“Ana Melendez: The Apartment" explores the themes of love, loss, and the profound impact of the places we call home. A wide array of characters that unveil more to the story as we meet them. Intriguing and captivating.

I didn't care for the audio book narrator or the story. The writing was not for me and I really struggled to complete the book.

This book was a miss for me. I was very confused the whole time I was listening. It seemed very disjointed without much in terms of plot. I probably would have DNF’d this one if I didn’t listen to it and if it’s wasn’t a quick one.

I received an ALC of this one from NetGalley and HighBridge Audio in exchange for my honest review.

Told in a series of vignettes, “The Apartment” tells of the ghosts who gain a second life and meaning while visiting the living.

While I found most of the smaller stories to be interesting, they ultimately didn’t come together for me. I kept waiting for something to click in and it just didn’t.

I did think the narrator did a good job of inhabiting the characters she played, though!


Thanks to HighBridge, Counterpoint and NetGalley for the ALC!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick. Our library purchased and our patrons have been checking out and and enjoying the book. I see it is a popular book club choice as well we hope to have more oppurtinies to support authors like them

This was a bit slow for me taste and it couldn’t get into it super easily. I do think the theme and characters are important journeys but not uplifting and hopeful. The story is around the tenants of 2B a crowded apartment in Miami. I did like the descriptions of circumstances to help you feel like you are in these characters shoes. I also hoped the stories would be more fully formed, too many main characters and for me listening got a bit confusion on arch journey. Heavy and important not my taste exactly but I appreciate the story line.

Really interesting premise! The Apartment follows one apartment is Miami Beach over seventy years. Over the years there are different tenants, which tell the story of the times.

i really enjoyed the writing style of this book, however the plot left something to be desired. i was really intrigued by the concept, and the first half of the book, while rather meandering, was interesting. much of the second half, however, focused on one character in the apartment, and that’s where the book really fell off. i didn’t find her a particularly compelling character, and the mysterious death that takes up much of her story is unsatisfactorily resolved.

A very enjoyable twisty and fast paced thriller. It was fun but I do have to say as someone who reads a ton of thrillers I probably will not remember this one.

Published: 06/27/23

Narrated by Whitney Dykhouse

Thank you NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for accepting my request to read and review The Apartment.

The Apartment was a miss for me. The synopsis of one apartment and tenants through the years and their stories is appealing. However, I had problems right away. The narrator did well with emotions. I had trouble with understanding her dialect: this is not new for me; however this was really difficult.

The first story contained so much profanity, I was going to stop, and turn the book back in. Just as I make this decision, the story ends. The remaining stories, like the first, build momentum and stop. The profanity waxes and wanes.

This was a convoluted struggle.

This was too heavy for me and I also didnt enjoy the many characters. Alot was going on and I found it a bit hard to follow.

This one was a little hard for me to finish. The overall plot was very interesting. It was fun to learn about the stories of all of the people who had lived in this apartment. The mystery and stories that those walls held were very interesting and sometimes very dark. I was drawn to it by the cover. I got a little lost about half way through and it was a little hard to remember which person we were talking about.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this audiobook.

This a really interesting take on how a story can span multiple generations while focusing solely on one location. The book centres on the Helena apartment complex - apartment 2B in particular - but we get to meet various different residents as they navigate complexities in their lives. I enjoyed the small connections between several residents; the characters whose stories are early in the novel sometimes make a reappearance later in the book, which was very satisfying.

The most time is spent on Lana - the apartment's resident in the present day who is struggling with a bereavement alongside her fame. Although I enjoyed Lana's story, I felt like the book was very end-weighted because we spent so much time with her, and would have preferred a more equal amount of time to be spent on each character. Lana's story does a good job of connecting some of the other stories, but I didn't feel like the mystery of the young man's death that plagues here was fully resolved. Overall, a thoughtful read, but there were certain things I would have liked to have seen done differently.

"The Apartment" by Ana Menéndez explores the lives that intertwine within Apartment 2B over several decades. Through a series of interconnected short stories, the book explores the experiences and perspectives of the diverse residents of this apartment building. As readers follow these individuals from the early 1940s to the early 2000s, they witness the effects of immigration, gentrification, and historical events on their lives. Within Apartment 2B, Menéndez skillfully crafts each narrative, revealing the complexities of human existence.

Although the author's prose is beautifully crafted, the pacing of the book becomes uneven around the halfway mark.. A few sections feel rushed or underdeveloped, leaving a desire to explore certain characters and their stories in greater depth. With its thought-provoking themes and the way it ties together the lives of its characters, the book still manages to captivate.

As Menéndez captures the essence of South Miami Beach, evoking a sense of time and place that transports readers, South Miami Beach's history serves as a rich backdrop. This book sheds light on the social and cultural changes that affect communities as a result of immigration and gentrification.

The Apartment is worth reading for those who enjoy character-driven stories, social commentary, and vivid settings. Ana Menéndez demonstrates her ability to tell engaging stories that explore the complexities of human connection and experience. The Apartment offers a unique and thought-provoking reading experience with its layered storytelling and exploration of space.

Included in this post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CuK1YXsg6mw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

TW: suicide, attempted suicide, gang violence, death of a child, death of a parent, mentions of various wars, 9/11, prostitution

The concept of The Apartment was very good and it had me hooked for the first 60% of the book.

The story takes you through all the tenants of apartment 2B in the Helena building located on iconic Miami Beach. Being a Miami native I was SO EXCITED to read something that takes place in my city. I loved being able to accurately picture the places mentioned like Alton Road, The News Cafe, and the Delano Hotel. The history and descriptions were accurate and I truly felt like I was transported to the city while listening.

I loved being taken back through time to basically the beginning of The Beach itself and to the new construction of The Helena (which I wholeheartedly believed was a real place because the description was so believable). I was entranced by each tenant's story and struggle until we came to the stories of Lenin and Lana in 2012.

At this point the timelines start to overlap and the narrator isn't clear on who is speaking at what time. It quickly jumped between characters stories and it was easy to get lost. I had to stop and rewind a few times to figure out what was happening because it didn't make sense that Lana was in Cuba. Perhaps in the physical book there is a distinction but it wasn't made in the audiobook and that was unhelpful to maintain the integrity of the story. This is the point where I started to get lost and I became interested in finishing the book. The story wasn't progressing and Lana had no clear story until the last few minutes of the book. At that point the ending was confusing and although it connected with the first half of the story it still didn't make sense to me.

I gave it 3 stars because the overall story wasn't bad. I did enjoy it, the ending just dragged on too long and I became uninterested. Perhaps reading through a different platform might have a better experience.

The Apartment is a chronicle of various inhabitants of the building & land, over a span of hundreds of years. What started out as short character sketches developed into more detailed day-to-day happenings, the closer to “present day” the characters became.

I would’ve loved to have more details for the book’s earliest characters - by the time we meet Lana (in present day), there are so many other storylines to think about that I didn’t fully connect with Lana.
Is that because there wasn’t a stronger, more flushed out history for Lana to draw from?

Ultimately, this is not personally my favorite thing to read. BUT I’m still pondering how to fully embrace the ending, which is always a sign of a well written work!

🍁 Book Review 🍁
The Apartment by Ana Menendez
Narrated by Whitney Dykhouse
Genres: General Fiction, Historial Fiction, Women’s Fiction
How did I read? 🎧
Trigger Warnings: rape, abuse
Publish Day: June 27th, 2023
Rating: 5 ⭐️’s
Spicy: 0/🌶️
💭 Overall it was an interesting story that was told beautifully. I think it was the perfect length overall and I listened to it in 4 hrs. 💭
#TheApartment #NetGalley #HistoricalFiction #NewReleases

I really liked the premise of this book, but I found that the execution unfortunately did not grab me. Not for me.

Thanks # netgalley for this book in exchange for an honest review. I just couldn't get into this story. The storyline follows the different families who live in the apartment. Some people got much more story time than others. I tried to enjoy but it didn't hold my interest.