Mystery/Thriller published by William Morrow 02 Feb 22
Okay, let me preface this by saying I was in full book hangover mode from Kingdom of Ash the entire time I was trying to read this. So was this hard for me to get into because of that or because this was just a hard book to get into? We may never know. But I’m going to venture a guess that I would have enjoyed this a lot more had I not just finished Throne of Glass and been thinking nonstop about assassin faery queens.
I usually get sucked in to a book pretty easily and cannot put it down until I know how it ends. It doesn’t usually take me longer than 1-3 days to finish a book, even with life getting in the way. That being said, it took me over a week to read this. Most of that time was spent on the first two hundred pages. Then I finally got hooked and finished the last third pretty quickly.
That’s why I’m giving it a C grade. The last third was good. I’m trying to give the first two thirds the benefit of doubt. Maybe it was just bad timing. Although I did find that none of the characters are particularly likable. This book also made me realize that I prefer multi-POVs to be written in third person. I think having the views constantly switch and being in first person contributed to some of my annoyance.
Writing style aside, there were some decent plot twists that I enjoyed. The final reveal was pretty great. It definitely got better and I am intrigued enough to check out Foley’s other books.
Grade: C+
Summary:
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.
No excerpt available.
