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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
I am a public librarian and received an advanced listener copy courtesy of libro.fm.
At its heart, this is a book about trauma and how it changes a person. Our protagonist, Sayers (Saye) Wayte is a privileged rich kid who lords over the social scene at his school and takes all he has for granted. Nothing much matters to him because he knows a life of comfort and ease has been planned out for him. He is often rude and even cruel to his peers.
The tables turn when Saye is abducted by a paranoid conspiracy theorist who believes Saye to be his long lost son. As days turn to weeks and months in captivity, Saye's sense of self erodes until he comes to think of himself as his captor's son, and his captor as his father. He regresses, losing the prideful sixteen-year-old and becoming the meek boy he needs to be to have even a chance at surviving. The narrative here is well written to reflect the time warping effect Saye experiences in the absence of normal reference points. Can Saye escape before he loses himself completely?
What I loved most about this novel is that it doesn't end when Saye is rescued, and the author devotes a large chunk of the narrative that follows to the rocky road to recovery. We get to see a lot of character growth and Saye has a real arc; through trial by fire, he comes out the other side a more caring person who appreciates all he took for granted before. I won't say too much about his friendships to avoid spoiling anything, but they play a huge role in his character development and recovery, and we get to see how they motivate him to live his life differently.
This was a compelling psychological thriller, a harrowing tale, and well-read by narrator Andrew J. Andersen. The attention to detail and psychological underpinnings of trauma make it a thoroughly believable story. Despite being very heavy, it is well balanced with moments of humor and love. I highly recommend this novel.
At its heart, this is a book about trauma and how it changes a person. Our protagonist, Sayers (Saye) Wayte is a privileged rich kid who lords over the social scene at his school and takes all he has for granted. Nothing much matters to him because he knows a life of comfort and ease has been planned out for him. He is often rude and even cruel to his peers.
The tables turn when Saye is abducted by a paranoid conspiracy theorist who believes Saye to be his long lost son. As days turn to weeks and months in captivity, Saye's sense of self erodes until he comes to think of himself as his captor's son, and his captor as his father. He regresses, losing the prideful sixteen-year-old and becoming the meek boy he needs to be to have even a chance at surviving. The narrative here is well written to reflect the time warping effect Saye experiences in the absence of normal reference points. Can Saye escape before he loses himself completely?
What I loved most about this novel is that it doesn't end when Saye is rescued, and the author devotes a large chunk of the narrative that follows to the rocky road to recovery. We get to see a lot of character growth and Saye has a real arc; through trial by fire, he comes out the other side a more caring person who appreciates all he took for granted before. I won't say too much about his friendships to avoid spoiling anything, but they play a huge role in his character development and recovery, and we get to see how they motivate him to live his life differently.
This was a compelling psychological thriller, a harrowing tale, and well-read by narrator Andrew J. Andersen. The attention to detail and psychological underpinnings of trauma make it a thoroughly believable story. Despite being very heavy, it is well balanced with moments of humor and love. I highly recommend this novel.
Sayers has everything. He lives a life of complete luxury, to the point that because he never wants for anything, he doesn’t really bother to want anything. He just sort of floats along. At sixteen, life is just kind of happening to him… but he doesn’t even realize it.
When he is kidnapped by a man who tells him that his life that he has lived isn’t really his life, that none of it is true, Sayers begins to lose himself.
This is truly an exploration of trauma. It’s how you suffer, how you cope and how you live through. This was incredibly difficult to read at times. There were a lot of tears. I read this 500 page book in a day because once I opened it up I couldn’t not close it.
The journey Sayers takes in this book was daunting to say the very least. The way the people around him deal with his disappearance… the understanding of pain and grief and identity was just astounding.
When he is kidnapped by a man who tells him that his life that he has lived isn’t really his life, that none of it is true, Sayers begins to lose himself.
This is truly an exploration of trauma. It’s how you suffer, how you cope and how you live through. This was incredibly difficult to read at times. There were a lot of tears. I read this 500 page book in a day because once I opened it up I couldn’t not close it.
The journey Sayers takes in this book was daunting to say the very least. The way the people around him deal with his disappearance… the understanding of pain and grief and identity was just astounding.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"It’s incredible what our minds will do to survive."
I had forgotten this was a YA book when I started reading, and the first few chapters had me questioning if I wanted to continue. (I have nothing against YA books, there's just some I've read where I am definitely not the target audience and can't exactly relate).
However, once our main character, Sayers, is kidnapped, the story really picks up. Roe does an amazing job putting you in Sayers' shoes and feeling his panic, despair, and how he "adapts" to continue to survive in the situation he finds him in. I read some reviews that suggested the book drags a bit, but I really think that adds to the reader's experience of feeling what Sayers is going through. I kept wanting to turn the page to see what would happen.
He does end up getting rescued, but the story doesn't end there. Sayers is almost immediately thrown back into his previous world, which (along with other reviews) I found problematic. Maybe if the setting of the book was 40 years ago and therapy wasn't a "novel" thing, maybe then I could have gone with that. But this book is set in recent times, and for someone who comes from a family with a lot of money, you'd think that would be step number one would be to get him help. We don't really hear or see much of this at all - I could argue that Sayers mom just wanted everything to go back to normal and maybe didn't want to accept the horrors her son dealt with, but that makes her kind of the worst. And we know Sayers' dad is also kind of awful, but we didn't see him at all with the exception of early on.
I did like Sayers motivation to work on himself to be there for Penny when she returns, and I did like the friendship he forms with Evan, although I felt bad for Evan being the therapist that Sayers very desperately needed.
I didn't understand Luke's reasoning for not talking to Sayers when he returned though - Sayers ends up seeing and hearing the messages from Luke during the time he was kidnapped, but you'd think Luke would be the first one to see him and be there for him, and he just treated him a bit like a recluse. I hope they were able to form a friendship again by the end (as was suggested).
Bria is also kind of the worst, and also very one-dimensional - her and some of Sayers other friends weren't really necessary to the plot.
The SA on Evan seemed thrown in there a bit - we know Garrett is awful but if the plot point was for the popular boys to just pick on the younger kid, I didn't think the SA was necessary.
Overall, this is a dark book and there's a lot of trauma that doesn't really get dealt with in the way I would have hoped. Roe did her research and makes you feel like you're there with Sayers. Even though the book is 500 pages, it doesn't feel like it - definitely worth the read.
I had forgotten this was a YA book when I started reading, and the first few chapters had me questioning if I wanted to continue. (I have nothing against YA books, there's just some I've read where I am definitely not the target audience and can't exactly relate).
However, once our main character, Sayers, is kidnapped, the story really picks up. Roe does an amazing job putting you in Sayers' shoes and feeling his panic, despair, and how he "adapts" to continue to survive in the situation he finds him in. I read some reviews that suggested the book drags a bit, but I really think that adds to the reader's experience of feeling what Sayers is going through. I kept wanting to turn the page to see what would happen.
He does end up getting rescued, but the story doesn't end there. Sayers is almost immediately thrown back into his previous world, which (along with other reviews) I found problematic. Maybe if the setting of the book was 40 years ago and therapy wasn't a "novel" thing, maybe then I could have gone with that. But this book is set in recent times, and for someone who comes from a family with a lot of money, you'd think that would be step number one would be to get him help. We don't really hear or see much of this at all - I could argue that Sayers mom just wanted everything to go back to normal and maybe didn't want to accept the horrors her son dealt with, but that makes her kind of the worst. And we know Sayers' dad is also kind of awful, but we didn't see him at all with the exception of early on.
I did like Sayers motivation to work on himself to be there for Penny when she returns, and I did like the friendship he forms with Evan, although I felt bad for Evan being the therapist that Sayers very desperately needed.
I didn't understand Luke's reasoning for not talking to Sayers when he returned though - Sayers ends up seeing and hearing the messages from Luke during the time he was kidnapped, but you'd think Luke would be the first one to see him and be there for him, and he just treated him a bit like a recluse. I hope they were able to form a friendship again by the end (as was suggested).
Bria is also kind of the worst, and also very one-dimensional - her and some of Sayers other friends weren't really necessary to the plot.
The SA on Evan seemed thrown in there a bit - we know Garrett is awful but if the plot point was for the popular boys to just pick on the younger kid, I didn't think the SA was necessary.
Overall, this is a dark book and there's a lot of trauma that doesn't really get dealt with in the way I would have hoped. Roe did her research and makes you feel like you're there with Sayers. Even though the book is 500 pages, it doesn't feel like it - definitely worth the read.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
dark
emotional
medium-paced
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated