Reviews with content warning for Confinement - The Paris Apartment

Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

49 reviews

iamnita's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.0

I went into this as a buddy-read and am SO thankful that I did. Having someone to vent to as the story got whacky helped me not be angry about it. I found our protagonist is a poor-protagonist - I didn't find myself rooting for her, nor do I think she displayed any growth from beginning to end. I found the twist fun, but it wasn't all the way developed and so the story didn't quite line up. Further, I found the character development seriously lacking - no one has any personality, and when they do they aren't consistent WITH THEIR CHARACTER. A part of me found this frustrating, and a part of me just chalked it up to not doing enough on the back-end to help the story come together. I think this really could have been something.

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cassiereadsbooks_'s review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

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jessgreads's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⬜⬜

Title: The Paris Apartment

Author: Lucy Foley

Genre: Mystery / Thriller

Setting: Paris, France

Month Read: March 2022

Book Type: Hardcover

Publication: 2022

Publisher: William Morrow

Pages: 360

*March Book of the Month Selection

TRIGGER WARNING-

Death / Grief / Sexual Content / Assault / Alcohol / Drugs / Abuse / Verbal Abuse / Prostitution / Kidnapping / Rape / Blackmail

"I could not explain that I simply wanted someone to love. Wholehearted, unreserved, requited."

No Spoiler Summary:

Jess shows up in Paris to visit her brother, Ben, after she needs to get away after an incident at her job in England. She arrives to his apartment only to find out that her brother has seemingly vanished, and she quickly starts to try to unravel where he is, and why it has happened.

As hours and days go by, Jess starts to meet the other inhabitants of the apartment building. Each seemingly having their own secrets, and own motivations to get Ben out of the picture. As more secrets start showing up, and Jess starts to realize Ben was writing a story about something that could be big, the suspect list only grows larger.

Will Jess find Ben? Alive? Will she uncover the secrets people tried so hard to keep hidden? You'd have to read to find out.

Review:

I really loved The Guest List and had high expectations going in for this after the hype that has been building steadily the last few months, and I thought the book was okay. The twist was more unexpected than I thought it would be, and some parts of this book reminded me of my favorite Agatha Christie novel, And Then There Were None. Overall, glad I read it but it certainly is not a book of the year contender, but a nice thriller to read in a day or two if you so choose.

The Characters were interesting, for sure. I did love that Lucy gives you just enough information to keep you wanting another page, and then another, and then another until you finish. I was pleasantly surprised the motivations some had, and the ties that are bind throughout the read.

Paris is a great backdrop for a good thriller. I loved the mood, and the attitudes, and the posh vs poor dynamic in the apartment building. I loved the subplots, and the callbacks to England for some of the characters. I think it was super believable, and the seedy underbelly of such a romantic, beautiful city did a lot for me.

"It’s not about where you came from. What kind of shit might have happened to you in the past. It’s about who you are. What you do with the opportunities life presents to you."

See more reviews at: https://jessgreads.wixsite.com

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annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

(adjusted from 3.25 to 2.75)
disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes really is the main character, no i will not elaborate
Ben must be a Greek god or something because why

does every character want to fuck him

. this man is constantly described as unbelievably charming, emphasis on the "unbelievably"—where was the "show, don't tell"? if he was that brainwashingly charismatic, shouldn't i as a reader also fall for his charm? but he was just like, there, which at least makes me admire Jess for going to all this trouble just for him.
speaking of Jess, sometimes she was irritating too when she's supposed to be our protagonist—like when she walks into a riot because "it sounded like a street party 😊" and just stands there as people run away from the approaching tear gas. come on now.
it's prob because i'm queer & we gotta look out for each other & i crave positive representation, but i wish

Nick

was a better person and had a better ending.
characters aside, the plot had some unexpected twists and was generally interesting, but i was mostly unimpressed. it had such a promising, atmospheric concept: murder in Paris, ooh la la, and all the apartment tenants are suspects; i think i heard it described as a locked room mystery, though i may be confusing it with another book. and then it just, wasn't and my hopes were let down.
cover design review: ★★★★☆. i like the background image, the symmetry, the colors for the most part (i think the background could be less green and more blue), and all the text, but other than that it's kind of bland.

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taelights's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I had a fun time listening to this one. I'd highly recommend the audiobook because it perhaps even boosted my rating a bit because the narrators made it even more interesting. The story dragged me in from the first chapter and managed to keep me hooked. Some of the twists where very predictable, some of them I guessed parts of the idea but not the whole thing, and others totally surprised me. But overall I had a good time with this book and enjoyed seeing it unfold.

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