Multiple narrators – Jenn V. Reads

The Paris Apartment

By Lucy Foley

For so many years my insignificance and invisibility have been a mask I can hide behind. And in the process I have avoided raking up the past. Raking up the shame.
The Concierge

*Please note that there are DEFINITELY spoilers in this review. Please read at your own risk.

Summary

Jess makes a last-minute call to her brother, Ben, telling him she’s coming to visit him in Paris. Having had to leave her job on less-than-good terms, Jess arrives at his apartment with no money and no plan, hoping to run away from the mess she left behind in London. However, she arrives at Ben’s Paris Apartment only to find that he has disappeared without a trace. A mystery ensues, and Jess is put in a position where she can’t trust anyone she meets or anything she hears.

Jess finds herself surrounded by secrets and questions: Who was Ben really? What was he working on? Did he disappear on his own or did something terrible happen? The other tenants know something but are keeping a tight lip. Jess has to take a chance and do her best to trust those around her-but when she gets lied to left and right, Jess needs to put the pieces together on her own.

My Thoughts

Plot

I really wanted to enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed The Guest List but I just didn’t. I felt like the entire book was filled with constant tension. With nothing to break or ease that tension, the book got tedious very quickly. I also struggled with the fact that not every chapter was in the order of how the events happened, so as a reader, I was aware of some things that Jess (or one of the other characters) was not. This took the excitement out of certain aspects of the story that could have been highly anticipatory.

I think the reveal that the tenants were all a family came way too early in the book. It made it so much easier to piece together everything and made the ending not as jarring. I also think the ‘twist’ at the end was not set up well. I can see how it was surprising, but there was very little leading up to it that would give any sense of what happened. In a whodunnit, the whole point is to leave little clues.

I also found that the plot was wrapped up too neatly. While not all of the characters were happy, I felt all the characters got what they deserved, and I just wasn’t happy with that. I didn’t want everything wrapped up in a neat little bow. After all the tension throughout the rest of the book, the fact that it just ends the way it does was extremely underwhelming.

Lastly, Foley brought up the Paris riots but didn’t really go into what the riots were, and they were absolutely not important whatsoever to the plot. It felt like so much of this book was filler just to pad the number of pages.

Format

When reading a book with this many characters all speaking in the first person, I much prefer the audiobook to a print book. This title is no exception. In this particular novel, each character was narrated by a different individual, making it very clear which chapter belonged to which character (even though the chapters were named). I also felt it was essential to hear the characters differently in order to really get into the story. When reading a print book, we can give different characters their own individualism, but realistically, I find that I don’t. That being said, I did listen to this book at 1.75 speed because I just could not get into the slow tempo. Normally with audiobooks, I do 1.25 to 1.5, but this was just painfully slow to me.

Writing

There was so much potential in this book. Paris is one of those cities that has a rich history and literally all of it went to waste. Jess didn’t even know about the pyramid outside of the Louvre-which has been there for decades at the time this book was written. The Eiffel Tower was not mentioned at all. None of the typical Paris landmarks were included. I didn’t feel like I was in Paris. Like, if the names weren’t French and there weren’t French words interspersed throughout, you could have set this book in the middle of Detroit and nobody would have been any wiser.

Because there was so much gravity throughout the entire book, nothing felt like it was actually dangerous. I couldn’t relate to the stress of the characters. I couldn’t feel their emotions. They just existed for me.

And on top of that, because everyone was so intense, even situations that should not have been intense were. This made everything just so much more unbelievable. Foley knows how to create tension-we all know that. But she doesn’t always seem to know when to pull back.

Characters

Jess

At the end of the book, I feel like Jess had the least amount of character development. The rest of the characters had so many secrets that they were hiding and we needed to pull out of them, that when Jess did not have those secrets, she felt way more two-dimensional than the rest of the cast. She was extremely unlikeable-stealing from whomever she felt like-sneaking into people’s personal space-and being just generally annoying. And the fact that she had said multiple times that her brother often flaked on her but immediately went to “something bad happened” and dropped everything to find him just seemed really out of place.

Ben

Ben is a hard character to write about because we actually hear very little from him. If I remember correctly, there are only two or three short chapters from his point of view. However, from hearing about him from the other characters, I found him to be extremely manipulative and self-serving. For someone who seems to have these character traits, it was difficult to root for them to find out what happened. Since we spent so long thinking he was dead, the fact that he wasn’t, really threw me for a loop.

Mimi

Mimi was another hard character for me because she obviously had a number of mental health issues that were just not addressed. She is obviously obsessive. She obviously is extremely sheltered. But she has also obviously had an abusive upbringing in some form. But nobody really did anything to help her. She was so unstable, and they just continued to make excuses for her. It was a disservice to her character, but also a disservice to the plot. I get how her infatuation with Ben is essential to the story, but I just can’t wrap my head around the rest of the family not wanting to help her in any meaningful way.

Nick

Nick’s character made me so angry throughout this book. It seemed like he was into Jess at one point, but then he was really into Ben, and he also was completely unable to communicate those feelings. And then the fact that he continued to pine after Ben even though he was given obvious clues that Ben was not in fact interested…I just couldn’t. Nick was also obnoxiously private, allowing Jess to make erroneous assumptions that could have been avoided if he just was honest with her. Now I know that the lies are the whole point, but seriously dude…

Sophie

I felt like Sophie was another of those misunderstood characters. She was a former prostitute who married her pimp and ended up the step-parent to two boys and an orphan girl. (Or so we think-we never actually find out who Mimi’s father is). It seems clear to me that all she wants is respect, and never got that respect from her stepchildren or her husband. She instead, became a trophy to be placed on the mantle. That being said, she was still extremely protective of her family-even when they did not deserve it. She supported all of them and tried to do her best for them. Does that make her a good person-absolutely not-but I did recognize that she was at least trying.

The Concierge

I feel for the Concierge more than any other character in this entire book-mostly because she remains nameless. This poor older woman works for the apartment, lives in a tiny hut on the grounds, and is treated like crap by pretty much everyone. She definitely pulled the short straw in life, and I really wish that if anybody had a happy ending, it would be her. I mean, we don’t really know if her ending is happy or not, but I’m guessing with all of the hurt she faced throughout her life, it was probably not as happy as it could have been.

Side Characters

Irina – Even though we never hear from Irina in the first person, I thought her character was interesting. She was useful in giving Jess information that none of the other characters would be willing to give her, and that makes her important. I also like how she was willing to trust Jess just due to the fact that she was related to Ben. That shows how important the work Ben was doing actually was

Antoine – The Alcoholic brother of Nick, I don’t remember if this character ever had a chapter of his own. That shows just how important he was to the plot. Like he could have literally been removed and it would have made little to no difference. He was just a jerk the whole book

Camille – Mimi’s loud, obnoxious, outgoing, cigarette-smoking, bisexual roommate I think is supposed to be the foil to Mimi’s obsessiveness. It doesn’t really work for me though. She doesn’t actually seem to care for Mimi. She’s more there to create situations to move what little plot exists forward.

Theo – Theo is another weird character. He is 100% essential to the story because Jess would have never found out about the sex club without him. However, their random sex scene didn’t seem to fit, and his professional relationship with Ben was not explored particularly well.

Dominique and Commissaire Blanchot are other side characters that appear multiple times but are not super essential. There isn’t even really enough to write about them.

Final Thoughts

I had high hopes for this book, and it, unfortunately, fell flat for me. It had a lot of potential and some really good parts. However, the good did not overpower the rest of the mess.

2.5 stars because it kept my attention long enough for me to finish it.

Cain’s Jawbone

This is by far the most difficult book I have ever read. But that’s because it’s not really a book, but rather a whodunnit with multiple narrators, multiple murderers, and multiple murder victims, in a book where the pages are out of order.

To be honest, I can’t tell you much about this book other than its history and that it will be the bane of my existence for the foreseeable future. The Guardian has a great article on it’s history, so rather than reinventing the wheel, go ahead and check it out here.

So how, am I handling Cain’s Jawbone? Well, for one, I’m not doing it alone. This is a project that my husband and I are going to be working on together. Secondly, I’m not taking the pages apart. At least not yet. Instead, I’ve created a massive (and I do mean massive) spreadsheet that has one sheet for each page. We are marking down characters, literary references, dates, tenses and languages the narrator speaks, and more. Basically, we are going through each page multiple times looking for one specific thing.

I also have a separate page that is specifically for narrators. I am marking who we think the narrators are, and what their relationships to other characters are. We are also including who they killed if it is obvious they killed someone.

Lastly, I have a page that is putting the pages in order. Using a mix of poetry and dates, I have a semblance of an order for a handful of the pages. I know that there are like 75 more that need to be put in order, but I’m still working on it.

One of the things that makes this book so difficult, at least in my opinion, is that we are decades past when this was published, and there are references to things that are just not a thing anymore. On top of that, this was originally published in England, which means there are cultural references that I won’t understand either.

That being said, I’m totally game for a puzzle…even if it takes me forever to solve!

The Holdout

by Graham Moore

“Everybody wants to know. But maybe growing up means accepting that you’re not always able to.”
Graham Moore, The Holdout

Summary

Maya Seale is a prominent LA Attorney. But she had not always been that. Ten years ago, she had no direction in life when she was called to be a juror in the murder trial of Bobby Nock. Bobby was accused of murdering fifteen-year-old Jessica Silver, daughter of a billion-dollar business mogul. In the trial, the jurors are told of sexually explicit text messages between Bobby and Jessica, as well as Jessica’s blood in Bobby’s car. The prosecution thinks the case is open and shut, but Maya isn’t convinced. Instead, she persuades the rest of the jurors to vote not-guilty. This decision changed all of their lives forever

Flash forward ten years. A true-crime docuseries reassembles the jurors with the intention of springing new evidence on them during a 10th anniversary special. When one of the jurors, Rick-the individual bringing forth this evidence, is found dead in Maya’s hotel room, Maya becomes the main suspect in his death. Now, she must prove her own innocence–by getting to the bottom of a case that is far from closed.

Moving back and forth in time between the present day investigation of Ricks death and past jurors telling the reader their interpretation of the trial and what happened after, this murder mystery/courtroom drama will keep you on your toes!

My Thoughts

Plot

This book was so engaging. I really loved how it went back and forth between the present day and the past. I especially like that you aren’t given all of the evidence, just like the Jury. That feeling of flailing around for information made the stakes feel so much higher.

I also loved how the narrators from the past were not the same person. There were 12 jurors in that room, so seeing 12 separate points of view really brought home each jurors motives during the original trial.

The whole thing made me think of the jurors on other high profile trials. Were their lives changed in the same way as the characters in the novel?

Format

I listened to this as an audiobook and LOVED it. I do think that I would have loved it just as much if I had read the book. I think the chapters were short enough and engaging enough to keep me engrossed regardless of what was going on.

Writing

This book was a great example of a good crime novel. While I normally appreciate whodunnits where you have all of the information, I actually really liked how you were always given enough information to think you knew what was going on, but never actually did.

I also like how the author brought race and class into play as well. I thought it was done in a way that 100% made sense to the plot. While similar in concept to 12 Angry Men in some ways, I do think that this book would transition to film extremely well without being viewed as too similar.

Characters

This book was totally an ensemble story even though there were only a few “main” characters. I loved the character development throughout the entire story. I especially loved how you got to see through the eyes of each of the jurors. By seeing events as they saw them, the reader was able to glean an understanding of why they made the decisions that they did.

Maya: Maya was so fun. She knew the rules, but didn’t play by them. She was strong, inquisitive, stubborn, and always had the best of intentions. I think that her character arc is what made this plot so engaging. The lost 20something who is called for jury duty and leaves jury duty wanting to go to law school…there couldn’t be a better arc than that.

Rick: Even though you rarely see Rick alive in this book, I do love how you really seem to get to know him and his motivations throughout the book. He again, has all the best intentions. While frustrated with this in the moment, I actually liked how you did not know what secret Rick was hiding throughout most of the book.

Bobby: This poor kid. I feel so bad for him getting the short end of the stick for most of the book. His fear and frustration with the system was apparent. You couldn’t help but feel for him, while at the same time wondering what was true and what was not.

Mr. Silver: This guy was conniving and calculated, and it was obvious that he was used to getting his way all the time. But you couldn’t help but sympathize with the grieving father.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed this book. It was engaging and thought provoking. It especially makes me think about the juries in some recent high profile trials. I get that they are supposed to be impartial, and are not supposed to consume any media related to the case, but still, I can’t imagine how hard it would be to hold somebodies life in your hands like that. 4.5 stars

The Lost Apothecary

By Sarah Penner

“To me, the allure of history lay in the minutiae of life long ago, the untold secrets of ordinary people.”
The Lost Apothecary

All right-I need to preface this review with the following: I read this book last year, but am reviewing it to make sure the blog has some content at the beginning. There isn’t going to be too much of a summary of the plot since I read a library book and don’t have it for reference anymore.

Now that that’s settled…

Summary

The Lost Apothecary is a historical fiction novel of sorts. A portion of the book is based in modern day London, while the rest is based a few centuries before. The book follows 2021 Caroline, alone on her 10th wedding anniversary. She and her husband are having some problems. While roaming the streets she comes upon a group of people going mudlarking. (Mudlarking is where you go down to a river at low tide and look for very old objects that had been discarded in the river long ago.) While with this group, Caroline finds a small apothecary bottle with the image of a bear etched onto it. This prompts Caroline to channel her inner historian to learn the history of the bottle and why it was thrown into the river.

200+ years earlier, Nella uses her knowledge of herbs to create potions specifically for women. She has two rules with these potions…1) the potion must never be used to harm another woman, and 2) both the murderer and victims names must be written in her ledger. For years, Nella has flown below the radar of Scotland Yard-but a chance encounter with a 12 year old girl puts everything in jeopardy.

My Thoughts

Plot

Ok, so I LOVED this book! The format of the plot is not particularly new. The dual time period books are very Fiona Davis. However, I really appreciate that the two main characters are not related, and how the story in the past does not directly affect the story in the future-meaning the outcome of one is not dependent on the other. I also loved the idea of a murderous woman apothecary. At that time, women apothecaries were not looked upon well. And an apothecary that catered predominantly to abused women was just so interesting. I was engaged the entire time!

Format

I listened to it as an audiobook, which I normally only do on my commute, but I just couldn’t stop. I think I finished this book in like 2 days. Like normal, I did read it on a faster speed, but that had nothing to do with the narration.

I loved the distinct voices of the different characters. In some audiobooks it is not always clear when different characters are speaking-especially if each chapter is in a different characters voice. But in this book, I could easily follow which time period we were in and who was talking just by the timbre of the voice.

I did buy this book in print recently, and I’m considering reading it again. I expect I will love it just as much.

Writing

Like I’ve said in other places in this review, I was thoroughly engaged in the entire book. I kept going because I wanted to know what happened next. As someone with a history background, I appreciated a lot of the references-but those references were not so obscure that people without the background would be lost.

One of my favorite parts of the writing was the different voices. Not only did the narrator do a great job, but the author also. Even just the way each character formed ideas and sentences made them so distinct. This is a skill many writers lack since they write with their own voice.

Characters

Caroline-I loved Carolines development throughout this book. She started out so miserable and really grew into herself through her adventure. She had so much strength and passion, that I was always rooting for her!

Nella-What can be said about the murderous apothecary other than I so related to this woman on so many levels. She was almost like a feminist locked in the late 1700s, supporting women who were in awful situations and putting herself at risk in the process. As we move through the story, it becomes clear that there is a reason for Nella’s behavior. But regardless of that, I never saw her as a villain or even as a bad person. I think that is what makes Nella’s character so unique, and it brings up an interesting conundrum. If good people do bad things for good reasons, are they actually a bad person?

Eliza-Eliza is an interesting character in that she was almost not a character. If things had not gone wrong, Eliza would have just been another name in Nella’s register. But since things obviously did go wrong, Eliza becomes the downfall of everything. But she has such a good soul-and while it’s the situations that make everything difficult for her, it’s how she handles them that make her a compelling character

Final Conclusions

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. 4 stars.