Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

41 reviews

bookcheshirecat's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

2.5

“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.”

➽ This was my first Lucy Foley book and I'm unimpressed! The Paris Apartment is about Jess, who's down on her luck and hoping to stay a few days with her half-brother in Paris. When she ends up arriving at his apartment, Jess finds out that Ben's nowhere to be seen and might be missing. Something isn't right with the apartment complex and she plans to find out what happened to her brother. This book was painfully boring. Even the multi-cast audiobook couldn't save it. I didn't find the multiple POVs compelling and some perspectives were so offputting. The mystery was bland and I didn't find any of the characters memorable. I remember one of them being a teen girl and it was strangely vulgar at times. The author also did a thing where she left her scenes on a huge cliffhanger but then the next chapter is so underwhelming. She wants to convince you that something horrible is happening to the character, but it always turns out fine and more like a misunderstanding. After the first couple of times, it got on my nerves so much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Body shaming, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Pregnancy, Rape, Homophobia, and Police brutality

emilywemily6's review

dark mysterious 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? No

3.25

I didn’t like this book as much as the other Lucy Foley book I read. It felt so long with nothing happening for most of the book. At the beginning, the general vibe was eerie and suspicious, but as truths came to light for some reason the tone and atmosphere was less and less sinister. I guessed the culprit(s) early on, though didn’t know how everything fit together. The author did a good job at fitting lots of details together that seemed unrelated. I was unsurprised by the big reveals of the whodunit and while the twist at the end was unexpected, it wasn’t satisfying- it was more like, “oh, okay, that makes more sense I guess.” I haven’t read a lot of mysteries or thrillers, but this one felt predictable, especially as the pieces of the puzzle began sliding together. The dual timelines and memories in the narratives were a bit confusing too, especially the closer we got to the crime and the memories and present day were only a couple of days apart. Overall, an alright book, but nothing stood out to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Blood, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Alcohol, Violence, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, and Police brutality

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Grief

Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, and Deportation

kimberleysreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcoholism, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Slavery, Alcoholism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Rape, Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Vomit, Abandonment, Car accident, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Drug use, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Torture

wylda_bee's review

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Incest, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Suicide, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Confinement, Self harm, and Violence

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

jenna_justi2004's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Abortion, Child abuse, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Murder, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Stalking

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

chloleighton's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Blood, Rape, Sexual content, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Vomit, and Suicide

kritika's review

3.5

A quick read with some twists I didn't see coming, but I think the mystery was solved a little too easily with the clues left behind for our main character. I think it would have been more fun if it had felt like a cat and mouse game.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

franklola's review

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Infidelity, Confinement, and Death of parent

Minor: Deportation, Sexual assault, Slavery, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Drug use, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Rape, and Self harm