Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

23 reviews

neurospicyreader's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I'm stuck between 2 and 3 stars. It was fine, but I didn't really connect with the story. I finished it quickly because I had to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Addiction

t_higgsreviews's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

4.5 Stars
CAWPILE = 7.93

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Slavery, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Murder

Minor: Suicide

julied's review

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? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Vomit, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Classism, Eating disorder, Trafficking, Violence, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

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: Slavery, Trafficking, Misogyny, and Mental illness

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

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

maggies's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Coming off the back of another mystery/thriller (Verity by Colleen Hoover), The Paris Apartment was much more satisfying. It was less gripping, but I felt I understood the characters much better, even if I didn't particularly like most of them...especially Mimi's obnoxious whining. It was also more thrilling for its realism—I could imagine this story being true, even if it isn't. The voice actors for this multi-perspective audiobook were fantastic as well!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Medical content, Infidelity, Death of parent, Alcohol, Slavery, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

thefaultismine's review against another edition

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, and Trafficking

Moderate: Biphobia, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Terminal illness

breezer's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Trafficking, Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, and Slavery

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

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

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