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leelah 's review for:
Nine Minutes
by Beth Flynn
What Nine Minutes is and isn't:
Nine Minutes is inspired by one of the oldest unsolved cases in US history: the disappearance of Amy Billig.
Police believes that 15y old Amy was kidnapped while she was hitchhiking home by members of notorious motorcycle gang.
I knew about this case. I was terrified by it when I first heard the story.
Considering what's popular currently in genre, I can see why her story would be used as a base...
I start with this because right here you should ask yourself are you ok with this. Personally, I was not comfortable: the reason for that lies in the fact that Amy's mother searched for her so fiercely and devotedly; she traveled the States and went even to UK following clues about mc until she died in 2005.
I simply didn't want to see this romanticized. -__-
If you read mc books, you know what I mean...
So, how did I end up reading it?
I read Jane's review over on DA and I simply couldn't fathom what would make Jane or any other reviewer there read it. And then I saw one, pivotal thing she wrote in her review:
This is not a romance.
Still with me?
Ok.
I will not give much of a story away, but some things simply need to be put in context:
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The story is told from first person POV, heroine's. It spans over years, from the moment Ginny was taken as 15y old girl by Satan's Army to Grizz's arrest and finally, his execution. <--- this is not a spoiler, book opens with this scene.
The story is happening in '70s and early '80s, Ginny wears a peace necklace and likes to play guitar. She is a flower child, since her parents took her to Woodstock as a kid; she likes to spend time in library reading books; she is considered to be very mature and smart for her age.
And then she makes one stupid mistake.
Ginny ended up in a motel held by Satan's Army. She is a gift for their leader, a man named Grizz. Thus begins their relationship.
Grizz is an evil, evil man.
He is a criminal, he is brutal and he expects total obedience from members of his gang, but he loves Ginny and he is ready to do anything to please her. Anything. Whatever she wishes for, she gets it. But he is what he is: in one scene she was hurt one member was hurting a kitten, so Grizz took away his eye and gave her kitten. He loves her so much he waits her to be ready for sex with him and he goes so far that he even arranged her virginity to be taken care of in most painless way possible.
As you can see...Grizz's view of love is pretty much warped and affected by his life as a criminal... Eventually, Ginny falls in love and becomes his wife, completely embracing her new life.
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Ok, I want to clarify some things first.
I also don't think this is a romance story for many, many reasons.
Mostly because she is only 15 and no matter how many characters in book tells her she is "very mature for her age" I was never truly comfortable with this. We are touching age of consent boundary here and that little thing where she was effing kidnapped, so I can't really believe she had choice.
There is also one major non con clusterfuck
Spoiler
Grizz doesn't want to take her virginity,so he orders one of his crew members to drug her and do it with...wait for it.. a billy-club.0_0Spoiler
Grizz is obsessed by Ginny since she was a kid. He first saw her when she was 4, but he fell in love...I guess when she was 13..? Creepy.You are allowed to wtf and freak out. -__-
Anyway, when I checked GR reviews, I saw that many readers did in fact experienced it as romance and I don't see author really discouraging it. There are no scenes of sex; everything is pretty much fade in the black, but it's a life in a gang- sexual acts were heavily implied.
I can also guess some of readers were charmed by Grizz (btw, author actually wrote he is a bit inspired by her husband -__-). Author did write few redeeming scenes that weren't really logical like him waiting for sex or him acting as a savior few times she asked... but he was not a good guy and never will be, so, frankly, I kept waiting her to realize herself and get away from him. He simply didn't work for me in romantic light.
So, I will say that this being romance apparently depends on how you think of it.¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Still with me?
Ok.
Ginny is unusual character. She transforms from an innocent girl to a girl who enjoys benefits of being a crime lord's wife. But then...she was always a survivor.
This is a debut and despite the fact non-romance thing made me uncomfortable, this book was engaging. Suspense level is very high and that makes it an interesting read- you want to see what's going to happen to Grizz, gang and if she is ever going to get away.
It also ended up with a cliffie that's going to be a premise of second book, [b:Out of Time|23524664|Out of Time (Nine Minutes, #2)|Beth Flynn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415645546s/23524664.jpg|43127713].
I guess this book is really acquired taste and I was not intended audience.
I'll file this into Me Not You category.