2nd March 2017, Chicken House, 336 pages, Paperback, Review copy
Content: childbirth (not detailed), inappropriate adult relations, kidnapping, tissues needed
Summary from Chicken House
Cousins Amy and Dee were kidnapped by a stranger as children.
Now, sixteen-year-old Amy is back with her parents. Dressed in purple
and clutching a plastic doll, she refuses to answer questions. As Amy
struggles towards a normal teenage life, her family – and the police –
press her for information. Unable to escape her past, Amy realizes she
has to confront the truth. How did she survive? How did she escape? And
what happened to Dee?
Nayu's thoughts
I confess to peeking at the
end soon after I started reading this. Please don't judge me for
that-I needed to know if it ended horribly, because at the moment
super heavy books aren't my cup of tea. Thankfully I coped fine with
the horrific story of Amy's return with flashbacks to her kidnapped
years.
I was devastared for how her and Dee's life changed.For anyone
to endure such acts is hard on an adult, let alone a teen who
repeatedly endured them. Their kidnapper definitely had a screw or
2000 missing, which made him unpredictable. I've read a fair few
return from being kidnapped tales recently and this like the others
stands out brilliantly on it's own. I had no clue what was going to
happen to Amy, and cried for her lost innocence.
I loved how her
family treat her, both with love and hate. Dee's sister is brilliantly
portrayed, being there for Amy even when emotional baggage pained them
both. I loved Amy's therapist who got nothing from her for ages, but
because Amy was socialising and becoming friends with old
acquaintances she kept slipping snippets of in of her life which her
friends began joining the dots, making Amy face what she was trying to
bury.
The reason for her silence and the mysterious doll is
heartbreaking, but I promise there's a happy end. It's a tale that
will stay with me a while, and one day I will reread it, but not for
a while. This kind of read makes me dwell on those who go through what
Amy and Dee went through, which is brilliant and a good way of
explaining people's plight but it's a hard read emotionally and I need
fluffy reads for a while after.
Find out more on Mary's website.
Suggested read
Another hard hitting read is Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield (Young Adult, 10E/10E, short 'n' sweet review)
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