Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Gray After Dark by Noelle W. Ihli

35 reviews

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes

This book was so fast paced and had me hooked from the first page. I couldn’t stop reading it, but at times I had to put it down. What a ride! Miley did some incredible things to survive from the men who took her. It’s told in the POV of her best friend as well. I don’t want to give anything away about this incredible thriller. Just go pick it up. Highly recommend!!!

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I love her books, she does a such great job making my heart race with her cat and mouse chase scenes! This is a tie with Run on Red

One thing that bugged me… spoiler alert… but I can’t help myself.


The part about Mary’s miscarriages. She’s been gone for 4 years and supposedly had 13 “late term” losses. Not sure what the author meant by late term, but far enough along she knew the gender of each one. As a nurse in that field I couldn’t help but cringe because the math just doesn’t support it. 48 months just isn’t enough time to get pregnant, at least 14-16 weeks to be able to see genitalia to the naked eye, manage to not bleed to death with miscarriage at that gestational age, then for her HCG levels to actually go down to zero and start to ovulate in order to get pregnant 12 more times (this takes weeks at the very least).


Regardless, it was absolutely heartbreaking and a great read. Still 4 stars for the anxiety it caused

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I loved this book! It’s an unputdownable fast paced thriller. I recommend this one if you like mystery/thriller novels with the following tropes:
•badass FMC
•popcorn thriller
•kidnapping/confinement
•athlete (olympic level biathlete)
•inspired by true events
•homesteading/doomsday preppers

I finished it in a day cause I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It became even more incredible after reading in the acknowledgements that this story was inspired by true events! I enjoyed Run On Red by this author but I loved this one even more! I look forward to continuing to read through Noelle’s backlist. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

The fact that there are people out there that are actually like this is horrifying to think about. But the story was really well told and I truly was on the edge of my seat until the very end. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional 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: Yes

SYNOPSIS
  • Miley is a winter Olympian athlete. Her sport/event is the biathlon. It’s summertime, and she’s working at a lodge in the Idaho wilderness for the offseason.  
  • She’s kidnapped by two men, and she struggles to form a plan to survive.
  • Meanwhile, her Olympic partner and friend, Brent, desperately searches for her when he learns of her disappearance. 
  • Note: this loosely based on & inspired by the kidnapping of real Olympian Kari Swenson.

MY THOUGHTS
  • Be sure to check out trigger warnings, as this story is packed with challenging topics.
  • This is my third book by this author, and I enjoy her writing style. She knows how to write suspenseful, nail-biting stories.
  • Very tense. Strong female main character.
  • Told in alternating POVs (Miley’s and Brent’s).
  • Miley has a lot going on, even before the kidnapping happens. I enjoyed learning more about her past trauma, and thought she was a well-written character.
  • The “bad guys” are extra creepy in this one to me. Idk, off the grid hillbillies are scary AF. 
  • Very fast-paced.
  • Satisfying ending.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️tense + strong female MC. bad guys are off the grid hillbillies. check trigger warnings!

Thanks to Dynamite Books and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book is out now!

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