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A review by divapitbull
Prisoner by Skye Warren, Annika Martin
4.0
Prisoner was surprisingly well done and entertaining. I have always loved an anti-hero; the bad boy who’s genuinely really a little bad – but also redeemable to some degree. Grayson Kane fits the bill. Granted he’s incarcerated for a crime he didn’t commit; but he has committed other crimes. Grayson is a sympathetic character because of his tragic past which leaves him feeling less than – less than others, and less than human. When lovely 19-year-old Abigail Winslow waltzes into the The Kingman Correctional Facility to teach an English class as part of her own undergrad class work, it’s insta-attraction on both their parts. And I’m just gonna set aside the little voice in my head that keeps asking what sort of college sends a 19-year-old sophomore girl into a men’s prison to teach anything.
Abby is teaching Contemporary Memoir; her Professor feels that some people need to tell their stories in order to be healed. Abby will select some memoirs written by the prisoners to go into an online journal and Grayson sees his opportunity to use the class as a way to get a message out to his peeps on the outside; and from there it’s only one step away from a prison breakout and doesn’t Abby just happen to be in the right place at the wrong time. Thankfully Abby was a likeable character as well. Despite being 19, she’s surprisingly mature and it helps that underneath her prim and proper schoolgirl veneer she has a past and some secrets of her own that have left her not so naive and with an inner resiliency.
There are moments where Grayson tries to scare Abby, and there are some elements of dubious consent. It does make sense given Grayson’s background. Most people who are abused are resolute in their condemnation of abuse. A small portion of survivors are so messed up that on some level they think “this is how the world works”; and Grayson’s history allowed him to rationalize his behavior in his own mind. While the dub-con is not for everyone; the story wasn’t really dark, and Grayson wasn’t really a villain. He didn’t want to hurt Abby, he wanted to care for and protect her; and considering all the ways in which a hostage could be hurt – he didn’t really hurt her. The only thing I really didn’t like was the glasses. That really pissed me off, more than the questionable sex while Abby was drugged so she would sleep and not try to escape.
Prisoner was a pretty quick read that never really dragged with an improbable but satisfying HEA.
Abby is teaching Contemporary Memoir; her Professor feels that some people need to tell their stories in order to be healed. Abby will select some memoirs written by the prisoners to go into an online journal and Grayson sees his opportunity to use the class as a way to get a message out to his peeps on the outside; and from there it’s only one step away from a prison breakout and doesn’t Abby just happen to be in the right place at the wrong time. Thankfully Abby was a likeable character as well. Despite being 19, she’s surprisingly mature and it helps that underneath her prim and proper schoolgirl veneer she has a past and some secrets of her own that have left her not so naive and with an inner resiliency.
There are moments where Grayson tries to scare Abby, and there are some elements of dubious consent. It does make sense given Grayson’s background. Most people who are abused are resolute in their condemnation of abuse. A small portion of survivors are so messed up that on some level they think “this is how the world works”; and Grayson’s history allowed him to rationalize his behavior in his own mind. While the dub-con is not for everyone; the story wasn’t really dark, and Grayson wasn’t really a villain. He didn’t want to hurt Abby, he wanted to care for and protect her; and considering all the ways in which a hostage could be hurt – he didn’t really hurt her. The only thing I really didn’t like was the glasses. That really pissed me off, more than the questionable sex while Abby was drugged so she would sleep and not try to escape.
Prisoner was a pretty quick read that never really dragged with an improbable but satisfying HEA.