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stephanieluxton's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I didn't really do my research before starting this book so that was my first error. The only other book I've read by this author is Zerostrata and I absolutely LOVED that one so I was hoping this book would be similar bizarre and I guess it kind of is?
This book is about Jack, a mostly normal dude who returns home from getting takeout to find his girlfriend, Gina, is missing. He gets a call from the kidnapper who says he has 24 hours to find them before they'll disappear forever and that he will torture and kill her if Jack goes to the police.
I think this was almost a good book but I was really thrown off by the amount of sexual violence and rape. It did very little for the plot. I suppose you could argue that it increased the urgency for Jack to find Gina, but that same urgency could have been achieved with threats. It was the level of explicit you'd expect from extreme horror which just wasn't what I was expecting or wanting from this book.
Anyways, as Jack involves other people and starts to unravel the mystery, the bizarre magical realism kicks in and has a very similar vibe to The Boy and The Heron. This aspect of the book was really interesting and I was there was more of a focus on the bizarre magical parts and less on the violence. I'm not going to elaborate because I don't want to spoil it.
I think the beginning of the book was too slow and the second half went by too quickly. In the end, we are left with a lot of questions. I wish Gina's character was a bit more interesting. She was almost super interesting but all the build up doesn't really lead to anything. I am not a huge fan of the strong independent woman with plot armour trope, but I do wish Gina had put up more of a fight. I didn't feel very empowered while reading this book. It's sad and makes you feel a little sick watching what's happening to her for basically no reason.
This had a lot of potential but it just didn't do it for me.
This book is about Jack, a mostly normal dude who returns home from getting takeout to find his girlfriend, Gina, is missing. He gets a call from the kidnapper who says he has 24 hours to find them before they'll disappear forever and that he will torture and kill her if Jack goes to the police.
I think this was almost a good book but I was really thrown off by the amount of sexual violence and rape. It did very little for the plot. I suppose you could argue that it increased the urgency for Jack to find Gina, but that same urgency could have been achieved with threats. It was the level of explicit you'd expect from extreme horror which just wasn't what I was expecting or wanting from this book.
Anyways, as Jack involves other people and starts to unravel the mystery, the bizarre magical realism kicks in and has a very similar vibe to The Boy and The Heron. This aspect of the book was really interesting and I was there was more of a focus on the bizarre magical parts and less on the violence. I'm not going to elaborate because I don't want to spoil it.
I think the beginning of the book was too slow and the second half went by too quickly. In the end, we are left with a lot of questions. I wish Gina's character was a bit more interesting. She was almost super interesting but all the build up doesn't really lead to anything. I am not a huge fan of the strong independent woman with plot armour trope, but I do wish Gina had put up more of a fight. I didn't feel very empowered while reading this book. It's sad and makes you feel a little sick watching what's happening to her for basically no reason.
This had a lot of potential but it just didn't do it for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Violence, Sexual harassment, Death, Cursing, and Blood
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