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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
This book was intense! The imagery was horrific at times and my heart was racing in so many parts. Really well done and I was rooting for t the entire time. He
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s a disturbing story. How could a man be as cruel and evil as Lenn? I would want him die a gruesome death for everything he did to Thanh Dao (Jane). And Cynth. And Kim-Ly.
The part when they were trying to escape, gave me goosebumps and chills. I read so fast I wanted to know if they could make it. It’s damning, that feeling.
It’s a well written story, but I would like the characters to be more developed, and more entwined with each other.
The part when they were trying to escape, gave me goosebumps and chills. I read so fast I wanted to know if they could make it. It’s damning, that feeling.
It’s a well written story, but I would like the characters to be more developed, and more entwined with each other.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting
Moderate: Addiction, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Pregnancy
Minor: Physical abuse, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
I thought I'd read something short for my birthday and this story of a Vietnamese woman being forced to live a life on a farm with her captor after being a victim of human trafficking was my pick.
Boy, do I know how to pick them.
"Jane" lives a life of servitude, keeping her home exactly as her husband wants, cooking what he wants, in the way that he wants and for one week of the month sleeping in the back bedroom.
Only once she had a child and Leonard (bad dude) brings another woman to the farm (and held hostage like Jane but actually way worse) and it appears that Leonard is thinking of the future where his daughter will be old enough for him (yeah, I know) Jane realises that she has to escape.
It's a very tense read but at 200 pages (just short) a very quick one.
Boy, do I know how to pick them.
"Jane" lives a life of servitude, keeping her home exactly as her husband wants, cooking what he wants, in the way that he wants and for one week of the month sleeping in the back bedroom.
Only once she had a child and Leonard (bad dude) brings another woman to the farm (and held hostage like Jane but actually way worse) and it appears that Leonard is thinking of the future where his daughter will be old enough for him (yeah, I know) Jane realises that she has to escape.
It's a very tense read but at 200 pages (just short) a very quick one.
Jesus what did I just read!! Holy Frogs! This book is so cold, ice packs cold. Not only was this cold, it was also brutal and there is a complete sense of hopelessness. Until there was hope.
I spent the majority of the story cringing, the abuse occurred and the outcome of this abuse. The horror and stories “Jane”‘s body could tell us scared me. The stories the house could tell us scared me. Everything about the book terrifies me. Have I made that impression yet? Even though the tale, the plight, the unforgiving terrain, it was a book that was difficult to put down. I had to get to the end, to see how it would play out, to make sure justice would be served.
It is such a powerful story. A story where we have to not forget ourselves, little tidbits we internally say to make sure we get through the day, to remember our name. To lose our identity is the final blow.
The isolation and the threat that weighs heavily throughout the book. They have their own persona, the threat to keep them in place. But when the veil starts to fall, things come to light but boy does it make for an all unsettling read.
Jane has a strength that is so profound. She carries not only the burden of her life, her sister’s life but she carries us too. She is determined, she is true and she is strong.
The title of the book The Last Thing to Burn is so poignant. Because what is there left when it all burns. If there is anything I learned when reading there is always hope. Hope is what I had throughout the book. Hope is what drove me to race to the end. Hope is what caused me to choke up. There will be hope.
This is an unnerving, chilling, powerhouse of a book. It draws you in, short chapters to entice the need to keep reading. The need to set things right. It is a short sweet review from me because too many words could ruin this book for you, plus I have not got the words for this book, it rendered me speechless. Enjoy that while it lasts!
I am now off for a pallet cleanser!!!
I spent the majority of the story cringing, the abuse occurred and the outcome of this abuse. The horror and stories “Jane”‘s body could tell us scared me. The stories the house could tell us scared me. Everything about the book terrifies me. Have I made that impression yet? Even though the tale, the plight, the unforgiving terrain, it was a book that was difficult to put down. I had to get to the end, to see how it would play out, to make sure justice would be served.
It is such a powerful story. A story where we have to not forget ourselves, little tidbits we internally say to make sure we get through the day, to remember our name. To lose our identity is the final blow.
The isolation and the threat that weighs heavily throughout the book. They have their own persona, the threat to keep them in place. But when the veil starts to fall, things come to light but boy does it make for an all unsettling read.
Jane has a strength that is so profound. She carries not only the burden of her life, her sister’s life but she carries us too. She is determined, she is true and she is strong.
The title of the book The Last Thing to Burn is so poignant. Because what is there left when it all burns. If there is anything I learned when reading there is always hope. Hope is what I had throughout the book. Hope is what drove me to race to the end. Hope is what caused me to choke up. There will be hope.
This is an unnerving, chilling, powerhouse of a book. It draws you in, short chapters to entice the need to keep reading. The need to set things right. It is a short sweet review from me because too many words could ruin this book for you, plus I have not got the words for this book, it rendered me speechless. Enjoy that while it lasts!
I am now off for a pallet cleanser!!!
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a tough read. It is a slow, methodic lesson in torture and what one woman is able to endure in the hands of a monster. This is the perfect example of how a slow-burn story can be used to create an unsettling atmosphere that unsettles the reader. Every single action is detailed here and with the limited cast of characters you instantly forge a sympathy response to "Jane", and eventually the other characters who are tortured and abused by this man.
Somehow words like torture and abuse don't full sum up the pain and suffering that these characters experienced. The only parallel I can think of from my reading experience is some of what Dave Pelzer endured in his true life account in the book "A Child Called It." I do not want to belittle or downgrade that book in any way because the things he experienced were far more extreme than what is detailed here, but the sentiment is the same. I use it only as an example of the feelings and cringe-worthy reactions I had while reading parts of this book.
There was definitely some repetition that was challenging, but it served a purpose in the narrative. You really begin to understand and relate to what "Jane" is going through as you experience it on the page. The fear, the repetitious lifestyle, the trapped feeling, the loss of identity and time. All of that paints a brutal picture of her experience and makes the ending all the better.
The reveals were great and honestly took me by surprise and the ending was satisfying. I enjoyed Dean's writing and would definitely pick up more from him in the future. This is a slow-burn thriller that deals a lot with gruesome abuse and torture, so readers beware as there could be quite a few trigger warnings including child-harm. I would not hesitate to recommend this one.
Somehow words like torture and abuse don't full sum up the pain and suffering that these characters experienced. The only parallel I can think of from my reading experience is some of what Dave Pelzer endured in his true life account in the book "A Child Called It." I do not want to belittle or downgrade that book in any way because the things he experienced were far more extreme than what is detailed here, but the sentiment is the same. I use it only as an example of the feelings and cringe-worthy reactions I had while reading parts of this book.
There was definitely some repetition that was challenging, but it served a purpose in the narrative. You really begin to understand and relate to what "Jane" is going through as you experience it on the page. The fear, the repetitious lifestyle, the trapped feeling, the loss of identity and time. All of that paints a brutal picture of her experience and makes the ending all the better.
The reveals were great and honestly took me by surprise and the ending was satisfying. I enjoyed Dean's writing and would definitely pick up more from him in the future. This is a slow-burn thriller that deals a lot with gruesome abuse and torture, so readers beware as there could be quite a few trigger warnings including child-harm. I would not hesitate to recommend this one.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated