Review: Above by Isla Morley

Title: Above

Author: Isla Morley

Publish Date: March 4th, 2014

Publisher: Gallery Books

Genre: Post Apocalyptic

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Link:

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In the bestselling vein of Room and The Lovely Bones, a stunning and harrowing novel about a Kansas teenager who is abducted and locked away in an abandoned missile silo by a survivalist who believes he is saving her from the impending destruction of the world.

Blythe focuses on finding a way to escape until she discovers that she also has to deal with crushing loneliness, the terrifying madness of her captor, and the persistent temptation to give up. Nothing, however, prepares her for the burden of having to raising a child in confinement.

Out of fear, she pushes aside the truth about a world her son may never see for a myth that just might give meaning to his life underground. But when fate intervenes, Blythe and her son manage to re-emerge, only to find themselves in a world even more terrifying than the one they left behind.

Riveting and unforgettable, Above is a beautifully written and compelling tale of survival, resilience, and hope.

Disclaimer: I received this e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

The concept was a really interesting one, and one that I do enjoy more often than not. However the execution was poor and it ended up being a book that I dreaded picking up. I hate saying that but it just let me down in a big way.

Dobbs works in the library that sixteen year old Blythe visits. When he appears in his truck driving along a dirt road alongside Blythe,she thinks nothing of it. Until she accepts his offer of a ride. From that moment on everything changes.

Soon she’s being forced to shower and shave…every part of her body. Soon she’s forced to lay with him intimately.Soon after that come children. Then years pass, some quickly, some agonizingly slow. Until one day she seizes an opportunity to get herself and her son out of there.

Things aren’t the same as they were when she was taken into the silo many years ago. Where houses once sat, now there is empty and barren roads. There’s suspicion surrounding her and her son and all Blythe wants is to find her family.  

Dobbs was a creepy guy from the very beginning and that didn’t surprise me at all. Men that do this stuff are often unattractive and creepy. That’s why they abduct female teenagers. They hope that those girls understand their belief that they are trying to save them. Men like this also feel more attractive when they have a pretty young female under their grasp.

I tried my hardest to feel sympathy for Blythe but I just couldn’t. It didn’t make sense to me why she would accept his offer of a ride. He’s a freaking stranger! I don’t care how small the town was, Blythe still didn’t know him. And his excuse that her brother was in an accident and he was supposed to fetch her? I call BS on that. That is an excuse that abductors use all the time.

Most of the book was a big fat bore-fest. The end of it got really far-fetched and I couldn’t buy it at all. Too many characters were in the last 30% of it and I got confused and bored.The synopsis calls this book riveting and unforgettable? Um no, it was boring and predictable and for me, very easily forgettable. This book is getting 1.5 stars from me.

Review: Knowing Jack by Rachel Curtis

Book Title: Knowing Jack

Author: Rachel Curtis

Release Date: January 17th, 2014

Publisher: Rachel Curtis

Genre: NA/Romance

Series: Book 1

Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Link: none yet

Synopsis from Goodreads:

I am not a slut, although I’ve been called one often enough. Yeah, I spent three months screwing one of my college professors, but I was crazy about the guy. Then he broke up with me.

I am not a bitch, although people like to say I am. I kept our relationship secret. I’m not responsible for telling the university administrators about it, but a lot of students still blame me for getting their favorite professor fired.

I am not a drama queen, although everyone thinks I am now. When I got a few nasty messages, I just deleted them. When I got the threat, I assumed it was someone being stupid. I still think that’s all it was. My parents worry, though, so they hired me a bodyguard. Now Jack follows me around, intimidating everyone who approaches me and looking obnoxiously hot.

This is what I am. I’m Chloe. I’m a twenty-year-old art history major. Kind of shy, although I pretend not to be. Stubborn enough to stay here for my senior year, even though everyone hates me.

And I’m stuck with Jack.

He calls me “Princess,” but I’m not a princess either.

Disclaimer: I received this e-ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

Just once, I’d like to read an NA book that includes real issues that people who have just become legal adults, face. I mean, I’m getting extremely frustrated with the formula that most NA’s are following right now. Being in your early twenties is much more than going to school and having sex. I mean, really.It involves finding your career path, forming friendships and establishing new boundaries with parents.

The synopsis of this one seemed interesting so when I started it, I had high hopes. Those high hopes were dashed fairly quickly. I liked Chloe in the beginning.Especially how she was determined to return to the school where her reputation had been trashed. It took a lot of courage for her to return to school and I was hoping that her strength would sustain throughout the book.

The thing with Jack just went really fast. I mean clearly Chloe was not committed to this so called “man fast” Basically 3/4’s of the book was straight up erotica. I have no problem with erotica, but in an NA book, there has GOT to be more to the plotline.

The biggest frustration I had was with Jack. He was obsessive,controlling and called her princess all the time. Just no. also he practically laid claim on her after the first time they had sex. I mean, if that’s not a controlling move, I don’t know what is. He said she was his.Controlling much? Women are not possessions asshole. He’d freak out when an old male friend of hers talked to her and then justified his reasoning for practically laying out the guy by saying.

“I don’t want to control you. I want to keep you safe.” -Jack-

No, just no. That is a statement made by many controlling men. They are trying to assure the woman that they are doing this for their own good and because they care about them.

Jack also cared way too much about what his father said. I would even go as far as saying that he was incapable of living his own life, away from his father’s influence. His past was also glossed over which really bugged me. I wanted to know why he was basically playing keep-away with his heart.

I liked Chloe when she was on her own. She was stronger alone than when she was with Jack. She was definitely more confident when he wasn’t around. He turned her into a weak, sex-crazed woman. 

I really didn’t like this book at all. Jack and his asshole tendencies ruined this book for me.So I’ll be giving it 2 stars.