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A review by kmesserl
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
challenging
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? It's complicated
1.75
I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out why this book didn’t work for me and I think I figured it out.
In the very first chapter of the book we learn that something nefarious has happened to Ben, our protagonist’s older brother. This isn’t a spoiler; we also learn this from the summary of the book. However, we spend the first third of the book waiting for Jess, our protagonist, to catch up with us. And while Jess is a moderately likable main character it is infuriating to wait for her to stumble into information we gleaned from the first chapter. And while we’re waiting for her to catch up to us, absolutely nothing happens in this story. Of course we’re introduced to the other quirky residents of the apartment building, but it just dithers the way a reality tv show might.
And then we have a fun little twist introduced in the middle of the story - a twist which I did like - but the unfortunate side effect of this twist is it makes the whodunnit element of this mystery inconsequential.
I mean I did finish the book, so there was a certain level of entertainment. The ending is good, but I don’t think it makes up for all of the meandering you have to get through before the story actually starts.
In the very first chapter of the book we learn that something nefarious has happened to Ben, our protagonist’s older brother. This isn’t a spoiler; we also learn this from the summary of the book. However, we spend the first third of the book waiting for Jess, our protagonist, to catch up with us. And while Jess is a moderately likable main character it is infuriating to wait for her to stumble into information we gleaned from the first chapter. And while we’re waiting for her to catch up to us, absolutely nothing happens in this story. Of course we’re introduced to the other quirky residents of the apartment building, but it just dithers the way a reality tv show might.
And then we have a fun little twist introduced in the middle of the story - a twist which I did like - but the unfortunate side effect of this twist is it makes the whodunnit element of this mystery inconsequential.
I mean I did finish the book, so there was a certain level of entertainment. The ending is good, but I don’t think it makes up for all of the meandering you have to get through before the story actually starts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking