Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

60 reviews

kt2e56's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

An interesting set up! Unfortunately, some shoddy performances (Mimi and The Concierge both stand out) and some truly baffling “twists” with a laughable amount of plot holes sort of takes away from what could have been an interesting mystery. 

I think hiring actual French voice actors (or in the case of The Concierge, an Albanian voice actor) would have helped quite a bit.

I also don’t believe for a second that there was any chemistry or romance between Jess and Theo so that was pretty funny to have them just fuck randomly in a bathroom.

Speaking of Jess, she was Bella Swan levels of bland which was extra apparent when other characters would try and describe her as “fiery” or “brave” or “in love with danger.” She’s quite literally none of those things? She’s just a blank slate protagonist that spends all of her time moping.

Another chemistry issue was between

Sophie and Mimi. By the end, suddenly Sophie is supposed to be a warm, doting, devoted mother? Even though for 99% of the book she doesn’t mention having children (step or otherwise) and Mimi goes on and on about her issues with her father but also never once mentions that she has a mother that she’s super close with? Really? I think the author picked the family twist without putting any actual effort into executing it realistically because it really just doesn’t hold up. At all.

This was a big disappointment for me. I’ve seen it hyped up and it really did have me interested in those first few chapters but it just seemed to spiral out of control from the author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Blood, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

bookishwondergoth's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I really struggled to remain interested in this. The revelations kind of saved it. RTC.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Stalking

Moderate: Body shaming, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

myrto_di's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide

bonneamie's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Deportation

havenraven23'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: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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

prairieraven's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

therewillbenewsuns's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

this is one of the best mysteries i’ve read in a minute. i could guess what what the twists were, but only as they were right about to be revealed. i’ve read lucy foley’s “the hunting party” but i honestly can’t remember much so i think i want to read it again to see if i liked it as much as i liked this one.

the characters are all very flawed and not a single person is really reliable, which i believe ups the tension. foley said this book was one of her most difficult to put together, and i could tell— not in a bad way, but in a way that the plot was so layered it must have taken one of those bonkers maps to piece together (a la that “it’s always sunny” meme).

i deducted .5 because i do feel like there were some unnecessary filler scenes that could have been skipped and nothing about the plot would have changed. but overall a really exciting read! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Violence, and Murder

lakea's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide

meganpbennett's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

The Paris Apartment is an interesting thriller. While I quite enjoyed it, there were issues with the pacing - it lagged greatly in the middle - and the overall plot was a little spotty. It's also a thriller that would not necessarily hold up on a reread, as the major plot twist completely changes the entire story. It was a good thriller, if a little confusing. The ending wrapped up almost too quickly, and there were several questions at the end that went unanswered. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

inkdrinkermal's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

The good: The setting was perfect: creepy, old, steeped in eerieness. The big twists were shocking and unexpected, and the little twists were obvious enough I was able to figure them out a few pages before the reveal and feel smart. 

The bad: Not quite enough twists to fully captivate me, the first 250 pages were really slow, some of the trauma the characters experienced before the story didn't have enough of an impact on the story to the point that I felt the inclusion diminished the story itself

The ugly: I hated the characters. Reading their thoughts was painful. Lots of eating disorders and body issues discussed too casually.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicide, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Vomit, Stalking, and Deportation