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paulabrandon's review against another edition
3.0
This gets off to a good start as we witness the divorce and custody proceedings between Donna and Victor Cressy. He's trying to paint her as being unfit to care for the children. This is intercut with the lives of Donna and Victor from first meeting to divorce, where it quickly becomes obvious he's an emotionally abusive control freak. The first half is quite unsettling as we witness the various ways Victor undermines and emotionally terrorises Donna. This was published in 1981, and it's frightening to think how little things have changed in regards to men emotionally abusing and controlling their partners.
The book jacket (heck, the book's title, even) makes little effort to hide the fact that Victor eventually kidnaps his own children. This doesn't happen until the second half of the book Back in 1981, it would seem the laws were different and there was little the police could do to get kidnapped children returned. The officer here calls it "legal kidnapping"! I certainly felt Donna's nightmare. But the second half isn't really the psychological thriller this books seems to be trying to sell itself as. Most of it is taken up with Donna's complete mental breakdown. Realistic, I'm sure, but there was no suspense to it, and I thought that was the sort of book I was supposed to be reading! The second half isn't nearly as tense and interesting as the first half.
But proceedings do cap off in a highly tense fashion and I cared what happened to Donna and her family. I also appreciated the fact there is no motive behind Victor's actions. He's human, he's an arrogant, selfish asshole, and the real danger lies in whether he hates Donna enough to harm the kids just to hurt her. And there are men just like that, wherever you look, even today. That's what makes the events of this book, published 40 years ago, still so scary and relevant today, even if it wasn't the thriller I was expecting.
The book jacket (heck, the book's title, even) makes little effort to hide the fact that Victor eventually kidnaps his own children. This doesn't happen until the second half of the book
Spoiler
after Donna wins custody of the children.But proceedings do cap off in a highly tense fashion and I cared what happened to Donna and her family. I also appreciated the fact there is no motive behind Victor's actions. He's human, he's an arrogant, selfish asshole, and the real danger lies in whether he hates Donna enough to harm the kids just to hurt her. And there are men just like that, wherever you look, even today. That's what makes the events of this book, published 40 years ago, still so scary and relevant today, even if it wasn't the thriller I was expecting.
fuzzywuzzy's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book because it was like a lifetime movie to the “T”. Victor was the classic abuser. He controlled what she wore, where she went, she stopped driving…. Life with him was always a mental game. It was hard to read at times. The book opens up in the courtroom where they are seeking a divorce and each wants custody of their two children. It then takes you back to how they met, and you get to see how naive she was and how manipulative he was. It was a little tedious until he disappears with the children. Once the children are missing you see Donna (understandably) falling apart, searching for her children, and lashing out at her new love, his daughter, and everyone around her. This was unfortunately a very common story. Parental alienation. One parent hates the other and uses the children as a weapon. I wish there was an epilogue!
novelesque_life's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 STARS
"Donna and Victor were once madly in love, but after years of mental abuse, divorce is the only way out for Donna. Despite Victor's threats, Donna wins custody of their two children, but when Victor takes the children for a weekend away, Donna has no idea what nightmare has just begun." (From Amazon)
This is my first Joy Fielding novel and I really enjoyed it. I reread this novel 9 years later (1996 & 2005) and still enjoyed the suspense knowing the ending.
"Donna and Victor were once madly in love, but after years of mental abuse, divorce is the only way out for Donna. Despite Victor's threats, Donna wins custody of their two children, but when Victor takes the children for a weekend away, Donna has no idea what nightmare has just begun." (From Amazon)
This is my first Joy Fielding novel and I really enjoyed it. I reread this novel 9 years later (1996 & 2005) and still enjoyed the suspense knowing the ending.
angiesreadss's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
charlottezrck's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
heather01602to60660's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. Definitely not Fielding's best, but it was an early one (I didn't realize the publication date until most of the way through when they mentioned an Eric Estrada poster as a gift for a pre-teen! Fortunately, at least, parental kidnapping laws have come a long way since...), and she definitely as improved with age. Soooo much build up to the whole taking-the-kids thing, and while it was all well done, it felt like once we finally got to that point, the ending was too rushed and didn't have much emotional impact.
juniperusxx's review against another edition
3.0
Ei ihan parasta Fieldingiä, mutta lopussa jännitys tiivistyi piinaavaksi, enkä meinannut malttaa mennä iltapalalle muun perheen kanssa :) Donnan ja Victorin parisuhdetta kuvaava jakso oli turhan pitkitetty, vähän jankkaavakin, ja muutamissa kohdissa juoni meni vähän epäuskottavuuden puolelle. Täytyy silti nostaa niitä muita lukuvuoroaan odottavia Fieldingin kirjoja TBR-vuoren uumenista, pidän psykologisista jännäreistä.
thereadingknitter's review against another edition
3.0
Donna and Victor were once madly in love, but after years of mental abuse, divorce is the only way out for Donna. Despite Victor's threats, Donna wins custody of their two children, but when Victor takes the children for a weekend away, Donna has no idea what nightmare has just begun.
My Review - I've had Joy Fielding on my list of TBR authors for a long time and I finally gave her a chance. She's awesome. I knew what the ending was going to be but I wanted to see how she took the characters and plot there. It was pretty good. I'll be reading more of her books for sure!
My Review - I've had Joy Fielding on my list of TBR authors for a long time and I finally gave her a chance. She's awesome. I knew what the ending was going to be but I wanted to see how she took the characters and plot there. It was pretty good. I'll be reading more of her books for sure!