Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Pilvilinna

I really enjoyed this book. Like thoroughly enjoyed. There were twists and surprises I didn’t expect, and I adored how everything- truly everything- came back full circle. I loved the romance and the two options we were given for love interests. I adored the scenery and setting and the descriptions of the Swiss alps in wintertime can’t be beat.
I want to purchase a physical copy for myself so I can reread this and recommend it to everyone.
I love Unbelievably Greedy Gus and Kleptomaniac Gus with my whole heart.

Content Warnings

arieslofi's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

i'm going to start with a small preface: i do understand why others would like this book. i do understand why people think this is a nice, light, comforting read. it's a no brainer, it's virtually got no stakes whatsoever, it's a ya with a love triangle. it's mindless fun. i get it! i like mindless fun too! good mourning by mgk and mod sun is one of my favorite movies!
that being said: this book is utter shit.
for starters, it's got a larger ensemble than it can possibly handle. you're writing a book for tweens, not the next agatha christie novel! when we got to the twist, i genuinely couldn't care because, with such a big cast, these two characters are virtually meaningless. they hold nothing for me.
speaking of, the characters are all so two dimensional it's not even funny. the amount of internalized misogyny coming from our main character is utterly insane, especially considering this is a book for TEENS(!!!) and came out in 2017. were we not better then? did we genuinely think a good female character shits on others for no reason other than jealousy and insecurity? you guys talk shit about twilight and bella being a "mary sue" but at least she was a girl respecter! the ensemble in general just sucks, it's spread too thin and the silly nicknames for the two brothers just made me sigh. i know this isn't for adults, but it truly did not feel endearing, just childish.
the two love interests are the classic brooding and sarcastic older guy and the sweet and protective same aged friend, which is just boring. nothing about them seemed interesting to me, and their chemistry with sophie was nonexistent. the forced moments of jealous banter were also just cringeworthy, nothing new or even plausible.
the plot itself is... something. it starts as a completely nonthreatening book, then i guess they told the author it wasn't going to sell well, so she had to throw in thriller elements that are boring and uninteresting, and then a thriller ending that is boring and uninteresting.
this also might be because of the translation, but the writing itself was pure garbage. why are there constant cliffhanger endings to the chapters? this isn't goosebumps. why is there constant lampshading that convinces me the author shoehorned the thriller aspects after her editor told her to? why is some of the dialogue so forced and unrealistic? who the fuck is pierre? literally who is that? i never went back to check because that's not my fucking job! it's your job to make me remember a character if you're going to make him be in the twist ending! which was ass, by the way. you can tell it's coming from miles away, and i'm not even a big thriller/mystery reader anymore.
tl;dr: too big of an ensemble, characters that are too shallow, writing that is too juvenile and borderline childish, cringeworthy dialogue and interactions. simply put, a waste of a whole month and space in my phone!
but it wasn't red white and royal blue, so it gets a pass for that. it could be worse!

Content Warnings

leofro's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Content Warnings

silversparkles50's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

musicalpopcorn's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Follow Sophie is she works through the day to day tasks of working in a Swiss hotel with a large number of unpleasant people and the occasional major crime.

I will admit I am not very much interested in this kind of book to begin with, so maybe I’m coming down a little harshly, but I found this book to be predictable, weirdly slow for such a fluffy story, and at times massively boring. The story didn’t pick up until quite a distance into the book and up until that point it was mostly descriptions of working in a hotel. I can’t imagine feeling entertained by the first half of the book.

But I made it through and did find myself engaged by the end, enough to at least finish it. I suppose I would rate it 2.5 stars, but that does feel somewhat generous.

Content Warnings

itsreirei's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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