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hmbb99's review
4.0
I picked this up for a dollar at the discount store. It was definitely worth it. I must warn you that it was full of torture and abuse of woman but it was an intriguing mystery about three women trying to understand why they were chosen as victims of this sadistic killer. There were twists everywhere in the plot. You never knew they should trust or who they should run from.
nixerix's review
4.0
4.5 stars. This was heartbreaking and gut wrenching. I wouldn't even say that I found this to be very thrilling or even that exciting, but I was so enthralled in the experience of the characters that I found it hard to put down. This focuses heavily on psychology which definitely makes things more interesting. The plot is always moving along, but it also feels as if things are standing still at the same time, perhaps because of how we get a glimpse into both past and present. I don't think that the pacing of this story will be for everyone, but I liked it. The story was also able to transition between past and present quite well. It made me feel a certain way that I can't quite put into words.
Very dark and disturbing subject matter. There are some very unbelievable points in the plot that have you raise your eyebrows, the biggest of which is just how quickly our main heroine Sarah is able to work through her PTSD that has been relentlessly haunting her for a decade with very little resistance. Her additional insistence on how paranoid she is versus how recklessly she acts and how naïve she can be were a few points of frustration. Nonetheless, Sarah's character is enjoyable and her development was great. The story wouldn't have been as good if she spent the first 150 pages too terrified to leave her apartment, after all. You have to suspend your disbelief quite a bit here, but the entirety of the book overall is worth overlooking some of the more unbelievable aspects.
Very dark and disturbing subject matter. There are some very unbelievable points in the plot that have you raise your eyebrows, the biggest of which is just how quickly our main heroine Sarah is able to work through her PTSD that has been relentlessly haunting her for a decade with very little resistance. Her additional insistence on how paranoid she is versus how recklessly she acts and how naïve she can be were a few points of frustration. Nonetheless, Sarah's character is enjoyable and her development was great. The story wouldn't have been as good if she spent the first 150 pages too terrified to leave her apartment, after all. You have to suspend your disbelief quite a bit here, but the entirety of the book overall is worth overlooking some of the more unbelievable aspects.
mehitabels's review
2.0
Meh. It was . . .
Well, so the story . . .
Sigh. I guess it just was disappointing.
Well, so the story . . .
Sigh. I guess it just was disappointing.
seachell1's review
3.0
Overall a good story. I think this book tried really hard to be dark but just missed the mark. I originally heard about this book from a "if you like Gone Girl you'll love..." list. Doesn't even compare to Gillian Flynn's darkness.
appelkers's review
5.0
I am a big fan of this genre, I love thrillers. This might be something you don’t know about me, even if you have been following my blog for a while now. That is because I haven’t been reading a lot of thrillers lately seeing as I’ve really gotten into more YA and Romance books these days. But the romance has just been bumped back a couple of notches by this perfect book! I’m so ready for a summer full of fictional crime I can’t even put it into words. And can I just mention that when they say this is a book for fans of Karin Slaughter, Laura Lippman, and S.J. Watson, they are absolutely right. (It just so happens that I am a fan of all three and wow, I really am a fan of Koethi Zan’s now!)
The storyline was just great, it had such a great mix of mystery and emotions. It was so exciting that it just kept me reading this book until it was finished. I just couldn’t put this book down, ever since I read the synopsis I was hooked and then I started reading and it got even worse. This book was like drugs to me. The story plays a big part of this story, there are emotions involved in this book, but to me there was the definite thriller-ness of this book on the forefront. You just wanted to find out what had happened and was going to happen. And every step of the way you just wanted more! I am not kidding when I say this book is very addicting, you just can’t put it down once you’ve started. It’s agony when you do (so don’t even try). Oh and by the way, I love the ending, it’s just wow. Really wow.
I was such a big fan of these characters. I can’t say that I know what they are going through, what they have going through or how they are feeling. But I really had the feeling that they were so realistic. I particularly enjoyed the way each of the victims handled their past differently and has their own set of post-trauma coping mechanisms. But also the people who hadn’t been part of the horrible things that happened in that cellar had some strange aspects about them. But it was all so real and never completely good. There were always these sides to people which made them a shade of grey instead of either black or white and that’s just something I can truly appreciate. It’s just recognizing that some people are just plain weird but most of us are pretty normal with a few splashes of weird thrown in the mix.
The writing in this book was just what the story needed. There was that great duet between the flashbacks and the present times. Every time it switched you just wanted to know more about whatever you were just reading but as soon as you get even half a paragraph into a new flashback you are just sucked right in all over again. It was pretty fast paced writing but it just kept the story moving right ahead. There were also some emotional things there and while I really feel that they have a place within a thriller, because that just makes you have all the feels, it was great that it wasn’t overdone on the feelings here. There was just enough to let you know how they felt and get you emotionally attached to the people in the story without just being pages and pages of feelings.
For me there weren’t any let downs at all to this book. I just loved it with all my heart and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I advise anyone who is partial to the thriller genre to pick up this gem and just enjoy it as much as I did.
The storyline was just great, it had such a great mix of mystery and emotions. It was so exciting that it just kept me reading this book until it was finished. I just couldn’t put this book down, ever since I read the synopsis I was hooked and then I started reading and it got even worse. This book was like drugs to me. The story plays a big part of this story, there are emotions involved in this book, but to me there was the definite thriller-ness of this book on the forefront. You just wanted to find out what had happened and was going to happen. And every step of the way you just wanted more! I am not kidding when I say this book is very addicting, you just can’t put it down once you’ve started. It’s agony when you do (so don’t even try). Oh and by the way, I love the ending, it’s just wow. Really wow.
I was such a big fan of these characters. I can’t say that I know what they are going through, what they have going through or how they are feeling. But I really had the feeling that they were so realistic. I particularly enjoyed the way each of the victims handled their past differently and has their own set of post-trauma coping mechanisms. But also the people who hadn’t been part of the horrible things that happened in that cellar had some strange aspects about them. But it was all so real and never completely good. There were always these sides to people which made them a shade of grey instead of either black or white and that’s just something I can truly appreciate. It’s just recognizing that some people are just plain weird but most of us are pretty normal with a few splashes of weird thrown in the mix.
The writing in this book was just what the story needed. There was that great duet between the flashbacks and the present times. Every time it switched you just wanted to know more about whatever you were just reading but as soon as you get even half a paragraph into a new flashback you are just sucked right in all over again. It was pretty fast paced writing but it just kept the story moving right ahead. There were also some emotional things there and while I really feel that they have a place within a thriller, because that just makes you have all the feels, it was great that it wasn’t overdone on the feelings here. There was just enough to let you know how they felt and get you emotionally attached to the people in the story without just being pages and pages of feelings.
For me there weren’t any let downs at all to this book. I just loved it with all my heart and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I advise anyone who is partial to the thriller genre to pick up this gem and just enjoy it as much as I did.
lacatelegge's review
4.0
Puntavo questo romanzo da quando è uscito, ma le opinioni discordanti mi hanno sempre scoraggiata all'acquisto. Poi un giorno mi sono decisa: l'ho preso e l'ho portato a casa con me. L'ho iniziato la sera stessa e, senza nemmeno accorgermene, sono arrivata a voltare l'ultima pagina. Dopo è un thriller molto particolare, sia per la storia che racconta, che per il modo in cui l'autrice decide di trattare certe tematiche. Crudo, ricco di suspence e di colpi di scena, appassiona il lettore e lo cattura. Il finale non è prevedibile nè scontato.
Per me è stata una vera sorpresa, mi è piaciuto moltissimo!
Per me è stata una vera sorpresa, mi è piaciuto moltissimo!
sarahsindorf's review against another edition
4.0
Resenha do blog Sincerando.com, escrita por Sarah Sindorf
“Havia quatro de nós lá embaixo nos primeiros trinta e dois meses e onze dias do nosso cativeiro. E então, de repente e sem qualquer aviso, éramos três. Apesar de a quarta pessoa não ter feito barulho algum nesses vários meses, o porão ficou muito silencioso quando ela se foi. Depois disso, durante muito tempo, ficamos sentada em silêncio, no escuro, imaginando qual de nós seria a próxima na caixa.”
Sarah e Jennifer são duas amigas que passaram por uma tragédia na adolescência. Por isso criaram uma lista, A Lista do Nunca. Eram coisas que nunca deveriam fazer para não sofrerem de novo. Estudaram estatísticas de desastres, crimes e criaram um plano para que tudo desse certo. Infelizmente, quando vão para a faculdade tudo muda. Em uma noite elas são sequestradas por um homem que as prende em um porão. Três anos depois, a polícia consegue resgatar as mulheres.
Dez anos depois, Sarah vive isolada em um apartamento e sofre alguns efeitos do sequestro. O Agente do FBI, Jim, lhe dá uma péssima notícia. Seu sequestrador terá uma reunião com o conselho de liberdade condicional e tem chances de ser solto. Sarah então precisa enfrentar o que aconteceu no passado e seguir pistar para tentar entender o que houve, tendo pouco tempo para tentar evitar que seu pior pesadelo esteja livre novamente.
Li esse livro de madrugada, em um dia que perdi o sono. Resolvi pegar alguma coisa para ver se conseguia dormir, e acabei não conseguindo parar a leitura. A autora conseguiu escrever uma trama que segura, um suspense que realmente consegue prender o leitor. Outra coisa que me agradou muito foi o fato de que o enredo não se prendeu muito nos anos de tortura, o livro tem alguns detalhes mas não chega a se aprofundar nisso.
Sarah é uma mulher que nunca acreditou que coisas ruins acontecem por azar. Para Jennifer e ela, desastres acontecem com pessoas despreparadas. E levam um grande susto ao perceber que as coisas não acontecem bem assim. E nesses anos, ela descobre que a natureza humana é diferente do que ela pensava ser.
Acessei o site da autora, na esperança de saber que ela estaria escrevendo um novo livro, talvez uma continuação, mas não consegui descobrir nada. O final fecha várias questões do livro mas senti falta de algo mais trabalhado, senti que foi um pouco apressado. Recomendo para aqueles que gostam de um bom suspense com uma história que prende.
Link: http://www.sincerando.com/2014/01/a-lista-do-nunca.html
“Havia quatro de nós lá embaixo nos primeiros trinta e dois meses e onze dias do nosso cativeiro. E então, de repente e sem qualquer aviso, éramos três. Apesar de a quarta pessoa não ter feito barulho algum nesses vários meses, o porão ficou muito silencioso quando ela se foi. Depois disso, durante muito tempo, ficamos sentada em silêncio, no escuro, imaginando qual de nós seria a próxima na caixa.”
Sarah e Jennifer são duas amigas que passaram por uma tragédia na adolescência. Por isso criaram uma lista, A Lista do Nunca. Eram coisas que nunca deveriam fazer para não sofrerem de novo. Estudaram estatísticas de desastres, crimes e criaram um plano para que tudo desse certo. Infelizmente, quando vão para a faculdade tudo muda. Em uma noite elas são sequestradas por um homem que as prende em um porão. Três anos depois, a polícia consegue resgatar as mulheres.
Dez anos depois, Sarah vive isolada em um apartamento e sofre alguns efeitos do sequestro. O Agente do FBI, Jim, lhe dá uma péssima notícia. Seu sequestrador terá uma reunião com o conselho de liberdade condicional e tem chances de ser solto. Sarah então precisa enfrentar o que aconteceu no passado e seguir pistar para tentar entender o que houve, tendo pouco tempo para tentar evitar que seu pior pesadelo esteja livre novamente.
Li esse livro de madrugada, em um dia que perdi o sono. Resolvi pegar alguma coisa para ver se conseguia dormir, e acabei não conseguindo parar a leitura. A autora conseguiu escrever uma trama que segura, um suspense que realmente consegue prender o leitor. Outra coisa que me agradou muito foi o fato de que o enredo não se prendeu muito nos anos de tortura, o livro tem alguns detalhes mas não chega a se aprofundar nisso.
Sarah é uma mulher que nunca acreditou que coisas ruins acontecem por azar. Para Jennifer e ela, desastres acontecem com pessoas despreparadas. E levam um grande susto ao perceber que as coisas não acontecem bem assim. E nesses anos, ela descobre que a natureza humana é diferente do que ela pensava ser.
Acessei o site da autora, na esperança de saber que ela estaria escrevendo um novo livro, talvez uma continuação, mas não consegui descobrir nada. O final fecha várias questões do livro mas senti falta de algo mais trabalhado, senti que foi um pouco apressado. Recomendo para aqueles que gostam de um bom suspense com uma história que prende.
Link: http://www.sincerando.com/2014/01/a-lista-do-nunca.html
mccullah's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
melissadelongcox's review
4.0
This book was SO. GOOD. It had me on the edge of my seat and pretty freaked out for the duration. And the best part was I didn't guess anything about it. I was totally clueless and shocked the entire book with each new development.
And to address what I've seen other reviewers say: yes, the second half is a bit far fetched but look, I don't read crime or horror to think of these things ACTUALLY happening in our world. Our world is scary enough. So I'm fine with it being a bit out there - it was a good read.
Would (and have already) recommend to friends.
(4.5 stars)
And to address what I've seen other reviewers say: yes, the second half is a bit far fetched but look, I don't read crime or horror to think of these things ACTUALLY happening in our world. Our world is scary enough. So I'm fine with it being a bit out there - it was a good read.
Would (and have already) recommend to friends.
(4.5 stars)