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Review: The Apartment by S.L. Grey



Blurb from Goodreads:
A high-concept psychological chiller about a troubled married couple on a house swap from hell. An Anchor Original.

Mark and Steph live an idyllic life with their young daughter in sunny Cape Town until one day when three men in masks violently break in. Traumatized but physically unharmed, Mark and Steph are unable to return to normal and are living in constant fear. When a friend suggests they take a restorative vacation abroad via a popular house-swapping website, it sounds like the perfect plan. They find a nice artistic couple with a charming apartment in Paris who would love to come to Cape Town. How could Mark and Steph resist the idyllic, light-strewn pictures, and the promise of a romantic getaway? But once they arrive in Paris, they quickly realize that nothing is as advertised. As their perfect holiday takes a deadly turn, the cracks in their relationship grow ever wider and dark secrets from Mark’s past begin to emerge.

Deftly alternating between two complex and compelling narrators, The Apartment is a terrifying tour de force of horror, of psychological thrills, and of chilling suspense.
My Review:
 
I'm telling you right now - please don't read this. I had seen some other reviewer's opinions (that I trust) on this one before I read it that were less than stellar but I still wanted to give this its fair shot; I wish I hadn't. I almost DNF'd but I was intrigued enough to want to know the "twist" or mystery but now I can confidently tell you that this was not worth finishing. Maybe the story for this book seemed like it a good idea for a book at one point but either the author did not really want to finish the book or there was a critical lack of editing involved in the execution.  THere were so many sub-stories that were glossed over and made to seem important but ended up being red herrings to the actual plot. And I'm not talking just a few of these but four or five of these, maybe more.  I also have severe issues with the "twist" - it didn't make any sense and it wasn't properly flushed out to even give a hint that anyone could suspend their disbelief. And the characters? First, they were supremely unlikeable -- that, I could get over -- but they were also so not developed.  You can't imagine why Mark and Steph are a couple now or why they ever were.  There was also this weird focus on the problems with their relationship that added nothing to the plot, depth or story. This one did not work for me in any way.

The Apartment came out earlier this month on October 4, 2016, and you can purchase HERE.
I pull the plug and gather the toys and put them in the bucket at the corner of the tub. I pick out the soap and turn on the hand shower to rinse the tub. The water's draining slowly, blocked by Hayden's hair in a drain hole. I pick it out and it comes away in a satisfying mat; it shines with a blue gleam, full of life.  I can't bring myself to throw it away so I squeeze the water out and take it with me.

Comments

  1. YIKES. This does not sound good. Sorry it was so bad for you.Thanks for the warning!

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  2. What a bummer! The cover makes it look so promising. I'm sorry it was a dud! But thanks for the warning!!

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  3. Oh no! I'm sorry this was so terrible for you, Eva! I hate when a book has too many substories and none of them fleshed out properly. And ugh the twist sounds terrible.
    SKIP!

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  4. Yikes! I will definitely not be picking this up. ;)

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  5. This sounds so horrible! I mean, I'm only interested to know what the "twist" was but I won't be picking it up.
    Genesis @ Latte Nights Reviews

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  6. Oh geez, sounds like this should have been a DNF. Don't you hate wasting good reading time on total clunkers?

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  7. Wow, I'll be skipping this one for sure. Sucks that the story sucked big donkey balls for you. What sucks is the synopsis sounds really good. Gah.

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  8. Ouch, this really sounds awful! I definitely won't be reading this. Great review, though!

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  9. Eeek I'm so sorry that this book didn't end up working out for you Eva, it sounded like it had a lot of potential too! But thank you for your honest review, and I hope your next book is a lot more enjoyable! :)

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  10. Oh no! I did think this sounded good, but I will steer clear big time!

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  11. I'm sorry to hear this was a bust! I applaud you for keeping on with it and not DNFing. I probably would've bailed.

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  12. Oh my! Sorry this one was so bad for you. I really wanted to give it a try too. Now I don't know. Maybe I'll borrow it from the library sometime.

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  13. Oh, bummer! I had read a positive review for this book, but it still didn't seem like a story I'd enjoy. The fact that the characters were unlikable and the solutions weren't very believable would be very disappointing. Sorry to hear it didn't work! Great honest review, Eva! :)

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  14. Wowwww this sounds SO bad. Like basically NO redeeming qualities. I browsed through some other reviews on Goodreads for funsies and yeah... so much nope. Also that quote? Makes me gaggy. So definitely a pass. So sorry this didn't work for you, but great review!

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