The Paris Apartment

The Paris Apartment

by Lucy Foley

Blurb:

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 neighbors 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 neighbor. Everyone's a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.

My Reaction:

(I listened to the audiobook version of this novel.)

This took a while to really get going.  I think the constant shift among different points of view, and at least a few of them with accents that blurred together at first, didn't help.  It took me a while to recognize the names and voices/accents.  Then the story was just kind of treading water for chapter after chapter.  

Once it finally got going, it wasn't bad, but some of the bigger "twists" were predictable—possibly unavoidable when you've read or listened to this many examples of the genre.  

Also, I know you're not supposed to expect/require likeable characters, but it's not always easy to care what happens to characters you don't like. There are a couple of okay-ish people in this mix, but none of them are particularly easy to love. I just felt very "meh" about this collection of characters, and I got very tired of listening to Mimi's baby voice and intonations.  (Sorry, but after a while she drove me nuts.)  

Still, it was something to listen to!