I received an ARC (Advanced Reader’s Copy) of The Apartment by K. L. Slater through NetGalley. I am so thankful to have found this community and the ability to read new books. I haven’t read any of her books, but I might look into some of them after this one. I was intrigued by the story and really liked the premise with the creepy factor.
Some of my cons about the book: I found some of the English language (it was set in London) a little distracting for me because I didn’t always know what she was talking about. I also found a number of typos throughout the book. Getting past those minor things, I had a hard time with the writing in general. It felt like a first book or a first attempt at someone writing a novel. It felt scattered and thrown together and not fully thought out. The main character was a little annoying and I felt myself getting angry with her at various times. I thought there was a little too much unrelated backstory about Freya when more time could have been spent better in other ways.
In a section for cons, but not: the ending fell short for me. For Brenna to say she did some looking into her family history and then not tell us what that was!? I was a little upset. And to through in some family lineage from inside Adder House, but not expand on who was related to whom and how was a little annoying. So while these things were annoying, it might have been fun for some to try to place lineage or come up with their own ideas on who was related to whom and how. But for me, if it was talked about, as a reader I enjoy knowing what the author was thinking when alluding to something instead of having me guess.
Pros: I thought this book was a lot of fun and creepy. I could picture Freya and Skye going through the various situations and I really was rooting for them. I kept hoping it would work out and you could never really tell who was the good guy or bad guy throughout the book. Everyone was a little off and it could have been anyone. I liked the twists at the end and liked how they went ahead to tell how they were doing after the incident (albeit the few things I thought were missing). I loved the creepy elements and I didn’t want to put it down. I was eager to see how it ended. I also really liked the short chapters and that it was a quick, fun read.
I don’t know that I would recommend this book to just anyone. If you are looking for a book to make your skin crawl with anger at times and you like a fun twist, this is for you. If you aren’t into psych thrillers and main characters who are a little frustrating at times, this might not be for you.
I gave this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️ because I was still having a hard time with the ending and a bit of the storyline at first. I did really enjoy the story overall, I just think some parts could have been done a little better. But for a mindless, quick, psych thriller, I really couldn’t put it down and was excited to see what happened at the end. I am looking forward to trying out more of her books in the future.
