Review: The Paris Apartment

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book.
I really enjoyed The Guest List and have been very excited to read this book. But I am struggling with even forcing myself to finish it. It is the story of Jess, who has abruptly decided to go visit her half-brother, Ben, in Paris. When she arrives at his apartment, he has vanished into thin air, and none of the other residents of the building seem to know anything about what might have happened to him. Not to mention the fact that they are all a bit off-putting at best and downright unwelcoming at worst. Jess doesn't know who can help her or who she can trust and is convinced something terrible has happened to Ben.
The characters in this book are all unlikeable, flat, and unsympathetic. Jess is the best of the bunch, but she comes across as naive, terribly impulsive, and not that bright--how else can you explain continuously sneaking around other people's apartments, extensively going through their things, and not seeming to realize that she can get caught at any moment? The rest of the residents feel like cartoons or caricatures: the lonely aging wife who traded her youth and beauty for money, the isolated young daughter who yearns to break free of her introverted exterior and live out her fantasies, the repressed son who could never please his demanding father... I just found it boring and trite. The pacing also was too slow. "Where is Ben?" is really the biggest question or mystery, and there seems to be no real sense of urgency about finding the answer to that question. The biggest feelings of tension come when Jess is snooping through other people's apartments because she always takes forever to do it when someone could walk in on her--that's not tension, that's frustration at Jess being dumb. And the setting is odd. For making such a big deal about this being in Paris, it doesn't really feel like Paris plays that big of a role in the story. Although Jess feels isolated and alone, the setting could be anywhere in the world. It is the apartment BUILDING that is the big factor in the book.
At about half-way through I just really got fed up with the characters, and then they began to commit some really despicable actions with no real explanations. Instead of being intrigued I was repelled. I began skimming, trying to find some action and something interesting. I am now about 3/4 through and am really trying to decide if I want to finish it or not, because I really don't care what happened to Ben, what will happen to the rest of the inhabitants of the building, and although I do care a bit about Jess, she also makes terrible decisions, so she might deserve whatever happens to her.
I suppose if I do end up finishing the book I will update this, but at this point, I would not recommend this book at all. The Guest List was great. This one is not.

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