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scknitter's review against another edition
5.0
The most tense psychological thriller I’ve read in a while. Rapid heartbeat and shortness of breath are only two of the emotions you will feel while reading about what happens to Lily after she escapes with her 6 year old daughter from the torture chamber she has been held for 8 years. Lily disappeared without a trace when she was 16. The family dynamics are heartbreaking as those left behind (including Abby, Lily’s identical twin) attempted to build a new life without Lily. When Lily returns not only do they have to adjust to another new life but Lily has to figure out how to let go of her old life so she can start something real for herself and her daughter.
ambersbooksandbakes's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Torture, Rape, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Addiction
michelle129's review against another edition
5.0
brilliant book kept me hooked the whole time highly recommend
kitty_kat21's review against another edition
3.0
I listened to this one as an audiobook which was narrated by Laurence Bouvard. I think she did an amazing job with her narration, every female character had a distinct voice and she did her best with the male voices, which unfortunately weren’t as good but still well done. A+ for the narration.
Looking at the reviews of this book, they seem very mixed with the main complaint being that this book was marketed as similar to ‘The Girl on the Train’ and ‘Gone Girl’, which is completely misleading. This book is actually more about the aftermath of being held captive for years with the beginning of the book starting with Lily escaping with her daughter, Sky, who was born in captivity. There are very few twists or shocks that you would expect from the thriller genre. I actually thought that it was an interesting premise to have the entire book about the aftermath and the effects it has on the victim and her family, but I think that ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue had a similar premise and did it much better.
To be honest, Lily seemed to not suffer too many emotional effects from her captivity and her daughter is completely normal. A fact I find really hard to believe. The structure of this book is third person with chapters alternating between different characters, with the kidnapper being one. His perspective is just total cringe and not believable as a psychopath. The ending was good, albeit completely unrealistic. Nonetheless, I had an enjoyable time listening to this audiobook and I think it was a solid debut. I’d be interested to check out any future books written by this author.
Looking at the reviews of this book, they seem very mixed with the main complaint being that this book was marketed as similar to ‘The Girl on the Train’ and ‘Gone Girl’, which is completely misleading. This book is actually more about the aftermath of being held captive for years with the beginning of the book starting with Lily escaping with her daughter, Sky, who was born in captivity. There are very few twists or shocks that you would expect from the thriller genre. I actually thought that it was an interesting premise to have the entire book about the aftermath and the effects it has on the victim and her family, but I think that ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue had a similar premise and did it much better.
To be honest, Lily seemed to not suffer too many emotional effects from her captivity and her daughter is completely normal. A fact I find really hard to believe. The structure of this book is third person with chapters alternating between different characters, with the kidnapper being one. His perspective is just total cringe and not believable as a psychopath. The ending was good, albeit completely unrealistic. Nonetheless, I had an enjoyable time listening to this audiobook and I think it was a solid debut. I’d be interested to check out any future books written by this author.
edinareads's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.5
teresarosereads's review against another edition
The first line of the synopsis for the book compares it to Gone Girl and Girl on the Train, two of my all-time favorite books... This was nothing like them. At. All. I really don't understand how they thought Baby Doll was anything close to them.
It was suuuuper slow-paced first of all. I read almost half of the book and only 2-3 days had passed. For a book that is supposed to be suspenseful, that's ridiculously slow in my opinion. It also read entirely like a Wattpad book. Now, I personally have nothing against Wattpad writers. I used to be obsessed with that website and I think some stories on there are incredible. But for a book that's compared to two of the most popular suspense/crime novels, that's just not the kind of writing that I was expecting.
Like I said, I read almost half of the book and it felt like absolutely nothing had happened. I could probably sum up almost 150 pages in five words.
Overall just wasn't what I was expecting and didn't live up to my expectations at all.
It was suuuuper slow-paced first of all. I read almost half of the book and only 2-3 days had passed. For a book that is supposed to be suspenseful, that's ridiculously slow in my opinion. It also read entirely like a Wattpad book. Now, I personally have nothing against Wattpad writers. I used to be obsessed with that website and I think some stories on there are incredible. But for a book that's compared to two of the most popular suspense/crime novels, that's just not the kind of writing that I was expecting.
Like I said, I read almost half of the book and it felt like absolutely nothing had happened. I could probably sum up almost 150 pages in five words.
Overall just wasn't what I was expecting and didn't live up to my expectations at all.
chapseachelsman's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-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? Yes
2.75
sarahrife85's review against another edition
4.0
Received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley!
Okay first of all CAN WE PLEASE STOP PUTTING THIS ON ALL BOOKS "For fans of Gone Girl and Girl on the Train.." that came out after Gone girl and Girl on the train !!! PLEASE! I can't tell you how much I hate reading that introduction to all the new books, Honestly Girl on the train wasn't even that damn good why would you compare your book to that!!!! And i honestly don't see how this book compares to Gone girl at all !? It's not even like the same type of suspense as Gone girl, This is more what the survivor goes through after release. IMO there is just too much hype to gone girl, usually when i read that introduction line comparing it to those two books I pass over the book altogether, maybe it's just me, It's just annoying.. Not to mention if you're going to compare this book to anything I would say it's more of a comparison to Room to anything, It could almost be the second book to Room, like what the survivor has to go through to mesh back with the real world, what their families have had to endure in their absence and with their return, how the media portrays their story, how they realize they need help, how they go about getting help, and What goes through the guilty person's head sitting in jail after.
[[I think it's a shame the comparison actually lowers the rating of the book because when people get done reading it, they end up mad it wasn't what was described. If your book is not good enough to have it's own description with no comparison to another book don't write it or don't put it out for others to read, you should be confident enough with your book that people will read it from the description itself, not just because you put a popular book title in your description! I understand they are trying to catch someones eye right away, but judging by the reviews I read it didn't work out in a good way!]]
With that said I am happy i did not skip over this book, The description (minus the comparing) dragged me into this book, I felt i owed it to Lily to read her story, I wanted to see how her life played out and read about her daughter. I almost hate to call it a "good book" because of what it's about and how horrible some of it was that happened to Lily and her family. But it was in fact a good book, very well written, I think the Author pretty much covered everything there was to go over. I think this story definitely could have ended in a way worse way, I was actually getting worried with what was about to happen before Abby stepped in and took things over, Thank god she did!! I don't think I would have liked this book anywhere near as much if she didn't step up. In a perfect life this is the way we could all end each others suffering!
Very quick read for me, I think only took me a little over 4 1/2 hours to read but I'm a pretty quick reader so maybe count on devoting a little more time than that, Maybe 6ish hours.
Okay first of all CAN WE PLEASE STOP PUTTING THIS ON ALL BOOKS "For fans of Gone Girl and Girl on the Train.." that came out after Gone girl and Girl on the train !!! PLEASE! I can't tell you how much I hate reading that introduction to all the new books, Honestly Girl on the train wasn't even that damn good why would you compare your book to that!!!! And i honestly don't see how this book compares to Gone girl at all !? It's not even like the same type of suspense as Gone girl, This is more what the survivor goes through after release. IMO there is just too much hype to gone girl, usually when i read that introduction line comparing it to those two books I pass over the book altogether, maybe it's just me, It's just annoying.. Not to mention if you're going to compare this book to anything I would say it's more of a comparison to Room to anything, It could almost be the second book to Room, like what the survivor has to go through to mesh back with the real world, what their families have had to endure in their absence and with their return, how the media portrays their story, how they realize they need help, how they go about getting help, and What goes through the guilty person's head sitting in jail after.
[[I think it's a shame the comparison actually lowers the rating of the book because when people get done reading it, they end up mad it wasn't what was described. If your book is not good enough to have it's own description with no comparison to another book don't write it or don't put it out for others to read, you should be confident enough with your book that people will read it from the description itself, not just because you put a popular book title in your description! I understand they are trying to catch someones eye right away, but judging by the reviews I read it didn't work out in a good way!]]
With that said I am happy i did not skip over this book, The description (minus the comparing) dragged me into this book, I felt i owed it to Lily to read her story, I wanted to see how her life played out and read about her daughter. I almost hate to call it a "good book" because of what it's about and how horrible some of it was that happened to Lily and her family. But it was in fact a good book, very well written, I think the Author pretty much covered everything there was to go over. I think this story definitely could have ended in a way worse way, I was actually getting worried with what was about to happen before Abby stepped in and took things over, Thank god she did!! I don't think I would have liked this book anywhere near as much if she didn't step up. In a perfect life this is the way we could all end each others suffering!
Very quick read for me, I think only took me a little over 4 1/2 hours to read but I'm a pretty quick reader so maybe count on devoting a little more time than that, Maybe 6ish hours.
noseinabookagain's review against another edition
1.0
Original and promising concept, just very poorly executed. Unrealistic, extremely surface deep and jumping from one thing to the next didn't help. More of a love story than what it actually claimed to be. I wouldn't read any other books by the author.