whitneydaniell

by: Lisa Jewell
published: Aug 06, 2019
genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction
340 Pages, Audiobook from Audible HH:MM (09:36)
GoodReads Link

S L O W W W W W W burn. I really wanted to like this… I really did.

GoodReads Synopsis:

Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.

She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them.

Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.

The can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43822820

The story is told through Libby, Lucy, and Henry’s points of view. It also jumps timelines between the past and the present.

Through Henry’s POV he tells the origin story of the family and the house, as he and his sister, Lucy are the original occupants of the house on 16 Cheyne Walk along with, their parents Henry Sr. and Martina Lamb. Martina then welcomes a popular musician, Birdie, and her boyfriend Justin to stay with them, David and his wife Sally also tag along. With David and Sally, come their two children Phin and Clemency. Sounds like a full house. In the years leading up to this Henry Sr. has squandered all of his inherited money and the family is flat poor. As the Lamb’s family finances dwindle, David begins to extort more and more control over the house and its occupants.

In present day, we follow Lucy and Libby. Libby has just turned 25 and a letter in the mail informs her that, she is the new owner of the home on 16 Cheyne Walk. Libby, by all accounts, is a successful and well-rounded adult but when this house drops into her life, she begins asking questions and uncovering the true story behind the suicide pact that left her parents dead in the same home that she now owns. Lucy is a single mother of two, who has recently fallen on hard times and seemingly cannot catch a break. She is homeless, penniless, and without a passport to get back to London, which is where she desperately wants to be because the baby is 25.

As the story goes on and on… and on, so much is revealed about the people who used to (and currently) live in the home at 16 Cheyne Walk. I don’t want to spoil it but, much like the many reviews that I’ve read, this gives very much so… Flowers in the Attic.

Final Thought: There is a lot going on, almost too much going on. I listened to this book and found myself having to rewind often because, with the number of characters and things going on, I would get confused or trail off and forget what was happening. It was either very boring in some chapters or too much going on — no real in between. The mystery behind the deaths felt sloppy. The discovery of everything felt rushed. So many unanswered questions — maybe they get answered in the next book, The Family Remains. I don’t know. I just don’t know about this one.

• Character Development: 4 / 5
  • The backstories and nuances of Lucy, Libby, and Henry are there and even when it doesn’t make sense, it makes sense – if you get what I mean. Henry’s character has some major red flags and BIG personality flaws that go unaddressed even in the end, in his final chapters, something about his still rings “off”. But Jewell does a good job of painting a picture of her characters in a way that makes them human.
• Writing: 2 / 5
  • This is very wordy. Very descriptive but, V E R Y W O R D Y. While the chapters are short and to the point, there are way too many of them. Also, the story is split into four parts but if I am remembering correctly, the parts don’t jump timelines or separate the stories in any way. However, I could be wrong about this, I just finished listening and can barely remember this story!
• Overall Theme & Plot: 2 / 5
  • Like I said before, way too much going on. Who is sleeping with who? Who is the father? Rape! Domestic abuse! It’s just a lot.

Would I recommend it? Maybe, I’m going to read the next book and then I’ll decide.