Speaker 1: You know he's only Jess's half brother. Well, guess what,
Speaker 1: he's also there half brother.
Speaker 2: I don't think.
Speaker 3: She goes and buys lingerie and her dad calls her
Speaker 3: a whore.
Speaker 1: I would love to have a wine cave. I have
Speaker 1: a wine pile next to my trash can.
Speaker 2: We went to Paris to be a dancer, and they
Speaker 2: told her she would be a dancer, but then they
Speaker 2: made her be a prostitute and she was pregnant and
Speaker 2: she died.
Speaker 3: Hello everyone, and welcome back to Meme book Club. This episode,
Speaker 3: we read The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. Oh o
Speaker 3: oie she's Lucy.
Speaker 1: Course, so quick, Gord.
Speaker 3: What was I don't know what was that? I was not?
Speaker 1: Okay? So I learned that throat is gorge. Gorge, Yeah, gorge, Okay,
Speaker 1: all right, quick gorge.
Speaker 3: To the host or as always, we are mean. Book
Speaker 3: club reread New York Times bestsellers that maybe you did
Speaker 3: with your book club, but everyone loved them and you
Speaker 3: were like, wait, really wait wait.
Speaker 1: Are well idiots? See you guys sending up the smartest
Speaker 1: person here tomorrow. And that feels that.
Speaker 3: Is that is how it feels. That is how it feels,
Speaker 3: and sometimes we continue to disappoint by still liking it.
Speaker 3: But you know, usually we're the more Yeah, sometimes we're
Speaker 3: the morals, but you know we try. That's the goal
Speaker 3: is to rip it apart. I am one of your hosts,
Speaker 3: Sarah Burton.
Speaker 1: I am one of your other hosts, Shanna Scrabis, And
Speaker 1: we've got Claremorris joining us, she says eminently. She says, Guys,
Speaker 1: a minute ago she texted one minute, so you go
Speaker 1: ahead and set your watches to that.
Speaker 3: Well, minute ago she did. So the minute has already
Speaker 3: passed and she's not here.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so go ahead place your bets.
Speaker 3: Place your bets when she shall get here. But we
Speaker 3: can at least start. We can start talking about all
Speaker 3: the background stuff of the book. So, for example, Johanna,
Speaker 3: why do we read this one?
Speaker 1: Well, Sarah, the reason we read it was it was
Speaker 1: a recommendation from Noah, our friend and listener. Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: Noah says, hello. I first want to say that I
Speaker 1: recently found your podcast and have quickly fallen in love
Speaker 1: with it. Great start, Noah. It's so funny to hear
Speaker 1: so many people agree with me on books that have
Speaker 1: such quote critical acclaim for a future episode. I would
Speaker 1: like to pitch that you read The Paris Apartment by
Speaker 1: Lucy Foley. It is one of the worst books I've
Speaker 1: read in the past two years, and I cannot fathom
Speaker 1: all caps how this book was published and then Lucy
Speaker 1: was then granted the opportunity to write more. It's a
Speaker 1: sexy murder mystery meant for adults but written by a child,
Speaker 1: no character exposition, a piss poor understanding of class dynamics,
Speaker 1: and just an odd book overall. I hope that this
Speaker 1: email fis all of you.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 1: I can't wait for your next episode. And we were
Speaker 1: just joined by the one the only. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: it's Clara Morris looking diving in stripes.
Speaker 2: Look at her today.
Speaker 1: Wow, I didn't expect it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, trying to get some new clothes to fit in
Speaker 2: my new ruined body.
Speaker 1: I was recently telling Sabrina how ruined my body is,
Speaker 1: and I was like, really kind of going into detail
Speaker 1: in the way I probably didn't need to. And then
Speaker 1: she and our friend Andrew just kind of like stopped.
Speaker 1: And Andrew's like, I'm sorry, I don't I'm not trying
Speaker 1: to stare at your breasts. Just you keep talking about them.
Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, yeah, I no, yeah, yeah, you
Speaker 1: just doesn't understand.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I understuddenly I understand how people could like hold
Speaker 3: a pencil under their sagging breast, you know what I mean. Yeah,
Speaker 3: you know, I'm saying it wasn't always like that. It
Speaker 3: wasn't always like that.
Speaker 2: For me, it seems normal now, like of course you'd
Speaker 2: put a pencil there where?
Speaker 3: All right? All right, Well, so we just found out
Speaker 3: Noah recommended The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. So how
Speaker 3: did you guys read it? How'd you consume it?
Speaker 1: Oh? My goodness. So first of all, you should know
Speaker 1: that The Paris Apartment was a pleasure read for me.
Speaker 1: I have been reading Lucy Foley long before she ever
Speaker 1: came on the Meme book club scene, long before the
Speaker 1: guest List. I found her with Stag Party, loved her then,
Speaker 1: even though she clearly has issues with old friend groups
Speaker 1: in a way that bothers me deeply, It's all.
Speaker 2: That I have.
Speaker 1: And yeah, did this is? I was like, I was
Speaker 1: like one of the freaks. So it's like I knew
Speaker 1: Lucy Foley's coming out.
Speaker 2: Let's go.
Speaker 1: I got it right from the library. It was said
Speaker 1: it new fiction right on the side new fick.
Speaker 2: Is this because of she did like an Ireland one. No,
Speaker 2: that's Sarah like.
Speaker 1: She No, she did Ireland. That was the book that
Speaker 1: was that was the guest list that we bought the
Speaker 1: wedding on the Irish Isle.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So Lucy is returning to the cast, which is
Speaker 1: never great for an I never want to come back
Speaker 1: a second time.
Speaker 3: But yeah, but here we are here she is so
Speaker 3: so then I guess the question remains, how did you
Speaker 3: read it.
Speaker 1: From the library like a booker audio or you know?
Speaker 1: I don't. I guess I do audio books not my
Speaker 1: real life. I do them for this cast what I
Speaker 1: don't know. But in my real life, I take time.
Speaker 1: I save her. I read a real book, I turned
Speaker 1: the little pages, I look at the cover.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, okay, okay, it's just a real book.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, I book I did an audiobook. But
Speaker 3: I also just feel like I don't remember, since this
Speaker 3: isn't going to be as fresh for me.
Speaker 1: It's interesting for anyone that's crazy you don't remember.
Speaker 2: And then she took the turn as if it had
Speaker 2: to be like, why don't you have me go while
Speaker 2: you look it up?
Speaker 1: Thank you for a second.
Speaker 2: Thoughts together. It was an audio book. I had the
Speaker 2: audible you know subscription going already from the season the
Speaker 2: you know sunk costs fallacy. I think I'm using that correctly.
Speaker 2: Since I'm paying paid for it, might as well keep
Speaker 2: fucking paying for it.
Speaker 3: Okay, I realized I found it. I did do an audiobook.
Speaker 3: I did it from the l A Public Library, which
Speaker 3: I have for you. Uh. I should not have a
Speaker 3: card too, but I pretended to be my sister in
Speaker 3: law so that I could get access to the LA
Speaker 3: Public Library.
Speaker 1: This is insane because here's the thing. They both have
Speaker 1: the same name, law the same name. So I'm putting
Speaker 1: together that you must have posed your sister in law
Speaker 1: and like shown up at the library with your ID
Speaker 1: and been like, I lost my card and I needed
Speaker 1: to issue me a new once.
Speaker 3: Well, they let me kill out the form and stuff,
Speaker 3: but they only gave me a temporary one and they
Speaker 3: said we'll send it to your address, which, of course
Speaker 3: I gave them my sister in law's address. So then
Speaker 3: I had to keep asking her if she received, if
Speaker 3: she received any.
Speaker 1: Stole her identity and then he like followed up.
Speaker 3: And then she did and I didn't go get it
Speaker 3: in time. I didn't realize that they then made you
Speaker 3: you had to do another step to confirm your identity
Speaker 3: based on something they send you in the mail. So
Speaker 3: I so I took too long to go get it,
Speaker 3: and then I had to go back and restart this
Speaker 3: huge weighting. But we got it. We're good now. I
Speaker 3: am the other Sarah Bird.
Speaker 1: This is really horrifying abuse of the library, which only
Speaker 1: tries to do nice things for people.
Speaker 2: You had to like, did you have to like take
Speaker 2: one of her like utility bills to be like.
Speaker 3: No, no, okay, because they send it. They send you
Speaker 3: something the mail, which is like a code or something,
Speaker 3: and then you have to send that coach to email.
Speaker 3: And I didn't realize there wasn't it going to be
Speaker 3: another step.
Speaker 2: You probably like.
Speaker 1: Had to show them your ID with your driver's license
Speaker 1: and be like, this is my old address. I don't
Speaker 1: live there. Like the series of lies you went through
Speaker 1: so insane.
Speaker 2: And it's because there's more the book available.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, they had more LA They have it more
Speaker 3: than my the Glendale So I had to huh, you know,
Speaker 3: I had to get it. You know, what's done's done.
Speaker 3: I had to uh, and then it's not that I
Speaker 3: did a bad pointing. Now we're good. Now we're good. Okay,
Speaker 3: now we're good.
Speaker 2: We read the pit that you forgot that whole saga about, like,
Speaker 2: how did I read it? Maybe it was just a
Speaker 2: regular audiobook, no identity.
Speaker 3: No, no, yeah, all right, so I guess now that
Speaker 3: we know that Johnna gibbers about the book, what did
Speaker 3: we land on for john Remember what's your literation?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it's like Johnna's jack. Wow, it's it's a
Speaker 1: short summary. I just need one person, and I think Clara.
Speaker 1: I actually think Sarah would be the best for this.
Speaker 1: So sorry, it's excited.
Speaker 2: Well, I studied Spanish.
Speaker 3: I studied French, and I'll still butcher it, but I
Speaker 3: will try.
Speaker 1: Well, it's you'll kind of see what kind of French
Speaker 1: it is.
Speaker 3: I think, think, oh good, my kind of French. Okay,
Speaker 3: you have to do that it Sacra Blue, WEEWI I
Speaker 3: am ze Paris apartment.
Speaker 4: Okay, I am elegant, I am chic. My bones are
Speaker 4: made of secrets. Inside these walls are many characters, all
Speaker 4: suspects in the murder. Maybe sacrab Blue, Jess as half
Speaker 4: brother Ben and oh a Nah. Everyone loves Ben or
Speaker 4: obsessed with him, but as a friend the lover and
Speaker 4: here's the thing.
Speaker 3: Is he even.
Speaker 1: Monte the attention.
Speaker 3: One of one of your best.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 3: There's not much in there.
Speaker 1: Why why did you from the perspective of the building.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it's hard because buildings aren't necessarily smart.
Speaker 1: We don't have morons.
Speaker 3: They're just.
Speaker 1: Steel. Like they're pretty self absorbed.
Speaker 2: You know, builds are made of secrets. Is pretty good,
Speaker 2: thank you.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And the apartment, the building is the main character.
Speaker 1: I would say, so it's the Paris apartment.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I did.
Speaker 1: I do think like the building did mention one name,
Speaker 1: and that's good and like to be honest, like if
Speaker 1: my apartment building knew the name of one person that
Speaker 1: lives in this household, I would that would be like
Speaker 1: more I would expect of it.
Speaker 2: It was sort of I sort of expected of my buildings. Okay,
Speaker 2: at least know me. That's kind of your relationship, Yeah,
Speaker 2: Clay building. Yeah, yeah, I am sorry to go about life.
Speaker 3: Yeah, main character.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a bit more wit whimsical.
Speaker 3: You know what, Johnna, You're you look pensive fingers and
Speaker 3: looking up into the air. I was just thinking of.
Speaker 1: Something I did to my building recently, and it was
Speaker 1: kind of crazy. But I'm not sure if it's a
Speaker 1: story for the cast. It's kind of I don't know, really,
Speaker 1: I don't think it's sexual.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Like I noticed our walls like were like dinged up
Speaker 1: and stuff and had like a lot of like smudges
Speaker 1: that I wasn't able to get out with magic erasers.
Speaker 1: And then I saw that that upstairs they're doing some
Speaker 1: work in the building and they left this like big
Speaker 1: tub of paint right outside my apartment, so like real quick,
Speaker 1: when Devin went down for a nap, I like stole
Speaker 1: the big bucket of paint like like quickly, just like
Speaker 1: try to paint over all the like smudges on my wall.
Speaker 1: And I was thinking I was a genius, but also
Speaker 1: panicking about giving these like men their bucket of paint
Speaker 1: back before it was the right color.
Speaker 2: No, yeah, okay, anything would be.
Speaker 3: At all.
Speaker 1: And when you're putting it on you you're seeing that
Speaker 1: it's not the right shade of white, but you're like it's.
Speaker 3: Wet when it dries, Yeah, I guess it's wet. It's tricky.
Speaker 3: So many whites, so many shades of white. Learned that
Speaker 3: when we were.
Speaker 2: Do you like the paint better than the smudges?
Speaker 1: Good question, Yes, I actually do I do.
Speaker 2: And it comes with an insane story, how did you
Speaker 2: return the paint?
Speaker 1: I got it back out there. It was a Saturday,
Speaker 1: and I like had to like wash their like brushes,
Speaker 1: equipment and stuff too, to be like because they like
Speaker 1: clearly weren't used.
Speaker 3: You didn't even use your own brushes.
Speaker 1: I had my own brush, but they had it was
Speaker 1: like one of those paint trays and stuff.
Speaker 3: Okay okay, and like.
Speaker 2: Not working because it was a sadd well that's.
Speaker 1: What I was betting on. And then I put it
Speaker 1: all back out there, and like ten minutes later they
Speaker 1: came in to get their stuff. It was so close.
Speaker 1: I like, I'm sure all their stuff was like kind
Speaker 1: of wet, you know, because I had washed it so
Speaker 1: but like probably like what what are they going to do?
Speaker 1: Knock on doors and be like excuse me? Did you
Speaker 1: wash our paint?
Speaker 3: Ray?
Speaker 1: And I was like, but I got away with it,
Speaker 1: you know, Like how are they going to know? Except
Speaker 1: that there are these clear marks on the water in
Speaker 1: the wrong color paint. And then I looked down at
Speaker 1: Willow and he had a white streak, and I was like,
Speaker 1: in my mind, I was like, how would they ever know?
Speaker 1: And I like look down to my dog cover.
Speaker 3: They definitely, they definitely clocked that and they know what
Speaker 3: you did.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm sort of taken aback by the boldness.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, it is shocking.
Speaker 2: If I sort of think of it as like a
Speaker 2: bit of a manic episode, I think.
Speaker 3: It was.
Speaker 1: Crime is victimless. I'm not like.
Speaker 2: About just a little bit of pain just doing.
Speaker 1: It like I'm like belonging to the building, building anxiety
Speaker 1: that comes with it. Sure, it was high and like
Speaker 1: I'm also trying to sort of daughter took a nap,
Speaker 1: like and she like sometimes naps for ten minutes.
Speaker 3: Like it was a crazy oh done, really crazy done done. Yeah,
Speaker 3: that's what I imagine was playing.
Speaker 1: It wasn't you did it? Cool?
Speaker 3: Well now it is.
Speaker 1: So anyway the parents apartment, you guys. Yeah, I guess
Speaker 1: I should talk about I would like to provide a
Speaker 1: little bit more of a summary for real though basically
Speaker 1: you have Jess is are just just quickly before I
Speaker 1: get into like a little bit more about the book.
Speaker 1: Jess is a British person because Lucy Foley is British,
Speaker 1: so she writes it she knows. And she goes to
Speaker 1: Paris to visit her half brother Ben, and they've been
Speaker 1: sort of a strange since childhood. And she shows up
Speaker 1: at his apartment building and oh my god, he's not
Speaker 1: in his apartment, which is weird because they have plans
Speaker 1: to meet. And then the story then just takes place
Speaker 1: inside that apartment building and we start to meet these
Speaker 1: other characters, and there's a question of like, what happened
Speaker 1: to Ben? Has he been murdered? There's a big bloodstain
Speaker 1: on the floor. Every character in the whole building is
Speaker 1: super suspicious and creepy, and it seems like they're all
Speaker 1: sleeping with Ben, even his best friend. So it's basically
Speaker 1: her investigation then of where did Ben go?
Speaker 3: Do that? Right? Yeah? Where did go?
Speaker 1: Where? Where be Ben? Okay? So the book, Oh, the
Speaker 1: wine selection, I didn't do one.
Speaker 2: I mean, usually you can spin some some bullshit, but Paris.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of alcohol related to Paris. Should should
Speaker 3: you try any v? No? Okay? What is that go
Speaker 3: with this?
Speaker 1: Ale wife Brewing Queens, New York? A sunnyside blonde left
Speaker 1: in my fridge?
Speaker 3: Anybody blond? Was anybody blonde?
Speaker 1: Was anyone blonde in the whole book? I don't think
Speaker 1: so specifically Queen's News.
Speaker 3: And it was really rainy. It wasn't even sunny blond.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he thanks Clara.
Speaker 3: This is inspired by anything, all right? Sure I don't remember,
Speaker 3: but yeah, maybe he was.
Speaker 2: And that's why it was so surprising that he was French.
Speaker 2: In the French family with the dark haired people, I.
Speaker 1: Would fail in Paris so hard as a human being.
Speaker 2: Are you basing that on this book?
Speaker 1: This book? And just like what I know of French people,
Speaker 1: like they just seem like they're kind of a classier.
Speaker 3: Better intimidating perhaps, Yes, give.
Speaker 1: Me a little bit about this book. It was a
Speaker 1: March twenty twenty two New York Times bestseller. Numero uno.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 1: The book was named one of the most anticipated books
Speaker 1: of the year by Goodreads, which you know what that means. Uh.
Speaker 3: I hate to say this, John, but I noticed you
Speaker 3: didn't link to that New York Times bestseller.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, it is a bestseller. I looked, I
Speaker 1: saw the listing myself.
Speaker 3: I was confirmed.
Speaker 2: Okay, great, okay, so we have to trust your memory. Yeah,
Speaker 2: because you didn't link to it. But that was just haste.
Speaker 3: Not it was haste not Given what's happened earlier in
Speaker 3: the season, I would have thought you would have wanted to.
Speaker 1: Have it, what be double checked and find out we're
Speaker 1: fucking wrong again? I don't think so. Why don't we
Speaker 1: move on?
Speaker 3: All right? Good keep going?
Speaker 1: It was called a quote good bet read another strike
Speaker 1: against it in twenty twenty two. Basically, I guess immediately
Speaker 1: Pump Publication three thousand Pictures, a division of Sony, purchased
Speaker 1: the film rights, and I just read an interview with
Speaker 1: Lucy Foley April twenty eighth, twenty twenty five. It's now
Speaker 1: been shifted to a TV project instead of films, so
Speaker 1: it seems like it's still happening.
Speaker 3: Maybe so they're just make it last longer. I don't
Speaker 3: see it.
Speaker 1: All right, Yeah, I don't know that there's enough here
Speaker 1: to be I think she might have said something like, yes,
Speaker 1: I'm such a big fan of only murders in the building.
Speaker 1: It's like the American version of this very story. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: they're different. But I found out from a Goodreads reviewer
Speaker 1: that this kind of book is called a locked Room Mystery,
Speaker 1: which I thought was really cool and at first, I
Speaker 1: wondered if that was because it was all set in
Speaker 1: this apartment building for the most part. She does leave
Speaker 1: it occasionally, but it is mostly set in this apartment building.
Speaker 1: But I found out a locked room mystery is a
Speaker 1: type of crime where the crime in question, typically murder,
Speaker 1: is committed in what appears to be a locked room,
Speaker 1: where the perpetrator would not be able to enter the
Speaker 1: crime scene, commit the crime, and leave undetected.
Speaker 3: So that's a cool I'm confused because, oh, I guess
Speaker 3: I don't want to give away the twist or I
Speaker 3: don't want to go into the twist. Sorry, I yeah,
Speaker 3: I think so. You're right, there was there is a murder.
Speaker 1: But throughout the book you are assuming that Ben was
Speaker 1: murdered in his right.
Speaker 3: But like, I don't know that it was impossible for
Speaker 3: the perpetrator to enter the crime scene because we'd ever
Speaker 3: like see the actual crime till the very end, we
Speaker 3: don't know.
Speaker 1: But it wasn't the door locked when Lucy, like it
Speaker 1: was the thing where it was like the whole room
Speaker 1: was locked from the inside when Ben went missing, right,
Speaker 1: he gets taken out through a like fire place.
Speaker 3: That must be it all right, all right?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm gonna it's to.
Speaker 2: Pay attention to the details.
Speaker 3: I might not remember. But okay, okay, all right, keep looking.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna defend this nameless good reader to the death. Okay.
Speaker 1: The author Lucy Fuley, I'm sure we got into this before,
Speaker 1: but she was an editor at a publishing company before.
Speaker 2: This convenient awfully convened.
Speaker 3: That seems like cheating, but okay, fine, she says herself.
Speaker 1: I came to writing through a love of reading. I
Speaker 1: previously worked with I previously worked with books as a
Speaker 1: fiction editor, a literary agent, a bookseller, to literary Scout,
Speaker 1: literary Scout. It's so funny to me to phrase that, is,
Speaker 1: I previously worked in books with books.
Speaker 3: In this like books is like a human.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like a famous movie star. She I didn't
Speaker 1: know this or I didn't remember it. She wrote three
Speaker 1: historical fiction novels before she wrote the thrillers, which she
Speaker 1: said has credited like those. I think that's cool, and
Speaker 1: I think it like also is a credit to her
Speaker 1: longevity a little bit. Like she said she didn't feel
Speaker 1: as much pressure to follow up her first hit because
Speaker 1: she was like, I already had all these failures and
Speaker 1: I wasn't like an overnight success, Like I didn't just
Speaker 1: come out of the gate with this incredible.
Speaker 3: How old is she? How old?
Speaker 1: I'm not sure?
Speaker 3: Yeah, like when did she fit big? I guess with
Speaker 3: guest we always do like to know that.
Speaker 1: Oh she was born in nineteen eighty six.
Speaker 3: Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, I like that age.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so she like that birth year currently thirty eight
Speaker 1: and the guest List was published in twenty twenty, so okay,
Speaker 1: all right, all right, and she wrote, Remember she wrote
Speaker 1: three books before that, three whole books before that, you
Speaker 1: know what.
Speaker 2: Okay, Okay, that's how some people want to spend their
Speaker 2: lives writing books.
Speaker 1: Fine, She's an Agatha Christie fan. She also likes cats
Speaker 1: books and at Amammy Dumplings. Here's a cat's Oh fair.
Speaker 3: I was ignoring that, I mean, but you know it's fine.
Speaker 1: Here's my issue with Lucy Foley. I guess like I
Speaker 1: always like to dig to find like a weird interview
Speaker 1: from the author, just like something off putting they've said
Speaker 1: something in their Instagram that we can like ridicule, you know,
Speaker 1: or or you know. What often happens is I fall
Speaker 1: in love with them in their Instagram because they have
Speaker 1: a picture of a dog they met one time. They're
Speaker 1: such a good person, which.
Speaker 3: Is and.
Speaker 1: Lucy fully has like nothing that's like even worth commenting
Speaker 1: on in any of her interviews, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: Like everything's so just like good answer neutral that I'm
Speaker 1: almost annoyed about it.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, she worked in publishing, right, so maybe she
Speaker 2: like knows how to do an interview that is not
Speaker 2: going to get y killed.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Like it's almost like she prepared in every way to
Speaker 1: be on this podcast and was like, I'm gonna give
Speaker 1: them nothing, all right.
Speaker 3: I guess we'll just have to make fun of the book.
Speaker 1: Yeah, fine, I like, uh huh right yeah, and then
Speaker 1: I mean I have characters written down, and I do
Speaker 1: have one kind of fun little answer as the author
Speaker 1: twist on answers twisty. Yeah, it is so early to
Speaker 1: sweet tease. But yeah, I don't know. We can just
Speaker 1: get into the book if you if you do it
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 3: Let's see if I have wrote any notes for it,
Speaker 3: or if it's going to be all from top of noggin.
Speaker 2: I'm going nogin. That's that's the brit.
Speaker 3: It looks like I did it is it is going
Speaker 3: to be knocking for me. Uh what maybe I did
Speaker 3: I not even maybe I highlighted things. I'm just sorry.
Speaker 2: I guess I'll we could talk about it.
Speaker 1: So let her spin, let her cook.
Speaker 2: We're from the point of view cook, We're from the
Speaker 2: point of view of Jess. And it's her half brother Ben, right,
Speaker 2: and I guess an interesting thing about their childhood is
Speaker 2: that they were orphans and then he was adopted and
Speaker 2: she wasn't. But there's still all each other have now
Speaker 2: seems it.
Speaker 3: Seems yeah, and he got adopted by rich family and
Speaker 3: she did it. And I feel like there was like
Speaker 3: alluding to her past, but I don't remember ever hearing
Speaker 3: like I was like, oh, was she abused or something?
Speaker 3: But do we ever find out this is where I
Speaker 3: don't or.
Speaker 2: Did I blase that she found the mom who had
Speaker 2: killed herself.
Speaker 1: Well that like fat like discovered the body of Yes.
Speaker 3: So that and that's their actual mom between Ben, yes,
Speaker 3: and so they're not. So she is in the beginning
Speaker 3: of the book, she is it's like really late at night,
Speaker 3: she's showing up at Paris. She stuck like her brother,
Speaker 3: you know, she's basically he's wealthier, than her. She's using him.
Speaker 1: Of the entryway of the building, like just like this
Speaker 1: like wrought iron gate, really cool front door, you know,
Speaker 1: like something she didn't usually experience in her own life.
Speaker 3: Right, And so she's not he's not letting her in.
Speaker 3: So she used to do a few sneakies to get
Speaker 3: through to get into the apartment, which.
Speaker 1: I would have had no problem doing, you guys.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, but her brother, like everything, her brother's stuff
Speaker 3: is all there, which is now which is bad bad
Speaker 3: on the killer, Like why wouldn't you've taken his like
Speaker 3: wallet and keys? Why did they not do that?
Speaker 1: Oh, just to create the suspicion that he was out
Speaker 1: Yeah in the town.
Speaker 3: Seems obvious.
Speaker 2: They didn't know what your name was coming, so they
Speaker 2: didn't know, Like yeah, I probably thought that just even exists. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so maybe they thought they had lots of time.
Speaker 1: Like me with the pain. It's like they're not coming
Speaker 1: out on a Saturday, I guess what. Yes, we are
Speaker 1: in ten minutes.
Speaker 3: Yes, all right, that's fair. I accept that. But yeah,
Speaker 3: so so it's basically just we're following her trying to
Speaker 3: figure out what's going on with their brother. But she's
Speaker 3: also the other thing with jess Is. She like rushed
Speaker 3: leaving her job and life because she was working at
Speaker 3: a bar and the guy hit on her and I
Speaker 3: don't even remember what she did to him, but something
Speaker 3: where she was like, I don't sell the police she
Speaker 3: stole from him, and so she didn't want to go
Speaker 3: to the police because she doesn't want the police looking
Speaker 3: into her. So she's trying to do some investigation without
Speaker 3: getting the police involved, which always goes well.
Speaker 2: And then she does get the police involved because Ben's
Speaker 2: friend in the apartment building is like, I'll help you
Speaker 2: out talk in French. She doesn't know French. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: he sort of takes over and is in charge, and
Speaker 2: that's when you realize Ben Nick is his name. Nick
Speaker 2: is bad because it's very obvious. It's not told to you.
Speaker 2: We're not supposed to figure it out.
Speaker 3: But they're kind of they're kind of they're kind of
Speaker 3: like flirting a lot. There's like a moment when they
Speaker 3: almost kissed. This happens, yes, I'm not saying yes, okay,
Speaker 3: which is weird because we find out that Nick, like
Speaker 3: who is Ben's old college friend and helped him get
Speaker 3: this apartment in Paris, that he kind of like blew.
Speaker 3: He was kind of like had a guessing the crush
Speaker 3: it Ben, he I think there's a lot of reference
Speaker 3: to like, oh, what they did in Amsterdam. They can't
Speaker 3: tell anyone is what they did in Amster And it's
Speaker 3: just that he blew him. Is that was that? It? Okay?
Speaker 3: It just seems like weird to me because I'm like,
Speaker 3: what are we in? You know, yeah, nineteen ninety I don't.
Speaker 1: Know there was murdered Amsterdam.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah. But anyway, so then I was like, this
Speaker 3: is weird. Are you just like into the half sister
Speaker 3: just because you're in you were into the brother and
Speaker 3: you're like, this is as close as I can get.
Speaker 2: And there's all this allusion to Nick's father being a
Speaker 2: bad guy. Yeah, and seems like his big issue was
Speaker 2: he like, at his sixteenth birthday or something, his present
Speaker 2: was a prostitute. That's right, yes, and so that's our first.
Speaker 1: Crime, not good crimes.
Speaker 3: A lot of different but that and he didn't like
Speaker 3: it because he's not because he's straight. Yeah, but still
Speaker 3: could be a thing. Still was rooting for Nick or
Speaker 3: sorry Ben, rooting Nick, Nick and Jess to get together.
Speaker 3: Was rooting for them.
Speaker 1: For them because I knew that Nick was definitely lying
Speaker 1: to the police about jess brothers Ben's disappearing.
Speaker 3: She's she's not perfect, perfect.
Speaker 2: Surefect sure seems a little out of nowhere for me,
Speaker 2: even for just to be thinking about that when your
Speaker 2: brother's missing and you're like going straight.
Speaker 3: From but when are raised, we're so worried, we're scared, like, oh,
Speaker 3: and now we're making out like it happens. Guys, it happens.
Speaker 1: In the books we read, but I don't think it happens,
Speaker 1: you know, And the books are they're always just like
Speaker 1: we're gonna die tonight by having to fight each other
Speaker 1: in this cage match.
Speaker 3: Yeah, first, but fighting and fucking are so close?
Speaker 1: Are they?
Speaker 2: Who says that the books the books?
Speaker 3: Again? Okay, anyway, it didn't work out for them, sadly.
Speaker 3: There was another Who's the other man?
Speaker 1: The other man is Anton Antoine.
Speaker 3: I thought they were this Wait, is that the guy
Speaker 3: he worked for and was like pitching something to.
Speaker 2: Is someone else who lives in the building. He's like
Speaker 2: drunk and.
Speaker 3: Loud and I don't remember him. The building is you.
Speaker 1: That makes sense because here's the thing. Lucy fully introduced
Speaker 1: so many characters into this building and there are a
Speaker 1: lot of them are really similar, and Anton is literally
Speaker 1: his character is just like I'm an alcoholic. And it's
Speaker 1: to the point where we don't even get any chapters
Speaker 1: from his POV because I guess all he would say
Speaker 1: was like, I'm a new grador.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I also thought Nick the old Ben's whole college friend,
Speaker 3: who is you know we should be suspicious of. I
Speaker 3: thought he was the same person as the Ben's editor
Speaker 3: for a while, who I think is Like I guess
Speaker 3: that also confused me.
Speaker 1: We've said that Ben is a journalist who's in Paris, who.
Speaker 3: Lucy does eventually hook up with.
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh yeah, for sure. Sorry, sorry, but Ben is
Speaker 1: a journalist and he's about to crack a big story.
Speaker 1: So there is a little bit of intrigue around, like
Speaker 1: is this joy?
Speaker 3: He's why he went right, And like any good journalist does,
Speaker 3: all that he told this editor was that it's really good.
Speaker 3: You know, it's going to be really good. I'm not
Speaker 3: going to give you any information at a time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's all the only pitch I need. I
Speaker 2: believe it was freelance. Yeah, it wasn't like they knew
Speaker 2: him very well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was silly that he wouldn't have said anything
Speaker 3: but sure, okay, but.
Speaker 2: Fine, but fine, fine ruins the book. If he said
Speaker 2: what the article, then that is a proper love interest
Speaker 2: for Jess. Now, this editor who kind of gets in
Speaker 2: on the mystery, Yeah it has been, He wonders, this
Speaker 2: will make a good story, a little insuld into Jess
Speaker 2: to the extent that, oh, yeah, I remember this.
Speaker 3: Why did she get upset about it?
Speaker 2: She got so upset that then she ran away into
Speaker 2: a big protest and got maced.
Speaker 3: Like the yeah, why I don't know why she was
Speaker 3: upset about it. Honestly, I'm like, uh, he had he
Speaker 3: can have ulterior ulterior motives and still like he's you know,
Speaker 3: it's not his brother, he's not going to be as like.
Speaker 3: It'd be weird if he was as.
Speaker 2: Like, and he's like investing in when you are, who's
Speaker 2: helping to be so upset that you run away in
Speaker 2: a strange city where you don't know where you are.
Speaker 2: It's like, store in the back of your head and
Speaker 2: let him help you get home because you don't know
Speaker 2: where you are, right.
Speaker 3: But I also think she should have it wasn't that
Speaker 3: big of an ideot and then upset about.
Speaker 2: Him quite confusing at that point in the book because
Speaker 2: it was like crooked police were coming after them, but
Speaker 2: also they were in the middle of some unnamed protest.
Speaker 3: Remember were coming Oh yeah.
Speaker 2: I was like, I don't think we needed the background
Speaker 2: of protests, right, just sort of confusing me.
Speaker 1: I assume the French police are very corrupt. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: they're a group to fear.
Speaker 3: So yeah. Sophie as another character who was an older
Speaker 3: woman who looks there was a lot of pov from her.
Speaker 3: I did at the beginning enjoy the switching p o
Speaker 3: vs because it was I'll say that, like because at
Speaker 3: the beginning the way you're like seeing Jess arrive and
Speaker 3: you're seeing all these people notice her or notice the sounds, and.
Speaker 2: It helped if you are like not super paying attention, because.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we were all again and again and.
Speaker 2: Again, right if you were paying attention.
Speaker 3: But it was so for me it worked at the
Speaker 3: beginning that like seeing because we're like, you know, getting
Speaker 3: kind of the same series of events from different angles.
Speaker 3: But then like after that, I was like, this is
Speaker 3: it just was confusing after that, I think, yeah, switching.
Speaker 2: Especially trying to picture parts of the building with its
Speaker 2: multiple secret passageways or whatever the fuck it's like dumb
Speaker 2: waiters that turned into a secret basement or something like.
Speaker 3: Yeah, she had a drawing, but I did an audiobook.
Speaker 1: Really cool. So Sophie's the one that had the really
Speaker 1: cool wine cave downstairs too, right with the old like
Speaker 1: thousand year old bottles of wine.
Speaker 3: Hey, that was also in what was that old person's
Speaker 3: spy book we did just a few weeks.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they had wine cave, came into came in handy
Speaker 2: for a murder.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he.
Speaker 1: Would love to have a wine cave. I have a
Speaker 1: wine pile next to my track.
Speaker 2: Can I feel like I could also keep drinks next
Speaker 2: to the tread.
Speaker 1: I don't like that. I don't like it, but it's
Speaker 1: the only place that we have room.
Speaker 3: Who were we? Who were the like red herrings? Like
Speaker 3: who are we supposed to suspect for a while, because
Speaker 3: I feel like I had no I didn't suspect anyone
Speaker 3: until it was the killer And this is happening, And so.
Speaker 1: I think memispect MEMI because she is drawing Ben in
Speaker 1: the nude from her like apartment.
Speaker 3: Okay, me, Me's the young woman. She's kind of like
Speaker 3: obsessed with him. And then oh, she has paintings where
Speaker 3: she like xed out his eyes.
Speaker 1: Yes, it seems like she's in love with him and
Speaker 1: was like a scorned.
Speaker 3: Oh, I totally forgot about that hole.
Speaker 2: And she side plot had something where like she got
Speaker 2: kicked out of school for painting a teacher or something
Speaker 2: in a similar way.
Speaker 3: I guess she was weird, but it didn't seem like
Speaker 3: that weird to me. I don't know.
Speaker 2: And she was also described as so like slight that
Speaker 2: it's like, how could she kill this yeah hunk? Then
Speaker 2: everyone is a.
Speaker 3: Love and so they set it up I guess so
Speaker 3: that you're like Mimi finds out that Ben, the missing Ben,
Speaker 3: was having an affair with her mother, who is Sophie.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, yes, the older woman in the apartment with
Speaker 1: the wine cave.
Speaker 2: So that's a bit of a twist, is that all
Speaker 2: these people except for Ben who live there are related.
Speaker 3: They're one family, which you don't know at the very beginning,
Speaker 3: just feels like, oh, this is an old couple, and
Speaker 3: then this is me MEI lives with her a friend
Speaker 3: who they don't seem like very good friends really, and yeah, anyway, so.
Speaker 1: They all live in this you know, Paris apartment. So
Speaker 1: immediately I'm like, imagine how wealthy this family is that
Speaker 1: that much real estate?
Speaker 3: They all the entire place, the whole building.
Speaker 2: Yeah, each each of the three children has their own apartment.
Speaker 3: It kind of feels like it's just a house, like
Speaker 3: a big house. They have an extra kitchens.
Speaker 1: But you're probably like, how does Ben fit in all this?
Speaker 3: Then?
Speaker 1: All these people are brothers and sisters with a mommy?
Speaker 3: Is Ben living here?
Speaker 1: I'm doing here? Well, listeners, that's the twist Ben, I.
Speaker 2: Guess, such as that they're all related.
Speaker 1: Well, that was like bdy twist number one. Uh oh,
Speaker 1: Ben's related to you know, he's only Jess his half brother. Well,
Speaker 1: guess what, he's also their half brother?
Speaker 3: Right what?
Speaker 2: I don't think that was that true because wait, I
Speaker 2: don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, since I read the.
Speaker 2: Book, I don't think Ben's there. His friends with me
Speaker 2: from college and because he wants to investigate this family
Speaker 2: because they have that line. But there's something fishy about that.
Speaker 3: He has, like the prostitute business, the all those prostitutes,
Speaker 3: which is how he came.
Speaker 1: The mother died and Jess.
Speaker 3: No, that's how the the stepmother, the Sophie, she was
Speaker 3: a prostitute. That and that and then Mimi was the
Speaker 3: baby of a dead prostitute that they.
Speaker 2: Yes, and they pretended right and is notated.
Speaker 3: Well the way you were saying it, I was like
Speaker 3: wondering where you were going.
Speaker 2: I was to be like, I really there to investigate this.
Speaker 1: I did refresh on the book. Actually I really did.
Speaker 1: And I mean maybe no, no, I think I'm not.
Speaker 3: Look I definitely mis stuff. But that's that would have
Speaker 3: been pretty I think that would have been also like
Speaker 3: why because I don't Yeah, right, But that's not the
Speaker 3: real I think the real the big, real twist is
Speaker 3: that Ben is alive.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, he had lost a lot of blood.
Speaker 3: He was being kept by Sophie right like up in
Speaker 3: the attic or some shit. And but there was a
Speaker 3: dead body, which again was like I hadn't we hadn't seen.
Speaker 3: It's not like we were. The body was seen or
Speaker 3: presented to us in some way early in the book.
Speaker 2: No, Like it was confusing. That was confusing the other characters.
Speaker 2: They were like what Nick was like, what Ben's alive?
Speaker 3: My big son. Nick thought he was helping his family
Speaker 3: hide the fact that Ben was murdered by Mimi. But
Speaker 3: really me, me and Sophie murdered that their dad and husband.
Speaker 2: So and then let's lay it out not in the
Speaker 2: order of the book.
Speaker 3: Sure, sure, go ahead, go So.
Speaker 2: Ben reveals or is about to reveal his draft on
Speaker 2: his computer that he is that the wine company is
Speaker 2: really prostitution and very illegal, very bad. Then Mimi finds
Speaker 2: it because she's obsessed with him and she likes to
Speaker 2: hang out in his apartment when he's not there, I guess,
Speaker 2: and she sends it to Nick, who sends it to
Speaker 2: the dad, who's a creep. Then the dad is basically
Speaker 2: in the process of murdering Ben, and Mimi sees it
Speaker 2: through the window and goes and kills the dad because.
Speaker 3: She still loves Ben.
Speaker 2: She loves Then the mom is like, let's okay, Ben's alive,
Speaker 2: he's gonna survive this. Let's put him in the attic
Speaker 2: to stay alive. Wrap up your dad in a sheet,
Speaker 2: and get your big strong brothers to bury him. And
Speaker 2: for some reason, I don't remember remember why.
Speaker 3: I don't remember why.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was just one line where Sophie the mom
Speaker 2: was like, they would only help if they thought it
Speaker 2: was Ben. Was like the explanation which I don't know
Speaker 2: if it's truly. Both seem to have complicated relationships with
Speaker 2: their father.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it seems like they may have been okay if
Speaker 3: she was like, we're gonna split the money from his
Speaker 3: yeah death, they I feel like they would have done it,
Speaker 3: but instead she was like, let me make this complicated
Speaker 3: by lying and then also keeping instead of telling Ben
Speaker 3: to get out here or like do something, be like
Speaker 3: I to keep him prisoner. Just seemed crazy. Yeah, where
Speaker 3: it was like their character wasn't crazy before, but now
Speaker 3: they're crazy.
Speaker 2: So the brothers think that the little sister killed Ben.
Speaker 2: Is that accurate?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 2: Yes, And then and she thinks that they'll help for
Speaker 2: some reason, even they're not like blood related to the
Speaker 2: little sister. It's like a.
Speaker 3: Step yeah, but they still think family. It's family. And
Speaker 3: she pretends to be the dad too.
Speaker 2: It was alive, and that the dad is like do this.
Speaker 3: Yes, they're getting like texts or something from the dad,
Speaker 3: but it's really Sophie who's so clever. It was for
Speaker 3: reason complication for that and wow, it was just I
Speaker 3: didn't care when they got to this. I did not
Speaker 3: care at all. That's how I felt about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like yeah, it was like too late. If you
Speaker 2: had too late, you already lost me.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was gone. I don't care. Also think so
Speaker 3: much about I feel like Jess is the main character,
Speaker 3: but so much of it was like about this family
Speaker 3: who I didn't care about or like that. It was
Speaker 3: almost disappointing, like I would have rather the mystery somehow
Speaker 3: become personal with Jess or I don't know, somehow. The
Speaker 3: only thing Jess did was like such a character because
Speaker 3: at some point she talked to one of the prostitutes
Speaker 3: and she was like, oh, my brother Ben is going
Speaker 3: to write when he writes this article, they're going to
Speaker 3: shut down this prostitution ring, and those poor prostitutes, well,
Speaker 3: I'm going to make sure that Sophie sends the money.
Speaker 3: And that was it.
Speaker 2: That was part of like the hesitance to publish the article.
Speaker 2: I was like, then, what were these poor prostitutes do
Speaker 2: when we revealed it there, I'm like.
Speaker 1: What's what's their lives are going to change so much?
Speaker 3: And there was like the watchwoman, the or the oh
Speaker 3: totally forgot about the whole thing was this is a
Speaker 3: big yeah, So why was she keeping why was she
Speaker 3: keeping secrets?
Speaker 1: The concierge was she was not tex.
Speaker 3: She was because kind of her daughter was one of
Speaker 3: the prostitutes who had the baby. So she is technically
Speaker 3: Mimi's true grandmother, but Mamie does not know that.
Speaker 2: And the story of the that dead prostitute was she
Speaker 2: went to Paris to be a dancer and they told
Speaker 2: her she would be a dancer, but then they made
Speaker 2: her be a prostitute and she was pregnant. She and
Speaker 2: she died before the grandmother came to help her with
Speaker 2: the pregnancy. And then somehow she got a job.
Speaker 3: As a.
Speaker 2: And then she sticks around watching and really helping her granddaughter,
Speaker 2: but looking at her, and she warns just in a
Speaker 2: way where she doesn't just I feel like if you
Speaker 2: had just told just what happened, these people being so
Speaker 2: cryptic and weird about it. If you're warning her, don't
Speaker 2: you explain what the danger is?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm that apartment building. Too many secret places for
Speaker 3: people to come spy and look looking at you like
Speaker 3: kind of creepy.
Speaker 2: It was too I couldn't picture it for like, and
Speaker 2: I feel like there were multiple like two helloween Yeah,
Speaker 2: oh my god.
Speaker 3: It's like roof feed. But then it was by someone
Speaker 3: who roofed her. I don't even remember. I just remember it.
Speaker 2: Was like, we don't know who rooffeeder, but a nice
Speaker 2: guy like put bed or something.
Speaker 3: That's right.
Speaker 1: I thought it was like Sophie that oh I think later, No, no,
Speaker 1: I think it was me.
Speaker 3: I think it was me meih roofie her, but she
Speaker 3: at the time thought it was some guy. But the
Speaker 3: guy actually right right?
Speaker 2: But then was there a part that was like Memei's
Speaker 2: imagines or were they talking about an old Halloween party
Speaker 2: where Ben was.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that was It was like it was
Speaker 3: her flashback because sometimes they okay, well that was too
Speaker 3: many basement parties. I guess. I'm like, Okay, I can't
Speaker 3: imagine this was the space I look.
Speaker 2: Like because it was supposed to be so out of
Speaker 2: character for me, me to be dressing up for a
Speaker 2: Halloween party when she's yeah, and then she goes she
Speaker 2: did like a baby is supposed to be so out
Speaker 2: of character, but she.
Speaker 3: And then she goes and buys lingerie and her dad
Speaker 3: calls her a whore or I don't even know what
Speaker 3: was I mean it was that was all fucked up.
Speaker 3: The way she was like nineteen, It's like, yeah, let
Speaker 3: her live, I guess, kill him and move on.
Speaker 2: She did, all right.
Speaker 3: I don't know where I what are some good quotes
Speaker 3: from this? Are there? Any? Oh?
Speaker 1: I wrote down one which was he smiles, but it
Speaker 1: doesn't reach his eyes. Love one of those? Love A
Speaker 1: good one of those. You know you're in a great book.
Speaker 3: It's so hard to do that though, for to smile,
Speaker 3: and I'm sure, yeah, it's tell you what a.
Speaker 1: Smile, Clara can do it.
Speaker 2: Let's take that's probably because the compliment.
Speaker 1: Claren is so good. Let's take pictures of ourselves in
Speaker 1: the next week and we'll post them to Patreon and
Speaker 1: ask everybody else to too. And it's like, whoever has
Speaker 1: the best smile to reach their eyes?
Speaker 3: Okay?
Speaker 1: Your enthusiasm?
Speaker 3: Sorry to see if I had anything good?
Speaker 2: And I think, oh uh, John, did you use GPT
Speaker 2: to write some of the outline because the characters each
Speaker 2: have like a really long description.
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 1: I pulled the character descriptions from bits and places online,
Speaker 1: just like as reminders of like who everybody was, but
Speaker 1: they're actually cobbled together.
Speaker 2: Got you, got you?
Speaker 1: Gotcha?
Speaker 2: Okay, Sorry for the accusation.
Speaker 1: Wow do you think chat GPT came up? With uh
Speaker 1: antoine alcoholic neighbor just drunk. No, not that one.
Speaker 2: Nimi a young woman who wants to be part of
Speaker 2: something exciting and social, but is treated as a child
Speaker 2: and remains emotionally immature. I thought, I thought.
Speaker 1: That was beautiful. Yeah, I understand that. Oh there is
Speaker 1: an am dash here too. Hey maybe somebody else's GPT.
Speaker 2: I'm excited about this answer is the only thing, okay,
Speaker 2: because it's something new.
Speaker 1: Yes, this is new, so we can go to that
Speaker 1: for a minute. I was one of the places I
Speaker 1: was reading about the Paris apartment was this place called
Speaker 1: shelf reflection dot com and it's like a book blog. Okay,
Speaker 1: shelf reflection dot com and uh I I was reading
Speaker 1: this woman's review and then at the very bottom it
Speaker 1: said content advisory many many F words, S words, C words,
Speaker 1: et cetera, sexual content, multiple LGBTQ characters. And I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: maybe I'll put that. Then I was like, wait a second,
Speaker 1: content advisory multiple. I don't know persons, so I instantly
Speaker 1: was just like, I want to know more about this person.
Speaker 1: So I want you guys, the answer is the author
Speaker 1: is just basically tell me about yourself and whoever is
Speaker 1: the closest wins like, I want you to tell me
Speaker 1: who you are about about the blog author? Yeah, who
Speaker 1: you are, where you live, what your interests are? Okay,
Speaker 1: because I instantly clicked on about me and I know
Speaker 1: the answer to these things. So you are the author
Speaker 1: of shelf reflection dot com and you reviewed this book
Speaker 1: and you had very mixed and nuanced thoughts about it,
Speaker 1: and then at the very end you put a content
Speaker 1: advisory that there were a lot of lgbt Q characters
Speaker 1: in this book. Tell me about yourself.
Speaker 2: Hi, my name is Karen. Let's see. I live in
Speaker 2: Let's go with Ohio, and I'm on my You just
Speaker 2: caught me on my way to a church function and
Speaker 2: I'm bringing some uh fried chicken that I picked up
Speaker 2: at the store. And i'm coming from actually, let me
Speaker 2: see where am I coming from? Oh it was my
Speaker 2: son's football game. As you can see, I have this
Speaker 2: cold box here with orange slices.
Speaker 3: And.
Speaker 1: Oh, it's so nice to meet you, Karen.
Speaker 2: And you as well, assuming you live in where? New
Speaker 2: York City?
Speaker 1: New York City? Yes, I live in Brooklyn.
Speaker 2: Okay, are you all right, sweetheart?
Speaker 1: Yes, I'm thank you. Yes, Having that reaction about where
Speaker 1: I live every time makes me feel angry at.
Speaker 2: You every time.
Speaker 3: Every time.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you, it was wonderful talking with you, I think.
Speaker 3: Wait.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's shelf reflection author. Thank you for your review
Speaker 1: of The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. Now you know,
Speaker 1: I'd like to take a minute to get.
Speaker 3: To know you. Hi. My name is Diane. I live
Speaker 3: in Idaho, but yes you can tell from my accent.
Speaker 3: I'm not from around there, I guess. And my friend
Speaker 3: I'm kind of, uh the wild one, you know. Me
Speaker 3: and the ladies in the neighborhood. Sometimes we do these
Speaker 3: stoop sits where we have wine coolers, uh, once the
Speaker 3: kids go to bed at seven, and uh, you know,
Speaker 3: I like to read books that do have some sexual
Speaker 3: content in them, but I always make sure that people
Speaker 3: know what they're getting into, because you know, people have
Speaker 3: different belief systems and the e and you know I so, yeah,
Speaker 3: I guess that's about me. I like to roller blade,
Speaker 3: I like to snowshoe.
Speaker 1: And different seat to be a depending on.
Speaker 3: The season, of course. And I am on my my
Speaker 3: little my little daughter, like little daughter Olivia, I am
Speaker 3: on her on the PTO for her school of course.
Speaker 1: Oh well, that's just lovely. I guess real quick.
Speaker 3: I don't like gay people. Great.
Speaker 1: You know it's really neck and neck on both of you.
Speaker 2: Are you kidding me?
Speaker 1: It's hard. I may have to come down to.
Speaker 3: Karen.
Speaker 1: How many children do you have?
Speaker 2: Did you say three?
Speaker 3: Three? And well I just mentioned one that doesn't You
Speaker 3: don't really know how many kids?
Speaker 1: What was your name against Diane?
Speaker 3: Diane? How many children? Fourteen?
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, I'll give it to Sarah because she
Speaker 1: said the number four before she said teen. Oh, here's
Speaker 1: the bio of this.
Speaker 2: I forgot that was who was closest and not just you,
Speaker 2: like the kidding me closest without going over.
Speaker 1: Okay, we're getting really intense eye contact in her author
Speaker 1: photo in a way that scares me and her about me.
Speaker 1: My name is Brittany. I am wife to a giant,
Speaker 1: mother to four littles eight and under, living in the
Speaker 1: paradise known as Iowa, and devouring books by the minute.
Speaker 3: It's weird. We had Ohio, Idaho and it was Iowa.
Speaker 3: We were kind of I feel like we were.
Speaker 1: You were right there between the two of you, just kidding.
Speaker 1: She's so she's funny, you guys just kidding. Did you
Speaker 1: read that last sentence? I have a freaking family and
Speaker 1: take care of Most of my minutes are not my own.
Speaker 1: Though my free time is limited by the grace of God,
Speaker 1: I still pound about fifty books a year, heavy on
Speaker 1: the Christian theology, thriller, suspense, y a historical fiction.
Speaker 2: Okay, so I mentioned kidding me that.
Speaker 3: I'm also pound pounds pounds them, which sounds like great.
Speaker 1: If I'm not reading, you might find me doing artsy
Speaker 1: things like painting, cross stitching. Diamond we're building.
Speaker 2: And then she says, it's like a little pin kind
Speaker 2: of thing where you like pick up a little sequin essentially.
Speaker 3: And paint by numbers, like when you bedazzle things that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it'll be. It'll be like a pink
Speaker 2: by numbers picture. I think at least this is what
Speaker 2: my niece did at one.
Speaker 3: Point, pin diamond.
Speaker 2: Shiny. I it's paint by numbers, but shiny.
Speaker 3: Okay, all right, interesting, I've never heard of this, you're
Speaker 3: I see you're right. Paint by numbers for children, for children?
Speaker 3: Oh my god, what can I find them?
Speaker 1: Right now?
Speaker 3: I want to try this really bad. I want to
Speaker 3: do this so fucking bad.
Speaker 1: I do I do legos. Maybe I would enjoy this too.
Speaker 3: It seems like it could be really soon.
Speaker 2: This is going in and unexpected.
Speaker 1: It seems like if you're relaxing and you could kind.
Speaker 3: Of kind of shut your brain down, don't know, you
Speaker 3: can think about anything. You're just trying to put a
Speaker 3: little gem dot, a tiny gem dot on a particular place,
Speaker 3: on a spot. Yeah, it seems nice.
Speaker 1: You can you could dry, you can meet at the moon,
Speaker 1: or you a little swimming in water.
Speaker 3: That's fun.
Speaker 1: You could be a white kids and audio coasters.
Speaker 3: I'm going to order these right now.
Speaker 2: Edits for the cats. Edit this out. It's embarrassing, all right?
Speaker 3: Where were we?
Speaker 2: And John's not even talking anymore because she's.
Speaker 1: Looking to thread but yes, looking at either of.
Speaker 2: Them for acknowledgment of like what I was saying, where
Speaker 2: they're both not all right, they're not looking at the
Speaker 2: Sorry Clara.
Speaker 1: There was a bear swimming in water and it was really.
Speaker 2: Nice again in the paint by numbers but shining color.
Speaker 3: After I've been inspired work on my lego.
Speaker 2: All right, all right, what's her Let's see what's our
Speaker 2: next thing? Good Reads.
Speaker 1: Let's get out of here, we got good Reads, we
Speaker 1: got hay Raids, and let's let's call it again. I
Speaker 1: have a few good reads ready to go.
Speaker 2: I can't believe I didn't win this.
Speaker 3: No, you didn't. Okay.
Speaker 1: So Terria says, this is not your typical mystery thriller.
Speaker 1: It doesn't have that many mind blowing, chilling and unexpected
Speaker 1: plot twists. But I was so invested in the family
Speaker 1: drama and all the characters. The ending was a bit
Speaker 1: too abrupt.
Speaker 2: That's a five star, five stars.
Speaker 1: And then I got a good book. I know, then, Michelle,
Speaker 1: the date on this is important. May twenty seven, twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two. I've seen so many mixed reviews of this book.
Speaker 1: Why question mark exclamation mark, question mark exclamation mark. I
Speaker 1: loved it. Four of you coming.
Speaker 3: I guess it could still be yeah we just wait,
Speaker 3: I wait, yeah going.
Speaker 1: And then I really liked this one. Rita Tomas and
Speaker 1: I believe she is Italian and her review was Intrigante,
Speaker 1: missterioso cativante, which was fun to read because it just
Speaker 1: is clearly intriguing, mysterious and captivating in another language. Intrigante,
Speaker 1: missterioso cativante.
Speaker 2: Good pronunciation, and so she reading a translation.
Speaker 1: Well, this book has been translated.
Speaker 2: To Maybe the translation was better because they don't feel like, yeah,
Speaker 2: the boring book.
Speaker 3: That I read.
Speaker 1: Oh it's Portuguese. By the way, that's not Italian.
Speaker 3: Embarrassing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that is embarrassing for you.
Speaker 3: For you, I did it so you could.
Speaker 1: I set you up to call me out and set
Speaker 1: you up for a win, and you didn't take it.
Speaker 1: You didn't take the dunk.
Speaker 3: What was the dunk? What did you want to?
Speaker 2: You made a mistake.
Speaker 1: I was gonna be like, it's Italian. Then you'd be like, no,
Speaker 1: it's Portuguese.
Speaker 2: You're trying to make it.
Speaker 1: To That doesn't make sense.
Speaker 2: We're not your language.
Speaker 3: Because majors over here, it's a nice book club. You both.
Speaker 1: Oh no, that was Sabrina Claire. You're an English major.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but you're the one who does like books and
Speaker 2: other languages and still studies, like let me just.
Speaker 3: For fun, what I mean, read and watch something in Spanish.
Speaker 3: That's what that's that's that's you.
Speaker 2: That's what you do. You're the language person.
Speaker 1: And also, I actually got my Portuguese to you also
Speaker 1: have a degree in Portuguese.
Speaker 2: I forgot.
Speaker 1: Actually it was a fraudulary degree in Portuguese. I didn't
Speaker 1: even recognize the language.
Speaker 3: All right, all right, okay, let's keep going with that happened.
Speaker 3: Now we got to do Okay, all hate rights.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. For me, I'm gonna go two.
Speaker 3: Out of five.
Speaker 2: Boring, confusing, but not offensive to me.
Speaker 3: Yeah, she's really mean about fat people in it, though.
Speaker 2: It's not offensive to me. Ruined body, and maybe it
Speaker 2: should be, but it's not.
Speaker 1: So this book was so unforgett unforgettable. It was so
Speaker 1: forgettable when I read it. You might notice I never
Speaker 1: recommended it on the cast. I never talked about it,
Speaker 1: like I had to like reflect my jota. This is
Speaker 1: the second time you read it. For some reason, didn't
Speaker 1: understand that. I feel completely not listening to this entire
Speaker 1: episode you.
Speaker 3: Were saying about. I just thought you like wanted to
Speaker 3: read it, and you like got it from the library,
Speaker 3: but you didn't actually read it till now. I read it.
Speaker 1: I read it alone in the privacy of okay, and
Speaker 1: you liked never mentioned it to any of you.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 1: No, I didn't really like it, but I didn't really
Speaker 1: hate it. It's just it was nothing, and like I,
Speaker 1: I mean, I didn't even remember that. It doesn't end
Speaker 1: with a whole big incest thing where Ben.
Speaker 3: Is child, so like.
Speaker 1: Ben was a child, well remember she thought no, but
Speaker 1: like Mimi was, Oh.
Speaker 3: You're right, that would have been in the blowing. The
Speaker 3: blowing of the penis would have certainly been in had
Speaker 3: been a half.
Speaker 1: Growing, definitely would have been a little bit of incest.
Speaker 2: I didn't even remember that this thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I have to dock the money for that.
Speaker 1: So it would have been probably a three. But because
Speaker 1: I didn't remember that the thing I made up didn't happen,
Speaker 1: it's got to be a two.
Speaker 3: There was no incest, gotcha. So the lack of incests
Speaker 3: bumped it from three to two. I'm gonna give this
Speaker 3: a three out of five. It was down the middle
Speaker 3: for me. It wasn't like horrible to read. It just
Speaker 3: wasn't that memorable. I liked the beginning. I really did
Speaker 3: like the beginning. I was like, Oh, this is gonna
Speaker 3: be fun, and I thought, oh, why is would they
Speaker 3: send this to us? This is gonna be good and
Speaker 3: I'm gonna enjoy it. But no, Then I kept reading
Speaker 3: and I was like, Okay, I get it.
Speaker 2: I see.
Speaker 3: So yeah, three out of five they're better. What are
Speaker 3: what are these? Locked door mister? What are we calling this?
Speaker 3: Was it a locker room? I'm sure there are better
Speaker 3: locked room mysteries you can read. Unless you really like
Speaker 3: daddies who are mean to their gay sons, and maybe
Speaker 3: this one's for you, okay.
Speaker 1: Brittany, No, she would prefer that they didn't exist at all. Cool,
Speaker 1: So the hate raids little fucker gonna be a go
Speaker 1: ahead from me to vote for Sarah for uh right
Speaker 1: at the end, and an incredible move cemented her role
Speaker 1: as little fucker by not listening to me this entire
Speaker 1: episode that I think this is a pleasure raid pleasure
Speaker 1: read years ago.
Speaker 3: This feels like a defense at least a year ago.
Speaker 1: No, it's not. It's just real defense. It's offense.
Speaker 2: Mine is Jonah because I didn't win the game, even though.
Speaker 3: I really Yeah, this is why I feel think you
Speaker 3: knew that that was going to happen, So yeah, mine,
Speaker 3: mine's obviously Johanna.
Speaker 2: Why you can do it for the same reason and.
Speaker 3: You know why, Yeah, it could be the same reason.
Speaker 3: But also it's like, because it was really funny that
Speaker 3: she was like excited to talk about a twist that
Speaker 3: she made.
Speaker 1: Actually that's a good reason, was like, all right, are
Speaker 1: we ready to reveal you guys.
Speaker 3: Also, because she didn't link to the New York Times
Speaker 3: bestseller list in her heline, there you go.
Speaker 1: All right, I don't have a good book wreck, but
Speaker 1: I do have a little interesting fact for people if
Speaker 1: you want, if you're not sure what to do now
Speaker 1: that the cast is ending, not like forever, just this episode,
Speaker 1: go ahead and look into the Mount Saint Helen's eruption
Speaker 1: and how many people claim that they treated big feet
Speaker 1: that were injured in that eruption. That's a little something. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm totally unrelated, but I've really been reading about big
Speaker 1: feet recently, and a lot of paramedics claim they have
Speaker 1: PTSD from treating big feet that were injured in the
Speaker 1: Mount Saint Helen's eruption.
Speaker 3: Big like large a large foot like big foot. Okay, Okay,
Speaker 3: I didn't there's that agreement in the community if it's
Speaker 3: big feet or big foots.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's really seems like.
Speaker 3: I thought you were talking about like there had been
Speaker 3: injuries from it, and but only to people who had
Speaker 3: larger feet that why would that be people with big
Speaker 3: feet were injured at a higher rate. Hmm, and I
Speaker 3: didn't care died.
Speaker 1: St Helen's erupted and no one's talking about it.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna move on. Yeah, I gotta have this. Next.
Speaker 3: Our last and final book for the season is The
Speaker 3: rom Commerce by Catherine Center.
Speaker 1: Another repeat offender, Another club.
Speaker 3: Okay, so excited for that one. We are Mean book Club.
Speaker 3: You can find us on all the socials. Mean book Club.
Speaker 3: Please check out our patreon. Become a patron. You'll get
Speaker 3: these episodes without any ads. Wouldn't that be lovely? And
Speaker 3: also we will give you bonus stuff bonus. I guess
Speaker 3: we should record a bonus something for them. Huh, we're
Speaker 3: going to give you a real tree. We'll figure it out.
Speaker 3: Maybe the bonus will be Sabrina talking about all eight
Speaker 3: books this season just eight hours that, you know what?
Speaker 3: That would probably bring some people to the patreon.
Speaker 1: I bet I've gotten a lot of complaints that there
Speaker 1: hasn't been.
Speaker 3: So yeah, my mom my mom asked, She was like,
Speaker 3: what's going on?
Speaker 1: What's the drama book?
Speaker 3: She is busy with work, She's busy, but she's soon
Speaker 3: likes us. She said she's worthy thinks.
Speaker 2: Understand. It seems like she.
Speaker 3: Said, don't call her. I understand. Yeah, she did change.
Speaker 3: She did change her number, though, didn't she Because I've
Speaker 3: been I haven't been getting any responses right because she
Speaker 3: got a new number.
Speaker 2: I feel like there's something on with her phone where
Speaker 2: you have to text, like a couple of times.
Speaker 1: Question and that I'm respecting her privacy right now, like
Speaker 1: she asked me to. And she said, if there's anything
Speaker 1: that she knows how to reach me.
Speaker 3: All right, Yes, we all miss Sabrina. Hopefully we'll get
Speaker 3: her back.
Speaker 1: Yes, were she said she's definitely here for the finale.
Speaker 1: She said, quote me on it.
Speaker 2: So your mom is a listener.
Speaker 3: I guess I don't know how often she listens.
Speaker 1: That's nice. Must be nice well enough to know that
Speaker 1: she also.
Speaker 3: Could have been just listening to the beginning. She could
Speaker 3: have listened and heard there was no Suprians just turns
Speaker 3: it off every episode.
Speaker 2: Turned it off and then immediately texted you what the
Speaker 2: fun if.
Speaker 1: You want to leave us a five star review saying
Speaker 1: how angry you are that Sabrina hasn't been here, I
Speaker 1: would love that, just like lay in the five star review. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that oh, my god, that would make me feel
Speaker 1: so good.
Speaker 3: Look, and you know, Sabrina is the only one among
Speaker 3: us that doesn't have children, so I I'm you know.
Speaker 2: You might have noticed that my voice sounds sick on
Speaker 2: every single podcast.
Speaker 3: I'm still here, you know, naked kids running the background,
Speaker 3: all right, but I think we're good. We'll talk to
Speaker 3: you next time. Hi,