Member Reviews
Freya seems to be that type of person who if it wasn't for bad luck she would have no luck at all. As she stops for a rare treat of a PSL at Starbucks she pa rues the message board with hopes of a cheap apartment for her and her daughter. Dr. Marsdan just happens to be there with a listing that sounds too good to be true. Is Freya's luck finally looking up?
This book is set in the neighborhood of Kinsington Palace and as someone who has never been there, the sites are well written to the point that you have no trouble visualizing. Which I found to be both fun and helpful to the story . I did feel that the back-story and the ending were a little rough to follow . The ending even felt disjointed and rushed once we got there. but, I liked the characters and would love to hear more from them in future books maybe.
I think this was overall a good read so give it a try.
So I guess when they say something is too good to be true....you might want to double or triple think about going for it!! Such an interesting read! The characters were complex & there was just enough confusion to keep you interested & wanting to know what exactly was going on. I didn’t end up guessing the full truth so that’s always nice for me, I love being surprised!! I would definitely recommend this one!!
Freya Miller and her five-year-old daughter, Skye, meet Dr. Marsden in a coffee shop. Freya is going through a rough period in her life and needs a place to live. Dr. Marsden offers her an apartment in a very nice neighborhood at an unbelievably low price. After Freya moves in, she is very uncomfortable with some of the other residents in the apartment house named Adder House. She also has problems with Skye who has to change schools.
This was a fast read, but the creepiness factor increases throughout the book. I thought Freya should have been less trusting of everyone, but of course, there wouldn’t have been a story if she didn’t accept Dr. Marsden’s offer in the first place. There are lots of twists in the story, some expected others totally surprising. Would definitely read another book by K. L. Slater. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy.
I absolutely loved this book!
Freya and her daughter Skye feel like there luck is in when they are offered to live in Adder House run by Doctor Marsden. Some of Freya’s friends feel like something isn’t quite right which leaves a lingering doubt in the back of Freya’s mind; but as time goes on and Skye builds up a good bond with another of the residents Freya relaxes until she finds out some weird things which have happened in the house.
Doctor Marsden asks some strange requests like can he install cameras in her home which strengthens her doubts about the place.
One night everything comes to a head and a lot of the house secrets are revealed. I didn’t see some of these secrets coming at all and thought other characters were going to be more involved.
I was so happy for Freya and Skye at the end getting a somewhat happy ending after their ordeal in the house.
The Apartment by K.L. Slater was a chilling slow burn that kept me engaged and reading till the end. At about the ninety percent mark, the action ramped up. There was one big twist that I didn't see coming, which I enjoyed. The book was well written, and I do enjoy British slang. The main character Freya was well developed, but unfortunately, the other characters lacked the same level of development. The Apartment has a simple plotline, and unfortunately, some gaping holes left unfinished aspects as far as character development and, at times, the plotline was a bit unrealistic. A secondary narrator, from a different timeline, woven into the main plot, did make the story more interesting. It also helped to tie the story together a bit in the end.
"You turn back to the very beginning of Beatrice's journal, dated June 1920, and begin to read…"
Freya has found herself at a crossroads in her life, with her husband's death leaving her in a precarious financial situation. She must sell the house where she and her daughter, Skye, are now living. Freya has not had the best childhood growing up in the foster system, which has made her guarded with people. At a chance meeting in a coffee shop, a gentleman, Dr. Marsden, starts a conversation with Freya. The next thing we know, he is offering her an apartment to rent in the building he owns. The Apartment, Adder House, is located in a very posh area of London, and Freya can't believe her luck.
"When it comes to Adder House, I feel…I suppose the word is unworthy, in a way. And yet this has happened, it is real, and we're here."
So, Freya and Skye move into Adder House, and slowly strange things start happening. However, it's just not what is happening in this grand old house, it's the other people who live there that add an element of creepiness to this story.
"Everything I first loved about this place is being swamped by a rapidly growing sense of apprehension."
The Apartment left me wanting more character development, more tension, and more of that all-important ominous, eerie feeling that comes with a great psychological thriller. The ending was just "okay" and wrapped up a little too perfectly for me. I would recommend this book if you are looking for an easy to read light thriller.
* Please note the quotes in my review are subject to change once the book is published. *
** I kindly received this galley by way of NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and K.L. Slater. I was not contacted, asked, or required to leave a review. I received no compensation, financial or otherwise. I have voluntarily read this book, and this review is my honest opinion. **
Not sure what I expected. I guess another run of the mill haunted house story. But was I ever wrong! This was creeptastic! Unsettling and oh so creepy. Interesting characters and a fantastic story! Thank you so much
I love this author but the book was just ok. A lot of hype but the twist fell flat and wasn’t as shocking as what I thought it would be. I still enjoyed the book, but I felt the ending could have been better.
I agree with some of the other reviews that this book was disappointing and quite unbelievable. I did finish reading the book as I have always enjoyed K L Slater’s books and just hope that the next one will be back to her normal best.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
Unfortunately I was unable to finish this book. I made it to 46% and I’m just not enjoying it. I’m not enjoying the storyline and nothing has happened yet. I feel like at 46% something should have happened by now. I’m also finding it really hard to connect to the characters. This is the first book I’ve read by K L Slater and unfortunately I’m not a fan.
This started off really good, got a little borikg in the middle and the main character was very frustrating, it was a steady read but didnt blow me away
Essentially, newly single mum Freya has had a tough time of things lately, and she’s desperate to turn things around for both herself, and her beloved daughter, Skye. As she is in the process of stressing about having to find somewhere new to live (exorbitant London rents/single-income family), Freya happens to meet the charming Dr Marsden who tells her all about the amazing Adder House.
After a quick look round, a small amount of umming and ahhing, Freya packs up everything she owns and moves to Kensington. Well, who could turn down such an awesome opportunity? Of course, all is not quite as it seems, and Freya soon realizes that if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is.
OK, this was a bad story.
First of all we have a leading lady that is as dull as dishwasher. She’s the most plain, boring, average of people and appears to have very little personality. For some inexplicable reason, much is made of the fact she was brought up in the foster system and therefore has trust issues. Love a good ole cliché.
Despite these trust issues, Freya is prepared to believe a man she’s just met, in a coffee shop, that there’s nothing odd, bizarre or even remotely creepy about him (a) telling her all about the flat he has available to rent in his building (b) letting her live there essentially for free because, well, it’s about finding the right person, isn’t it (c) paying for a whole host of things and interfering in her daughter’s education.
No, Freya, the one with the trust issues, thinks this is all perfectly normal and has no idea something could go wrong.
Then, of course, it starts to go wrong. Apart from, with all due respect, it actually doesn’t. Her biggest, and for the longest time, only issue is that it appears someone might, or might not, have died/committed suicide in or near her apartment. She doesn’t know. But just the idea that someone might have done totally freaks her out!
A couple of weird things happen, but that’s almost by the wayside, barely mentioned – more is made out of the fact that oh no, someone might have died locally, so there is absolutely no tension whatsoever. The creepiest element is old diary entries about a psychological experiment done on a small boy, and that takes up a couple of chapters, and is then pushed to the side.
Finally, with no real build up, a lot of pointlessness, and absolutely no excitement or suspense, the book concludes. I actually got to 95% and thought “you’ve got a lot of tying up to do here, in not a lot of time,” and then boom – here’s a nice ribbon, the end.
For me this read like a good first draft – it needs a lot of work, a few plot holes need ironing out, and more tension needs creating, and then the final edit might be worth more than 2 stars.
The Stars
I was originally going to give this a three, because although I wasn’t hooked or thrilled in anyway, I thought it had promise. After thinking about it some more, I’m actually annoyed by the gaping flaws with it, so have to give it a two.
This book had me guessing from the beginning as to how it would all turn out. Very suspenseful and surprising. I read it two days
I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed all of Slater’s psychological/domestic thrillers and can move The Apartment close to the top of my favorites. While the initial plot is familiar - young mother and child move to escape the past and start a new life - the narration was interesting and I rooted for them both from the beginning. While not as suspenseful as some others the character development made the unexpected ted twists even more jarring. Thanks for another great addition to the genre!
The Apartment, by K.L. Slater is billed as a thriller, but I found it more generally a horror story. I present-day London, an innocent young widow and her adorable five-year-old daughter are lured into taking an apartment in a building (spoiler alert) run by a coven of insane psychologists (no joke) in order to serve as the subjects of a bizzare and entirely unethical experiment.
In short, not my cup of tea. While very well written and constantly surprising, this book gave me nightmares. If you enjoy dogfights, like to pull the wings off flies and wouldn’t blanch at torturing a five-year-old, you’ll love this book.
Love thrillers! This one was creepy good! Sometimes it did get too much for me, but then it came back around. Thank you for letting m read this early to share about it with others.
This was alright. A very quick read with a good build-up but a lackluster ending.
Freya and her daughter Skye are in desperate states, about to be homeless when a nice stranger offers them an amazing apartment in Kensington for almost nothing. Freya finds nothing suspicious in this and is grateful and immediately moves in. But almost immediately she starts to get the sense that something is off with that stranger, Dr Mardsen. She quickly moves to trust Lily, a neighbor at Adder House, who bonds with her daughter Skye and offers to babysit.
Soon Freya begins to become paranoid and things move around her daughter's room. Her daughter is having nightmares and hearing voices at night. She says she is being followed at school
We flash back to early experiments involving Little Albert. This to me is one of the more disappointing sections, because the story just drops! The mother takes away her son from the experiment and that's it. And then the experimenter's descendant decides to track down little albert's descendant? It's just so far fetched. With both story lines, in the past and present, it just stops. There's just suddenly a happy ending without any consequences. It's a decent read but nothing great.
My first KL Slater read, and I'm excited that I now have a new to me author that I can binge. Well thought out plot, interesting characters, and well paced. While it was a bit predictable for me as a reader, it was well written and entirely enjoyable. Recommended it to friends, and it made for some fun discussion. It was great for the past few months during the pandemic. Thanks netgalley for a great book and opportunity to read.
Freya and her daughter, Skye, needs a place to live after leaving her husband. To her she had a chance meeting with Dr. Marsden who offers an apartment to her and Skye to live at the Adder House. The Adder House sounds to good to be true because it is! Freya should run to the hills!!
The Adder House holds secrets, things begins to happen, as Freya investigates. This is twisty, suspenseful, and fast paced. Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an ebook ARC. This is my honest review.
Finished reading 'The Apartment' by K.L. Slater and absolutely loved.
The book reminded me so much of 'Lock Every Door' by Riley Sager, with the creepy Adder House, it's equally weird and mysterious residents and an offer that comes with a price.
Our main character, Freya has suffered from tragic loss throughout her life and is looking for a new a start for herself and her daughter Skye thus when she receives an offer to live in the Adder House at a price she can afford, she takes up the opportunity. There are red flags from the very beginning but now Freya is trapped and is starting to feel paranoid as strange things start happening in her apartment.
I found myself flipping through the pages to find out how the story will wrap up. Though I did guess who might be the real villain early on in the story, nonetheless it was very entertaining and thrilling with a satisfying ending.
Overall 3.5 stars.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
I’ m so sorry but I haven’t been able to connect enough with this book. I think it’s a little slow and I can’t emphasize with the character either. . Maybe it is because I expected another thing, so I suppose it’s my fault .