dark mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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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dark mysterious tense slow-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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
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: Complicated

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. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
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

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.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Ohmygod so good. Like the best read of the year so far. Multiple point of views, each complicated and confusing  

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

It’s a great starter book for new mystery lovers.. great twists. Slows down a bit in the middle then sucks you back in….. small area trope         ( most of it happens in one building)…. 2 for 1 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

Wow, that's, uh, that's a lot

B̷R̷I̷N̷G̷ ✨ 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗪 ✨ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷

I told my friend that I had never read any of Lucy Foley's books but had borrowed The Paris Apartment and The Guest List from the library - she told me she much preferred The Guest List (and most other people seem to feel the same way) - so I thought, "Ok, well then I'll read The Paris Apartment first, so it can only go up from here!"

And, well, let's hope it goes up from here. This one was very middle of the road for me, a lot a lot a lot a lot of content warnings (some unnecessary, imo) but there were a couple of twisty twists so I guess that's fun. 

It's hard to say "Oh, I don't think you should read this," because it's a fast paced, quick read, and if you super enjoy that kind of suspenseful thriller book I think you might like it. But at the same time if someone asks me to recommend them a suspense / thriller book, this isn't the first (or second .... or third) one I would go for.

Now on to The Guest List...!


Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark mysterious tense fast-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

I enjoyed this book a lot! I listened on Audiobook, and the pacing and progression kept my interest from start to finish. Sure, I guessed one or two things early on, some of the details were not super subtle, but that said, I'd say three main "reveals" were still surprising to me. None of the characters were particularly "likeable", but in this case, I didn't mind. I honestly liked it just as much as The Guest List, and I have her other books on my To-Read list. 

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