A review by meeklovestoread
No Exit by Taylor Adams

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

I put this book down 22 pages in the first time, but I just couldn't help not knowing what happens especially considering how popular it was online so I decided to give the book a chance. I did finish it this time. Overall I'd say it was a very entertaining read for me. All together I read it within a few hours. Very fast paced in my opinion, however there were numerous inconsistencies, idiotic behavior, and unsettling details that didn't need to be included. 

We find out who the perpetrator(s) is/are pretty quickly which to me wasn't a surprise. The person revealed themsleves earlier but the main character just didn't pick up on the dialogue.
The part about Lars and Ashley being brother's was unexpected. I'll grant the author that, but having Sandi involved felt ridiculous. She didn't really contribute much to the story. Also I wasn't too surprised that she was involved cuz she was a little too calm for me to believe something wasn' t up.


Also, the author has a tendecy to utilize plot points only when they're convenient for the story to either move the plot along or to enhance the stakes rather than having the plot points make sense. 

For example, we're told they're in a blizzard, but when the characters would go outside there's rarely any mention of them being affected the gushing winds pulling them back or suffering from frost bite or them shivering at all.

Another example is how the abducted child, Jay, was portrayed. She has Addison's disease and is told that extreme stressful situations can indirectly lead to her death. But this element is only utilize when the author wants to raise the stakes because when Darby ultimately finds her way to Jay she is unbelievably calm. And she remains calm in most of the situations the main character encounters. Not once did she shed tears or cry hysterically. I thought this was deliberate and that the author was gonna reveal some big twist that the girl was in on it too or something, but no, it's just poor writing.

Also, I found the use of racial slurs in this book to be so unnecessary. As well as the potential incest/molestation and animal cruelty. Like we get the main perpetrator is a reprehensible psychotic human being, but I think we established that the moment it's revealed that they sex traffick young girls and don't care. All that other stuff wasn't just unnecessary icing an already drenched cake.

Also we find that Lars suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome which to me, was very unnecessary and I think was only used to establish that he was a "mindless" follower and a victim to his brother's conditioning. But I don't think it was necessary to add things like fetal alcohol syndrome and pancreatic cancer when they literally contributed little to nothing towards the plot.


Also, the ending felt kinda ambiguous to me, but maybe I just looked too much into it. I'm glad I read it so I can assuage my curiosity so I know to never pick it up again. Don't think I'll ever read anything this author writes. It just wasn't for me.
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