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michelleheegaard's review against another edition
3.0
I bought this book on sale a while back and I actually picked it out by accident, when I came back drunk from a party... I guess I in my very drunk state decided that it was time to read it.
The book wasn't bad. I haven't read that much about people who are kidnapped or memoryloss. So it was quite interesting. It was exciting to follow the main character, while she slowly piezed her life back together. I didn't keep the book though since it didn't really spoke that much to me.
It was a great and pretty quick read, so I would recommend it to people if they found the excerpts and reviews ecxiting and if they haven't really read this sort of thing before. But other than that it didn't really speak to me.
The book wasn't bad. I haven't read that much about people who are kidnapped or memoryloss. So it was quite interesting. It was exciting to follow the main character, while she slowly piezed her life back together. I didn't keep the book though since it didn't really spoke that much to me.
It was a great and pretty quick read, so I would recommend it to people if they found the excerpts and reviews ecxiting and if they haven't really read this sort of thing before. But other than that it didn't really speak to me.
picky_04's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
annastarlight's review against another edition
1.0
I had to read this book for my English class, and that kind of ruins everything (it even made reading the Hobbit boring), but that aside, I didn't think this was a good book at all.
The writing was fine. The editing was fine. The point of view was fine. Even the characters were okay. It was the plot that bothered me.
It starts off interesting: Abbi awakes, doesn't know how she got there or why she's bound and hooded. Then she spends pages and pages being afraid and, well, tortured. Then she escaped.
And that's when the story takes a total unrealistic turn. Abbi just runs around being crazy, finds out she left her whole life behind for no reason. She leaves her friends because they don't believe something happened (and to be honest, I started doubting her too; I'm not sure if this was the writers intention or not, but if it was, they did a good job).
Some spoilers ahead: those few last days she finally manages to reconstruct are just ridiculous. It's totally out of character and a strange thing for a person to do. Live with someone you don't know? And then the conclusion... talk about a failure. The writers could have saved the book by making a believable ending, but they manage to make the whole search for her captor pointless. Good for her that she saves that other girl, but to be honest, I didn't really care at that point any more. And pushing your thumbs in some ones eyes? That's just plain disgusting. Complete let-down.
I wouldn't suggest this book to anyone. Just go read something else. There are way better thrillers out there than this one. I will read something else of Nicci French in the future, to see if my problem was just with this particular plot or with the writers, but I won't be breaking my neck to get my hands on one.
*****
I just noticed the other reviews about this book, and I just can't disagree more. Realistic? Really?! I don't know how many people you know that leave their normal lives behind, go crazy and spend all their money, decide to live with a total stranger, get hit on the head and held captive for no reason, then manage to escape, and forget how they got there in the first place!
And, no, this isn't a light or fast read. It took me days to wade through this over the top "no one believes me!" crap.
Don't get tricked into reading it like me. It will let you down.
The writing was fine. The editing was fine. The point of view was fine. Even the characters were okay. It was the plot that bothered me.
It starts off interesting: Abbi awakes, doesn't know how she got there or why she's bound and hooded. Then she spends pages and pages being afraid and, well, tortured. Then she escaped.
And that's when the story takes a total unrealistic turn. Abbi just runs around being crazy, finds out she left her whole life behind for no reason. She leaves her friends because they don't believe something happened (and to be honest, I started doubting her too; I'm not sure if this was the writers intention or not, but if it was, they did a good job).
Some spoilers ahead: those few last days she finally manages to reconstruct are just ridiculous. It's totally out of character and a strange thing for a person to do. Live with someone you don't know? And then the conclusion... talk about a failure. The writers could have saved the book by making a believable ending, but they manage to make the whole search for her captor pointless. Good for her that she saves that other girl, but to be honest, I didn't really care at that point any more. And pushing your thumbs in some ones eyes? That's just plain disgusting. Complete let-down.
I wouldn't suggest this book to anyone. Just go read something else. There are way better thrillers out there than this one. I will read something else of Nicci French in the future, to see if my problem was just with this particular plot or with the writers, but I won't be breaking my neck to get my hands on one.
*****
I just noticed the other reviews about this book, and I just can't disagree more. Realistic? Really?! I don't know how many people you know that leave their normal lives behind, go crazy and spend all their money, decide to live with a total stranger, get hit on the head and held captive for no reason, then manage to escape, and forget how they got there in the first place!
And, no, this isn't a light or fast read. It took me days to wade through this over the top "no one believes me!" crap.
Don't get tricked into reading it like me. It will let you down.
tinamoo's review against another edition
4.0
I have been put off reading this book for years because of the bad reviews. I decided to give it a go as it was the only book available in my library at that time that was to my taste. I am really glad that I did because I really enjoyed it and was not what I was expecting. I don't know how to describe this story without spoiling it. The book starts with Abbie Devereaux waking in the dark with a hood over her head hands and feet bound. She has no memory of how she got there and how she can escape. The theme of Abbie's memory loss was a theme that ran throughout the book. I thought that this book was a real page turner and I was convinced that I would be giving this a 5 star review but at times I began to really question the decisions that she was making, especially towards the end of the book. The ending was by no means predictable. I was convinced from quite early on in the book that I could see the way that the book was going to end as I have read so many psychological thrillers. I thought that as far as the kidnappers identity was concerned it was a quite realistic ending. Not at all the ending I thought.
aoppelt87's review against another edition
3.0
Eh.. it was a good read, but ugh, that main character. She got on my nerves with everything... She's like the worst horror film victim ever. She'd constantly do stupid things to get into worse situations or whine about so much crap that it got annoying..
Oh, I should add some positives. I liked that I kept second guessing how it would end.. I thought "oh it's the guy she likes" "oh it's her room mate that's in on it" "I bet she lost her memory because she was somehow in on it herself" "it was the cop lol".. I mean I was totally unsure all the way up til the very end, because it literally gets resolved at the very, very end.
It was also a quick read with short chapters, which is good for my mom-brain.
Oh, I should add some positives. I liked that I kept second guessing how it would end.. I thought "oh it's the guy she likes" "oh it's her room mate that's in on it" "I bet she lost her memory because she was somehow in on it herself" "it was the cop lol".. I mean I was totally unsure all the way up til the very end, because it literally gets resolved at the very, very end.
It was also a quick read with short chapters, which is good for my mom-brain.
debrasbookcafe's review against another edition
1.0
violaerbach's review against another edition
1.0
So the end was reaally bad... I don't know what's happening but just as soon I get excited about a book plot I discover a really shitty ending. Just the main idea getting lost and then round and round we go with some useless facts.... boring....
And let me freak out about the main character Abbie. I think she is effing illogical. All along the book she says that she's so afraid of the killer, that she thinks that she will came after her. And then she calmly walks in into a stranger's appartment (yes I know she had a key but really????) and fall asleep. Oh, no one will get me here. And she stays in that apartment! She does not know a thing about it's owner just the name, which can be fake, and she stays there...
FACEPALM!!!
An the other. She tries to rrecollect her memories. And goes to several people who were involved in her last project, to ask them about her last remembred days. So. She died her hair, and cut it off just to look different so the killer won't catch her. And we know from the beginnig that she mert with the killer somewhere. So she goes to this people each one of them can be our possible killer, and she freaking tells everybody her name!!! Like, are you stupid, or WHAT THE HELL???
Naaah.... Stupid ending. Don't want to spoiler it for you, but really stupid. The whole book was ruined for me somewhere in the middle of it, but the ending... I'm really dissapointed...
So I don't know. Definitely won't read it again. And I'm not quite sure that I would read something else from Nicci French either. I gave it one star just because the beginning was fascineting. And then nothing happened.
And let me freak out about the main character Abbie. I think she is effing illogical. All along the book she says that she's so afraid of the killer, that she thinks that she will came after her. And then she calmly walks in into a stranger's appartment (yes I know she had a key but really????) and fall asleep. Oh, no one will get me here. And she stays in that apartment! She does not know a thing about it's owner just the name, which can be fake, and she stays there...
FACEPALM!!!
An the other. She tries to rrecollect her memories. And goes to several people who were involved in her last project, to ask them about her last remembred days. So. She died her hair, and cut it off just to look different so the killer won't catch her. And we know from the beginnig that she mert with the killer somewhere. So she goes to this people each one of them can be our possible killer, and she freaking tells everybody her name!!! Like, are you stupid, or WHAT THE HELL???
Naaah.... Stupid ending. Don't want to spoiler it for you, but really stupid. The whole book was ruined for me somewhere in the middle of it, but the ending... I'm really dissapointed...
So I don't know. Definitely won't read it again. And I'm not quite sure that I would read something else from Nicci French either. I gave it one star just because the beginning was fascineting. And then nothing happened.
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