HarperLuxe The Paris Apartment

My third book from this author and I enjoyed it so much. Except I don’t know any French and I couldn’t understand French words, but still I got the point 👍🏻

I really wanted to like this book. Apparently Lucy foley is a great writer or so I’d heard. But I was bored. Though she couldn’t have come up with the plot, my 10 year old daughter could have formed the sentences. I kept holding on for some suspense but I wasn’t gripped at all. She tried very hard but I had to give up half way through- life is too short to read bad fiction

A highly anticipated 2022 release, I read The Paris Apartment book along with audiobook and throughly enjoyed it. The audiobook really heighten the POV chapters as the story is told.This book had many wow moments with lots of unexpected twists and turns. I was so excited to read the book in one sitting. A Lucy Foley trait, I could not put this book down. Each chapter sprinkles intrigue all over and leaves you hanging, anticipating getting to that POV as it cycle through the characters.A true joy to read Lucy Foley in 2022.A must read for all thriller fans.A predicted 5 star read that was totally 5 full stars.#netgalley #LucyFoley #TheParisApartment #5starreads #newin2022

I suspect all of us have experienced that delicious serendipity of picking a book up more or less by chance and finding that it is both engrossing and entertaining. I discovered lucy Foley’s book in just such a way. I found myself faced with an unexpected long train journey ahead of me and, knowing that I had almost finished the book I was currently reading, I resorted to the small shop at the station to see if I could find some form of Red Cross parcel to tide me over. The selection of books on offer was conspicuous by its paucity, but it did include a copy of Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party, the cover of which was strewn with the sort of sensationalist encomia that would normally put me off completely. Reluctantly seeing it a faut de mieux option I bought it, expecting to find it at odds with my normal taste.Well, I was completely wrong, and within a few pages I was absolutely hooked. It offered an intriguing suspense story, offered from several different characters’ perspective and full of surprising plot twists. As a consequence, I read her next novel, The Guest List, which I found equally entertaining,The Paris Apartment follows a similar format, with the story revealed in narratives from various characters, and there is a copious offering of tangential plot twists. The story is well put together, and the reader quickly builds up an empathy for Jess, the lead protagonist, who has fled from her chaotic life in Brighton to spend some time with her half-brother Benjamin, who has recently moved into a chic apartment in a building in one of the smarter areas of Paris. When she arrives there, however, there is no sign of Benjamin, and she finds that the other inhabitants of the building are far from welcoming of this English stranger.Jess is certainly a great character – resourceful and stalwart, and showing a great capacity to rebound from the numerous adversities that life has thrown her way. However, I was less convinced by any of the other characters. Similarly, I found the plot slightly less coherent than those of her previous books. I felt almost as if the writer was more concerned with surprising the reader than in developing a strong story.But despite those slight misgivings, I still enjoyed the book, and its grip was such that I kept reading far later than I should have done. If I had read this one first, I would still have been keen to find any other books that Ms Foley had written. It simply lacked a little of the stellar impact of the earlier two.

Never have I read a book where the place felt as much of a character as the individual people. Every time I picked up the book, I was immediately swept into the Parisian way of life and instantly fell under its spell. The author has such a talent for making you part of this world with its glamorous people, famous landmarks, delectable food and drink - but also drags you in to the seedier side streets where life has a decidedly different atmosphere.Ben Daniels is a journalist who has been staying at his mate Nick's apartment in Paris. Ben's sister Jess has found herself in a bit of a tricky situation in her most recent job and has called her brother to ask if she can crash on his sofa for a while until she can sort something out. While he's not overly keen on the idea, he agrees, gives her the address, and tells her he'll be there to meet her. Only when she arrives there's no sign of Ben, he's not picking up his phone and Jess gets an unsettling feeling that something is very wrong. She's had to sneak her way into the apartment block after one of the other tenants refuses to let her into the building and the concierge who seems to live in an outbuilding in the courtyard is decidedly unfriendly towards her. Nobody wants to assist her in her quest to find her missing brother - the language barrier and the fact that she knows nobody in the area are not helping either.The story takes sinister twists and turns, you suspect everyone of having some kind of involvement in Ben's disappearance, yet you can't put your finger on why. There are secrets and untruths paving the way throughout the whole book which will be guaranteed to have you reading just one more of the short punchy chapters far longer than you planned to. Your jaw will drop, your eyebrows will switch from a heavy frown to shocking heights as the facts are gradually revealed and everything you've read suddenly falls into place.Who gets the happy ever after ending and who is left to rebuild their lives is something I'm not going to spoil for you as the author has spent so much effort constructing such a brilliant, intricately woven plot. I will be surprised if there are any readers who don't enjoy this book.

No gold foil board design or author signature. I pre ordered this sometime ago and it arrived Thursday so I was expecting it to be the limited addition one. No comment from Amazon to say why it wasn’t the special addition one.Very disappointed