Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

78 reviews

davinmotion's review

dark mysterious sad 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

This is my first book by the author. After reading through other reviews and taking the opinion of a friend, I’m surprised I enjoyed this book. I think the “dark” of the house is what intrigued me so much. I enjoy that it all comes together and I’ll admit that I didn’t guess the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Cursing, Eating disorder, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

james1star's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

gillianengelbrecht'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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, and Deportation

Minor: Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Police brutality, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

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

Moderate: Sexual harassment

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

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

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

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, 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: Alcoholism, Death, and Murder

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

rhaselpaq's review

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Blood, Trafficking, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Infertility, Suicide, Police brutality, and Deportation

sleepylit's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

It’s honestly a great story, but it has an extremely slow beginning in my opinion. It took at least ten chapters for me to stop falling asleep in the midst of reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

skersnick's review

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

xomandymoo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment