Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

36 reviews

throwback682's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? Yes

3.5

Somewhat of a love it or hate it type book. I wish I could rate it on how much I enjoyed it (3.0) vs. how much I think many others might enjoy it (4.25). I saw five star reviews written in excited all caps, and a one star that said they wish they could fight the book next to a Burger King dumpster LOL. 

As others said, I think it kind of dragged on. Some of the twists were predictable - but I find it hard to believe the reviews where people said they predicted ALL of them. The ending did really shock me. Part of me wishes I’d read Cliff’s Notes of the first half of the book and listened to the second half. 

For a long time I thought perhaps the family secrets had something to do with

Nazis. Because of Nick’s comment in the Cave about the Gestapo, the mysterious origins of Sophie and the concierge. etc.

I’m not sure if that was intentional or just me?

The audiobook narration seems to be where I differ from most reviewers. I found this book corny at times, and the acting was EXTRA corny. I rolled my eyes at Sophie’s going on and on about how thin and put together she is, but listening to Mimi speak was 10x worse. I don’t see why one actor can’t do all the characters: in fact, the actors DO play multiple characters. When Nick speaks in Jess’s chapters, Jess’s actor voices his quotes, not his actor. That could’ve been done through the whole thing. It just felt really cheesy in an already kind of cheesy book. [I had the same problem with the audiobook for the Hunting Party.]

The audiobook recording includes a podcast interview of the author at the end, and honestly, hearing some analysis of the book improved my opinion of it somewhat. I don’t think there are any spoilers in it? So I might recommend folks listen to that before they listen to the book itself perhaps? 

NOTHING in this book was the bisexual representation we wanted.

Three members of the same family fucking or trying to fuck the same guy was… Yeah, corny, like I said. And then Nick, who’s already fooled around with Ben, also almost sleeps with Ben’s sister? But oops he’s actually completely gay and it’s only because she reminds him of her brother. Eye roll. And yes I knew way before the “reveal” that Mimi’s roommate was f**king Antoine’s wife. Nice try.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Violence, Alcoholism, Deportation, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Infertility, Trafficking, and Vomit

Minor: Pedophilia, Suicide, Abortion, and Domestic abuse

rach_fornow's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed reading this, it made me realize i want to get more into mystery type books because I enjoy these so much. Good plot twists. Fantastic narration cast. 
Major critique is

white woman savior material regarding the sex workers as the big reveal

Also I think some of this dragged on and I can imagine parts being removed and it still being interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual violence and Suicide

Minor: Terminal illness, Confinement, Infertility, Infidelity, and Pedophilia

midnightbelles's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This kinda dragged and I didn’t love the split perspectives at times but it was pretty interesting to see how everything unfolded and to piece together the mystery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Addiction, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Cursing, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Gore, Infertility, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

black_cat_iiix's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Blood, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual content, Confinement, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Stalking, Car accident, Deportation, and Suicide

tori2629's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this book a lot! I listened on Audiobook, and the pacing and progression kept my interest from start to finish. Sure, I guessed one or two things early on, some of the details were not super subtle, but that said, I'd say three main "reveals" were still surprising to me. None of the characters were particularly "likeable", but in this case, I didn't mind. I honestly liked it just as much as The Guest List, and I have her other books on my To-Read list. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Confinement, Infidelity, Drug use, and Mental illness

alisonfaith426's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Mental illness, Trafficking, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Grief, Abandonment, and Confinement

sophiabooks6's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I loved reading this book so much! It was very untucking and all of the characters were so interesting, I always had to know more. The mystery is detailed and has lots of clues you can miss if you aren’t paying a lot of attention. If you like mystery and tense books this is definitely for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Sexual content, and Trafficking

Moderate: Eating disorder, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Vomit and Pedophilia

sarahna's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Sexism, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, Classism, Death, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Infidelity, Addiction, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Suicide

antheakwan's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Murder, Blood, Gaslighting, and Drug use

Minor: Confinement, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Death, Vomit, and Homophobia

growintogardens's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Enjoyed isn't quite the right word for this book, but it kept my attention and I think overall made a good thriller. It also surprised me a few times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Stalking

Moderate: Misogyny, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Rape, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, and Infertility

Minor: Drug abuse, Police brutality, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Homophobia