Scan barcode
sambooka23's review against another edition
5.0
Woah... I honestly feel lost for words after this book right now. I’m definitely going to have a book hangover after this.
I buddy read this with a friend and we were going to read about 70 pages per day and aimed at finishing this on Saturday but once we started, we couldn’t put it down.
Deborah done a phenomenal job writing this, it was captivating (literally, haha) and had me hooked from the first page. I knew this would be right up my alley when I read it on @readersfirst !
Hannah and Jem definitely has their work cut out for them. What an amazing concept Deborah wrote about based on a true experience she went through.
Thank you to @readersfirst and @deb for allowing me a copy of this beauty of a book, definitely one I’ll recommend! It’s out January 7th 2021!
I buddy read this with a friend and we were going to read about 70 pages per day and aimed at finishing this on Saturday but once we started, we couldn’t put it down.
Deborah done a phenomenal job writing this, it was captivating (literally, haha) and had me hooked from the first page. I knew this would be right up my alley when I read it on @readersfirst !
Hannah and Jem definitely has their work cut out for them. What an amazing concept Deborah wrote about based on a true experience she went through.
Thank you to @readersfirst and @deb for allowing me a copy of this beauty of a book, definitely one I’ll recommend! It’s out January 7th 2021!
aliaareadstoo's review
4.5
The Captive is about Jem, who is sentenced as guilty of murdering Hannah's husband; has to live the entire sentence period in Hannah's house as a part of the restorative justice programme. Their complicated dynamics start as they try to adapt their lives around each other.
- I'm not agreeable to the programme. If this programme were about to be introduced to the real world, I can already foresee the chaos even during the input session between the lawmakers and the public. Throughout the story, I can see that it has more cons than the pros so THANK GOD IT'S FICTION 🙏
- The author is succeed in putting so many elements of surprise and I love how every chapter leaves the plot unresolved, so it makes me question what will happen next, thus, what do you expect me to do OF COURSE I HAVE TO READ THE NEXT CHAPTER RIGHT AWAY 🤭😇
- I haven't feel like this for a while now, but this book actually makes me focused on every detail including the small ones because they might be big clues in later events. This shows how thorough the author is in planning the plot for this story, which is really good. I'm almost convinced that the system has the positive sides too, almost!
- It's not just the turning points between the characters, I even realize my own turning points towards the characters like, when I start to get soft, to give a chance for them to explain, to defend them. How can I not? 🥺
- The main characters: Hannah is a baker and she makes all those fantastic figures on top of her cakes; and Jem is a reader. Give him a book and he'll be in his own world, ignoring anything else. I stannnn 😭
- I'm always opposed to romance when it interferes with the main plot too much, and that's what I feel initially about this book. However, I realize that the romance actually tries to divert my attention from the main plot and BOOM! I was attacked when I put my guard down. All those twists and sub-twists 😱😱😱
- If you're a thriller fan, you might want to check this out. The originality and unusual ideas in it will blow your mind!
- I'm not agreeable to the programme. If this programme were about to be introduced to the real world, I can already foresee the chaos even during the input session between the lawmakers and the public. Throughout the story, I can see that it has more cons than the pros so THANK GOD IT'S FICTION 🙏
- The author is succeed in putting so many elements of surprise and I love how every chapter leaves the plot unresolved, so it makes me question what will happen next, thus, what do you expect me to do OF COURSE I HAVE TO READ THE NEXT CHAPTER RIGHT AWAY 🤭😇
- I haven't feel like this for a while now, but this book actually makes me focused on every detail including the small ones because they might be big clues in later events. This shows how thorough the author is in planning the plot for this story, which is really good. I'm almost convinced that the system has the positive sides too, almost!
- It's not just the turning points between the characters, I even realize my own turning points towards the characters like, when I start to get soft, to give a chance for them to explain, to defend them. How can I not? 🥺
- The main characters: Hannah is a baker and she makes all those fantastic figures on top of her cakes; and Jem is a reader. Give him a book and he'll be in his own world, ignoring anything else. I stannnn 😭
- I'm always opposed to romance when it interferes with the main plot too much, and that's what I feel initially about this book. However, I realize that the romance actually tries to divert my attention from the main plot and BOOM! I was attacked when I put my guard down. All those twists and sub-twists 😱😱😱
- If you're a thriller fan, you might want to check this out. The originality and unusual ideas in it will blow your mind!
shxnxo's review against another edition
4.0
Jem and Hannah are cute. However, I wasn't a fan of all the lying or how it ended. I thought it was a little unrealsitc for Hannah to not ask questions about the drive for his friends treatment as well as the fact there were no reprecutions for what Hannah and Jem did. We were told that relationships between prisoner and host were not allowed and they was not punished for this or the fact they hatched an escape plan. I did enjoy the idea of a prisoner being kept with the victims family etc. All in all a good book with a few plot holes that could of easily been filled. Did enjoy and would still recommend to friends just wasn't a fan of the way it ended.
chronicreader96's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. I don’t quite have the words to describe how I am feeling after finishing this book. It was one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time.
The captive follows Hannah and Jem. Set in a world where the victim of a crime, has to look after the perpetrator in their home. This concept alone was fascinating to me. It really made you think and question everything you thought you knew.
The book has passages from the view points of the different characters. Mostly this consists of Hannah and Jem. I love when books are written like this, it allows you to delve deeper into the thought processes of the characters.
The twists and turns in this book kept me on the edge of my seat. I ended up reading most of the second half of the book within 24 hours, I just couldn’t put it down! I would be blindsided by a plot twist, and before I could right myself, another one would come out of nowhere. I felt so many emotions throughout, it would be an injustice to try to put them into words. By the last chapter I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. The intense emotions coming to the fore, and the sadness and saying goodbye to Hannah and Jem’s story.
This is a book that will live with me, and remain on my bookshelf to be re-read for years to come. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone, especially anyone who lovers thrillers!
The captive follows Hannah and Jem. Set in a world where the victim of a crime, has to look after the perpetrator in their home. This concept alone was fascinating to me. It really made you think and question everything you thought you knew.
The book has passages from the view points of the different characters. Mostly this consists of Hannah and Jem. I love when books are written like this, it allows you to delve deeper into the thought processes of the characters.
The twists and turns in this book kept me on the edge of my seat. I ended up reading most of the second half of the book within 24 hours, I just couldn’t put it down! I would be blindsided by a plot twist, and before I could right myself, another one would come out of nowhere. I felt so many emotions throughout, it would be an injustice to try to put them into words. By the last chapter I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. The intense emotions coming to the fore, and the sadness and saying goodbye to Hannah and Jem’s story.
This is a book that will live with me, and remain on my bookshelf to be re-read for years to come. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone, especially anyone who lovers thrillers!
brookesbooks18's review against another edition
3.0
This book follows Hannah who is forced to keep her husbands murderer in a cage prison in her kitchen due to the new rehabilitation scheme enforced by the government. We see a multi Pov story of both Hannah and Jem our prisoner. The POV follows a current timeline and a past timeline, slowly putting together the mystery of Hannah's husbands murder.
I enjoyed this story whilst reading, I liked seeing the unusual dynamic of captor and prisoner in this dystopian situation. The writing was easy to read and I read the entire thing in 3 and a half hours.
However, the reason this story got a 3 star from me was for a few reasons. Firstly there is very little that can be considered thriller in this story, with very minimal suspense scenes. This would be more of a mystery with you slowly uncovering the events of this murder. If I had been prepared to go into a mystery and not a thriller I would have been a lot happier with the results. Another problem that I have is that what happens with Jem is very predictable and the way things were going to go was guessable from the first few chapters. On the complete other side is the reveal of the murder is very unpredictable but in the worst way, there are no hints given as to the reveal and it seems as though we have been lead completely astray just for there to be the most random reveal possible and I wasn't pleased to be given something that seemed very random and not at all guessable because we were lead elsewhere.
Overall it is a decent read and I wouldn't put anyone off reading it but don't go in expecting this suspenseful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seats, its more of a relaxed mystery to just sit and let take you on a journey.
I enjoyed this story whilst reading, I liked seeing the unusual dynamic of captor and prisoner in this dystopian situation. The writing was easy to read and I read the entire thing in 3 and a half hours.
However, the reason this story got a 3 star from me was for a few reasons. Firstly there is very little that can be considered thriller in this story, with very minimal suspense scenes. This would be more of a mystery with you slowly uncovering the events of this murder. If I had been prepared to go into a mystery and not a thriller I would have been a lot happier with the results. Another problem that I have is that what happens with Jem is very predictable and the way things were going to go was guessable from the first few chapters. On the complete other side is the reveal of the murder is very unpredictable but in the worst way, there are no hints given as to the reveal and it seems as though we have been lead completely astray just for there to be the most random reveal possible and I wasn't pleased to be given something that seemed very random and not at all guessable because we were lead elsewhere.
Overall it is a decent read and I wouldn't put anyone off reading it but don't go in expecting this suspenseful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seats, its more of a relaxed mystery to just sit and let take you on a journey.
cityofmeg's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
feedthecrime's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars
From the very first page I knew that this book was going to be completely different from what I expected. We are faced with a new prison system where the convicted prisoners serve their sentence locked up in a cage in their victims homes. This is pitched by the government as a great way to improve restorative justice, however we see instances of the negative impacts this has on the victims.
The chapters are short and we are given small breadcrumbs throughout which I couldn’t get enough of. The Captive is a completely original thriller and I was honestly blindsided by the ending, I didn’t see it coming.
You can read my full review here: https://feedthecrime.wordpress.com/2021/01/18/blog-tour-the-captive-by-deborah-oconnor/
From the very first page I knew that this book was going to be completely different from what I expected. We are faced with a new prison system where the convicted prisoners serve their sentence locked up in a cage in their victims homes. This is pitched by the government as a great way to improve restorative justice, however we see instances of the negative impacts this has on the victims.
The chapters are short and we are given small breadcrumbs throughout which I couldn’t get enough of. The Captive is a completely original thriller and I was honestly blindsided by the ending, I didn’t see it coming.
You can read my full review here: https://feedthecrime.wordpress.com/2021/01/18/blog-tour-the-captive-by-deborah-oconnor/