Day: September 6, 2021

Book Review: The Apartment by SL Grey

The Apartment
Author: SL Grey

Published: October 4, 2016
288 Pages

Reviewed By: Kim
Kim’s Rating: 4 stars

Book Description:

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.

Kim’s Review:

This one is definitely a Blumhouse book! Ok, more of an A24 book, but they’re similar so we’ll go with it! This was a crazy slow burn that makes you uncomfortable, little by little, until you find yourself squirming in your chair! I went into expecting one thing, but got something completely different! The missing star is for the main characters. Sorry, but their whining got really annoying really fast. Thankfully, everything else seemed to mostly drown them out. I think this book is the perfect horror story for travelers. I know it’s one of my great anxieties that I’ll book a place in a foreign city and then I get there and it’s nasty! I also loved the typical Blumhouse view of humanity. They don’t seem to shy away from the gray areas that we all live in. Overall, this was an effective slow burn horror that will scratch the itch without completely terrifying the reader! I enjoyed it. 

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK