Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Paris Apartment

This book was pretty crazy and suspenseful throughout, up to the end.

Jess goes to see her brother in Paris, but when she gets there, he’s nowhere to be found. Starting off, I know something isn’t right about this. Throughout the story we are given clues to what may have happened to Ben and who might be responsible through different character POVs, all of whom are living in this complex. One by one, their flaws and motives begin to surface as Jess is poking around and asking questions about Ben. But it turns out that none of them can be trusted.

I probably blew through this one way too quick, but it was really good. I love a good thriller/mystery, and this one ticked all of my boxes. The plot wasn’t obvious even though there were clues- I wasn’t sure who was responsible for Ben’s disappearance up until the end. The illicit activities of some of the characters weren’t a surprise because that is a plot device in so many books now. The human trafficking is unfortunately common in all countries in modern times, but how it links back some of the women in the book was unexpected. Foley did a great job of bringing everything full circle and wrapping it up for us with a neat little bow at the end.

Question- Am I the only one thinking that Ben was dead the whole time? I swore at the end they were going to find a dead body up in that attic! I did not expect him to be alive!

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duwella's review

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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lewbug's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

I’m honestly between a 3.75 and 4 star rating for this book. This book dealt with some pretty heavy topics and not always with grace but I did really enjoy the story and had a lot of fun with it. Pretty classic Lucy Foley story with its twists and turns. I didn’t really feel like it needed all the romantic moments it had and some felt kind of shoved in last minute.

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katierosecrane's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This book had interesting perspectives through the characters. I liked that the chapters were short and the writing style flowed well through out the book, keep pushing me through the book. The mystery side of things I found a little predictable, but I think the author used that on purpose because while I did predict some things I didn't predict everything that happened in the climax.

Has Salt Burn vibes

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sylvestra's review

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dark mysterious 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

2.25

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mhaulman's review

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sharkemoji's review against another edition

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3.0

Jess was so annoying I couldn't stand her. I nearly dnfed because of how many “she gave me a look. a look that said [somethjng that cannot necessarily be put into a look]” and “i know her… idk why” or “i know him…. i can’t recall why he’s so familiar”
but the twist was actually a bit exciting and the actual writing was really good.

the nick being gay thing / them hooking up was so predictable from page 1 that I was actually disappointed. the Camille/Dominique thing fell super flat and I was not impressed by the "shock" it was supposed to provide. Camille could have moved in with some random dude that we never learned the name of.
the date rape-esque scene in the middle was literally awful. i dont care that she didn't actually get date raped it was just so out of place and unnecessary. would have liked to see mimi do something more in line with anything she had already done (as she isnt a drug girl...so it was just...weird) to show her being like. crazy. idk.
i liked the twist of jaques being buried in the garden!!!! that was super exciting i loved nick's reaction to the initial body and then the reveal that it was his father. amazing

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james1star's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This book was rather moyen (French for average… blame Google translate if it’s wrong) in all honesty. It started out great with our ‘main’ character Jess hastily arriving in Paris to live with her step brother Ben for some time but when she gets there he’s seeming disappeared and there’s some concerning clues in his apartment that make her question what’s going on. After sleeping if off she consults the other occupants in the building but no one really wants to help… and can she trust them? … and a mystery ensues. Most of the chapters are from Jess’s POV but we also get ones from Ben, Nick, Mimi, Sophie, and the Concierge who all live in the complex in the current timeframe with flashback moments to the near and more distant past.

I’d say this book is very well written, it has suspense and a good story arc that builds up to the main twist with others along the way. From the start, I was really intrigued and on the whole it’s an easy, engaging read but it fell flat as the book developed. I liked the high angst and drama with the ‘what’s next?!’ cliff hangers at the end of the short chapters but then it gets rather meh. I think once or twice to build up this tension but then the situation not being as bad as we thought is okay but when it occurs multiple times the reader somewhat loses trust in the storytelling and, for me, become rather uninterested in following on - it’s a little like the ‘boy who cried wolf’ scenario where you don’t really care what’s going to happen as the book moves on because you can already tell it won’t be that bad afterwards. It’s billed as a mystery and yes I would still classify it as such but Jess isn’t really the best (or good in fact) at sleuthing out the clues as to what has happened to Ben. Instead she stumbles across things and continually makes herself known, I guess the reader has to piece things together more so which I get (and liked) but Jess didn’t really fulfil her purpose.

She’s also again rather meh. I liked her back story and her drive at times but on the whole she was quite irritating. The same goes for the rest of the characters where I did feel for some of them at times but there’s always this barrier up between them and the reader I feel. All are relatively unlikeable and unrealistic portrayals too. I think Ben was my favourite but more the best of a bad-mediocre bunch. A certain character’s sexuality being a plot twist-like part was a bit ‘eye roll’y to be honest, I liked the inclusion of a queer character but to make it a ‘what?!’ moment felt a little crass. At the end things are explained but I still felt like a few loose ends were left and I’m very 50:50 on if it liked it or not, I think some characters got off a bit too easily.

Overall, I would still recommend this book but it’s moyen, it’s average and I was rather let down. I would be interested in reading more by Lucy Foley as it’s still well written just fell flat so maybe others can deliver where this got lost in transition.

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