Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

224 reviews

morganeua's review

dark mysterious medium-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

2.5

For some reason, I never felt myself get invested in this book. It might be because so many of the characters were hiding themselves for so long, I never felt like I could identify with them. It could also be because the book is set in Paris and the reader is supposed to suspend their disbelief in the English text, which the author aids by occasionally tossing in some French words in italics. But the italicized words felt a bit silly because it was always very basic things that even an English speaker probably understands. The plot is cleverly woven, but the book just didn't hit me emotionally.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Murder

angorarabbit's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

1.75

Context: I wish I could remember the review that made me want to read this, I thought it was going to be more mystery and less thriller. 

 

TLDR:  I got hung-up on the foster care stuff, your mileage may vary. 

 

The plotting was pretty tight for the most part with a few plot holes that didn’t matter very much. The central mystery was interesting and fresh. Most plot twists were a surprise. 

 

My main problem came with the characterisation. The foster care system does heavy lifting in explaining Jess and Ben. Which wouldn’t have been so bad if there weren’t some important plot points that for someone somewhat familiar with the system are just plain unbelievable. I don’t know how much experience Ms Foley has had with the system but she might have benefited from an experienced beta reader.It’s rather like a non-Roma writer with a main character who is Roma and not having some Roma readers to advise them on Roma life. Just saying, “oh, they were in foster care so they are like this” is lazy. 

 

The ending felt like Ms Foley found her deadline approaching and her editor wanted a happy ending for all rewrite. Anyone surviving foster care could tell you that there never is a happy ending for everyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

the foster care system

aharper's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Trafficking

Minor: Deportation

gracedunne's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

aseel_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This was such a good crime/thriller, I did not see any of the plot twists, it was done so well 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

anapthrs's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide and Death of parent

capriqueen's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

A solid mystery. Did really well with the tense atmosphere, there were some moments that had my pulse seriously elevated

The MC felt a bit useless for about 80% of the book, as we learned most of the information from the other characters’ POV’s, but she was still a good MC

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Minor: Homophobia and Death of parent

marissanbullis's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Trafficking, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Drug use, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

wickedgrumpy's review

emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

1.25

...Yet another thriller that I did not enjoy.  It was filled with characters that had one main facet which was being awful.  Would not recommend.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

chelle22's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation