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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
2.5 stars
Mediocre at best
I do like character-driven novels, and, despite this being a thriller, I thought I'd get more in the way of character development than I did. As I recall, B.A. Paris novels do tend to have more character development than this one - her latest.
The novel starts out with two timelines: 1) the present when our main character Amelie has been kidnapped, and she's in a dark room and 2) the past when she was an orphan, Carolyn finding her and giving her a job and home and she meets Ned. Both of these timelines were iffy for me. In the present, there was a whole lot of navel gazing as time goes by in her dark room. There were some good observational moments as Amelie uses her other senses to figure out more about her situation. The past timeline is lacking in character development because Amelie doesn't have much of a personality nor do her friends. She is simplified to being motivated by money only to accumulate enough to go to college to be a lawyer and her love of a specific fourth grade math exercise. At about 30% in we learn Amelie agreed to a sham marriage with evil, lecherous Ned on a verbal promise that she could quickly get out of the marriage (he just needed the public relations for his fallen star) with a cool $100,000.
I think I would have enjoyed a first part that really gave the reader more of a picture of Amelie that wasn't reduced to one motivation. At least halfway in, there were a few scenes (involving a house from her past) that showed more of what I wanted to see much earlier. But that characterization came far too late. She comes across so naive, especially for an orphan. Weirdly, though, she has a passport despite having never been on an airplane. Maybe being in Europe is different than the U.S., but with my U.S. lens I thought it would be weird that she had a valid passport when she's been homeless and living on the streets before being taken in by a kind stranger.
The whole thrust of the novel is to figure out why Amelie and Ned were kidnapped. Part 2 of the novel, once you get to them being married for a few days, merges into her being released with conditions. But if neither character is compelling, it's hard to care. And then the book became purely plot and dialogue with the person involved in the kidnapping.
If you're interested in finding out why two people in a sham marriage were kidnapped, then this could be up your alley. With so little character development, this was more of a miss for me as a reader.
Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.
Mediocre at best
I do like character-driven novels, and, despite this being a thriller, I thought I'd get more in the way of character development than I did. As I recall, B.A. Paris novels do tend to have more character development than this one - her latest.
The novel starts out with two timelines: 1) the present when our main character Amelie has been kidnapped, and she's in a dark room and 2) the past when she was an orphan, Carolyn finding her and giving her a job and home and she meets Ned. Both of these timelines were iffy for me. In the present, there was a whole lot of navel gazing as time goes by in her dark room. There were some good observational moments as Amelie uses her other senses to figure out more about her situation. The past timeline is lacking in character development because Amelie doesn't have much of a personality nor do her friends. She is simplified to being motivated by money only to accumulate enough to go to college to be a lawyer and her love of a specific fourth grade math exercise. At about 30% in we learn Amelie agreed to a sham marriage with evil, lecherous Ned on a verbal promise that she could quickly get out of the marriage (he just needed the public relations for his fallen star) with a cool $100,000.
I think I would have enjoyed a first part that really gave the reader more of a picture of Amelie that wasn't reduced to one motivation. At least halfway in, there were a few scenes (involving a house from her past) that showed more of what I wanted to see much earlier. But that characterization came far too late. She comes across so naive, especially for an orphan. Weirdly, though, she has a passport despite having never been on an airplane. Maybe being in Europe is different than the U.S., but with my U.S. lens I thought it would be weird that she had a valid passport when she's been homeless and living on the streets before being taken in by a kind stranger.
The whole thrust of the novel is to figure out why Amelie and Ned were kidnapped. Part 2 of the novel, once you get to them being married for a few days, merges into her being released with conditions. But if neither character is compelling, it's hard to care. And then the book became purely plot and dialogue with the person involved in the kidnapping.
If you're interested in finding out why two people in a sham marriage were kidnapped, then this could be up your alley. With so little character development, this was more of a miss for me as a reader.
Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
BA Paris is the best to ever do it. The Prisoner started off with a bang. We have Amelie who is kidnapped with her husband Ned. Initially we have no idea why or who has kidnapped the couple.
The story alternates between the past and present. We receive a first person account solely from Amelie's perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed part one of the book but part two is where the book fell flat. The second half of this book did not read like BA Paris wrote this half.
It was still entertaining but not one of my favorites by this author.
The story alternates between the past and present. We receive a first person account solely from Amelie's perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed part one of the book but part two is where the book fell flat. The second half of this book did not read like BA Paris wrote this half.
It was still entertaining but not one of my favorites by this author.
Thank you to NetGalley for approving me for an early copy of this.
I love B.A. Paris as an author, so I will continue to read every publication. This books follows a woman who is kidnapped and kept in a dark room with only a mattress. She learns that her captors also took her husband. That are both being help for ransom, but quickly the reader learns that it's not a happy marriage, and this kidnapping isn't about ransom money. Secrets are slowly revealed and you never know who you can trust.
I enjoyed the pace of this book, and I liked the atmospheric descriptions. However, I felt like there was way too many characters to keep up with, and their names were too similar to keep straight. I kept having to go back and re-read parts to remember who is who and who is connected to who. I think the same plot and concepts could have been completed well without so many characters that were left undeveloped. I also can't tell if the author plans on writing a sequel or just wanted to leave the ending very open. Overall, this is not a fav but I can appreciate that those who love kidnapping trope would probably really enjoy this one.
I love B.A. Paris as an author, so I will continue to read every publication. This books follows a woman who is kidnapped and kept in a dark room with only a mattress. She learns that her captors also took her husband. That are both being help for ransom, but quickly the reader learns that it's not a happy marriage, and this kidnapping isn't about ransom money. Secrets are slowly revealed and you never know who you can trust.
I enjoyed the pace of this book, and I liked the atmospheric descriptions. However, I felt like there was way too many characters to keep up with, and their names were too similar to keep straight. I kept having to go back and re-read parts to remember who is who and who is connected to who. I think the same plot and concepts could have been completed well without so many characters that were left undeveloped. I also can't tell if the author plans on writing a sequel or just wanted to leave the ending very open. Overall, this is not a fav but I can appreciate that those who love kidnapping trope would probably really enjoy this one.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Got me out of a reading slump for sure. Was so fast paced, loved the short alternating time line chapters. About the last hundred pages in part two I dropped my rating from a 4 to a 3.5. The plot just became too convoluted and the “big bad” and their reasoning was confusing.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced