Reviews with content warning for Confinement - No Exit

Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

readkatieread's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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buer's review

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Young college student, Darby Thorne, finds herself trapped at a rest stop on her way to say goodbye to her dying mother. After a strange series of events, Darby realizes that there is a kidnapped child in the back of one of the vehicles in the parking lot. She must figure out which of the four strangers at the rest stop is the killer and what she needs to do to save the kidnapped girl.

I want to like this book - it’s fast-paced, easy to read, and has an overarching theme of a young woman realizing that she is a better, stronger, and more resilient person than she could have ever imagined. Taylor Adams has a simple, visceral writing style that I like and introduces several interesting twists.

However. Much like one of the characters in this book, Adams feels like the kind of person who knows how to convincingly wear a mask. The mask he has chosen is that he’s the kind of person who believes that women are strong and capable, but considering that he sexualizes every female character in his book with varying degrees of brutality, I’m not convinced.

I also find it difficult to enjoy a book in which the author goes out of his way to introduce prejudice into the story. Taylor names an imaginary geographical landmark with a slur. He has a character tell multiple misogynistic jokes and a racist one that involves yet another slur. He uses the r-word and repeatedly references a probably homophobic piece of graffiti that he invented for the bathroom wall at the rest stop.

Maybe I’m wrong about Taylor, but I can’t recommend this book in good conscience. There are too many moments that got under my skin for reasons that weren’t serving the plot or adding depth to characters.

There are plenty other books that accomplish what this book does without also reeking of ick. Read those instead.

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aniwillow's review

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

College student Darby Thorne gets stranded in a rural rest area during a snowstorm—and then finds a young girl locked in a dog cage inside a van in the parking lot.

It took me YEARS to get to this book but I am so glad I finally did! I read it in a single day because I literally could not put it down. No Exit is a true thriller in every sense of the word—fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. I also really loved the characters (even those I hated were rendered really well) and Darby in particular made for a kickass heroine.

My one quibble with this is that I anticipated more of a mystery element with big reveals and this isn’t really that kind of story. But if you want a super entertaining locked room drama and don’t mind a bit of gore, I highly recommend giving this a try.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: high octane thrillers; locked room settings; crisis/survival plotlines

CW: Mentions of animal cruelty/death; kidnapping; mentions of child abuse and sexual abuse; trafficking; blood/murder/gore

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