The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up - to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? - he’s not there. The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbours are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question. The socialite - The nice guy - The alcoholic - The girl on the verge - The concierge. Everyone’s a neighbour. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.
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This book won me over with its impossible twists. I went into this book a little unsure as Lucy Foley is kind of a hit-or-miss author for me. I’m not a huge fan of thrillers that have multiple points of view as I feel this gives too much away and makes the ending easier to guess. When I read a thriller, I want it to be through the eyes of the main character and no one else. I want to be just as clueless as her. So for most of this book, I was convinced I knew what was happening. I enjoyed the plot and the main character but I was underwhelmed because I felt it was too predictable. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong and I’m so happy I stuck through with it until the end. I know this book isn’t to everyones taste given the mixed reviews online and throughout my in-person book club. But if you’ve liked Foley’s work in the past and you want a good “travel” thriller, this one was very fun. I’ll keep this review short and sweet (I read the book nearly a month ago so it’s not as fresh as I’d like) and hopefully convince you to pick it up for your next read!
First things first, I did not like the setting. I liked the creepiness of this somewhat forgotten rich apartment style building that surrounds a common courtyard, but the layout confused me so much and the whole “dark Parisian” vibe made me not even want to go to Paris to be honest. The layout bugged me the most, however. Is this place super small that each floor is an entire apartment? How else can Mimi can see out her window ACROSS the courtyard to what her downstairs neighbour is doing in their living room? It was a small thing but my mind kept snagging on how that would work. I also really didn’t like the concierge plot line. I don’t feel it really added to the story and was just there as a building block to suspense.
The thing I liked the most was the main character. Instead of being a messed up, secretive, flawed (she was still all those things but in a reasonable way), alcoholic psychiatrist who abuses drug prescriptions and for some reason makes the stupidest decisions, she was an orphan that bounced around a harsh foster system and worked a dead-end job for a sleezebag. THAT is the kind of character that has a reason for being so jaded and yet she was clear and cognizant through the entire book. Nothing more I love than an MC who doesn’t think they’re just hallucinating because of all their narcotic abuse. Jess also had GREAT reasoning for doing this on her own and not involving police/lying to police. My biggest pet peeve is when a main character in a thriller decides to lie to them and investigate on their own for literally no goddamn reason, implicating themselves in the process. I loved that this girl had a reason, and it made the progression of her investigation so much more intriguing because you knew there was no way she could get the police involved and was totally on her own to find out what’s going on.
I enjoyed this book, it was a quick read and I didn’t feel overloaded with different characters like I sometimes do in Foley’s books. The plot intrigued me from the start so even when it felt too predictable, I still enjoyed the journey. And then out of nowhere, the twists started flying at me and I couldn’t put it down. I always feel very impressed if a book manages to take me completely by surprised so I gave this one 4.5 stars. It’s a great read!