Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

57 reviews

uranaishi's review

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Homophobia, Rape, Medical content, Abortion, and Pregnancy

smkelly1997's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

While the book was good there were parts that left me wondering. There were a few scenes that felt unnecessary and topics regarding the characters that felt unexplained. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Murder, and Classism

jlautry's review

mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This book did not live up to the hype. I think that Lucy Foley is just not for me. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style of The Guest List, and I wasn’t a fan of it here either. The only way I can describe it is this: you know those people that tell a joke and after the punchline they explain the joke, then it’s not funny anymore? I feel like Foley does this, but the thriller version of that. As I’m seeing the story in my head, I imagine it like the parody movie Scary Movie. 

Anyway, I think there’s an audience for her stories, it’s just not me. I did like the premise, I thought the story was interesting, I just don’t like her writing style. 

A girl goes to visit her brother in Paris. When she shows up, he is gone and she’s left wondering how he could possibly afford this place and what was he hiding? She has to unravel the tangled web of the other residents and their stories to find out what happened to her brother. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Infertility, Mental illness, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

juli_powers's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Mental illness, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Outing

katymat18's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Trafficking, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Infertility

zoe_archambault's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

despite it being medium-paced overall, I found it hard to binge read it because the perspective kept jumping between 6 people. I liked the twist at the end, I didn't see that coming, but then there were 20 pages of it being spoon-fed to me which just felt redundant and took away from the shock factor of said twist. It would've easily been a 3.5 or even a 4 star book if it was 20 pages shorter imo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kimveach's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

2.0

I almost didn't finish this book because it was so slow during the first half. But reviews said there were "great twists" so I kept on reading.  The twists were not great enough to make up for the incredibly slow burn of the book.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

alexisgarcia's review

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I don’t really know how to feel about this book. I really expected and wanted to love this but it kind of fell flat to me. I liked the concept but so many other factors were disappointing to me. I didn’t like any of the characters, the plot “twists” weren’t really surprising at all, the backstories between the brother and the other people were unrealistic, some parts of the book are mentioned once and never given further explanation, and the ending didn’t really sit right with me. Despite this, I absolutely loved the multiple pov’s which allowed us insight to each characters minds. It was also a quick and overall fun read. A part of this book reminded me of knives out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Biphobia, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jessgreads's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail