another day before I was able to join her in conversation.
We both drew the same speculations as we read about what we thought had happened to Ellie and who was involved and these changed with every chapter that we read. Some of mine were a bit more outlandish in my mind but it all came together with bits and pieces of all of our ideas in a perfect culmination.
I felt bad for characters in the end and there were a couple that I despaired over the ending of but it was what needed to happen to them for the book to be as good as it was.
Truly a great read and we are on the look out for more books by this author.
The A to Z of You and Me
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AN OBSERVER 'NEW FACE OF FICTION 2015'. AN AMAZON RISING STAR 2015. "Genuinely one of the best books...
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Then She Was Gone in Books
Apr 27, 2019
Just Okay
I loved I Found You by Lisa Jewell, so when I read the synopsis of her other book, Then She Was Gone, it was a book I knew I had to read. While this book was still a good read, it wasn't great, and I was left feeling a little disappointed.
The plot for Then She Was Gone was interesting enough although I did predict the mystery of why Poppy looked like Ellie early on. There were a couple of plot twists that I didn't see coming though of which I was thankful. I was constantly trying to figure out what Floyd's endgame was when it came to Laurel. I was also always hopeful that Ellie would return home safely. I thought the ending was done nicely. It tied up all loose ends and provided me with enough closure to be satisfied.
The one thing that bothered me, and I know it's a personal preference, was how the book was written in present tense aside from when Ellie and Noelle were telling their side of the story. It just really irks me when books are written this way. That really seemed to take away from the story for me.
The characters in Then She Was Gone were mostly believable. I had a hard time believing Noelle's side of things could actually happen for as long as they did when it came to Poppy. I also had a hard time believing Noelle could stay a virgin for so long. Poppy seemed very intelligent for her young years to not have been in some kind of advanced schooling. Poppy came across more of an adult than a child in every scene she was in. The author does attempt to explain why Poppy is the way she is, but I still found Poppy a bit unrealistic for a little girl. I liked Laurel, and I could only imagine her pain, but I felt like she was too uncaring toward her daughter Hanna and her son Jake. Maybe I'd have to be in Laurel's shoes to understand what it's like (although I pray I never am). It would have been nice to get a glimpse of Hanna's and Jake's point of view of things. Jake is hardly ever mentioned in the book, and there were many times I had to rack my brain to remember who Jake was whilst reading Then She Was Gone. It seems like Jake was put in as an afterthought to quickly tie up some loose ends. I enjoyed the character of Paul, Laurel's ex-husband. I admired his sunny disposition. Sara-Jade was another character I liked a lot although she wasn't in the book often enough. I liked Floyd and felt he was a well fleshed out character, but I was always wary when it came to him.
The pacing was done well enough. My interest never wavered, and I found myself needing to know what happened next to see if my predictions were correct. Then She Was Gone is definitely a page turner. I'll give it that.
Trigger warnings for Then She Was Gone include profanities, sexual situations (although not graphic), kidnapping, drinking alcohol, violence, death, murder, and miscarriages.
Overall, Then She Was Gone is just a decent read. The plot is interesting enough, and some of the characters are well written. For me, the present tense use really took away my enjoyment of the book. I would still recommend Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell to those aged 17+ especially to those who like thrillers.
The plot for Then She Was Gone was interesting enough although I did predict the mystery of why Poppy looked like Ellie early on. There were a couple of plot twists that I didn't see coming though of which I was thankful. I was constantly trying to figure out what Floyd's endgame was when it came to Laurel. I was also always hopeful that Ellie would return home safely. I thought the ending was done nicely. It tied up all loose ends and provided me with enough closure to be satisfied.
The one thing that bothered me, and I know it's a personal preference, was how the book was written in present tense aside from when Ellie and Noelle were telling their side of the story. It just really irks me when books are written this way. That really seemed to take away from the story for me.
The characters in Then She Was Gone were mostly believable. I had a hard time believing Noelle's side of things could actually happen for as long as they did when it came to Poppy. I also had a hard time believing Noelle could stay a virgin for so long. Poppy seemed very intelligent for her young years to not have been in some kind of advanced schooling. Poppy came across more of an adult than a child in every scene she was in. The author does attempt to explain why Poppy is the way she is, but I still found Poppy a bit unrealistic for a little girl. I liked Laurel, and I could only imagine her pain, but I felt like she was too uncaring toward her daughter Hanna and her son Jake. Maybe I'd have to be in Laurel's shoes to understand what it's like (although I pray I never am). It would have been nice to get a glimpse of Hanna's and Jake's point of view of things. Jake is hardly ever mentioned in the book, and there were many times I had to rack my brain to remember who Jake was whilst reading Then She Was Gone. It seems like Jake was put in as an afterthought to quickly tie up some loose ends. I enjoyed the character of Paul, Laurel's ex-husband. I admired his sunny disposition. Sara-Jade was another character I liked a lot although she wasn't in the book often enough. I liked Floyd and felt he was a well fleshed out character, but I was always wary when it came to him.
The pacing was done well enough. My interest never wavered, and I found myself needing to know what happened next to see if my predictions were correct. Then She Was Gone is definitely a page turner. I'll give it that.
Trigger warnings for Then She Was Gone include profanities, sexual situations (although not graphic), kidnapping, drinking alcohol, violence, death, murder, and miscarriages.
Overall, Then She Was Gone is just a decent read. The plot is interesting enough, and some of the characters are well written. For me, the present tense use really took away my enjoyment of the book. I would still recommend Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell to those aged 17+ especially to those who like thrillers.
Too Good To Be True
8.0
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ONE LOVE STORY. TWO MARRIAGES. THREE VERSIONS OF THE TRUTH. Too Good to Be True is an obsessive,...
