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stephxsu's review against another edition
4.0
Kyle Kirby blames the popular, wholesome Cass McBride for his younger brother David’s suicide. To retaliate, he kidnaps her and buries her…alive. Now, Cass is hanging onto life by a thread, a small hose of an opening in which she breathes and tries (without desperation) to wrangle her freedom with Kyle, and to understand why he blames her.
Both teenagers’ histories are revealed through multiple POVs non-chronologically. We discover that Kyle and David’s mom is verbally abusive, believing David to be the cause of her misfortunes. On the other hand, Cass’ father’s love for her is conditional, so she feels like she must always strive to please him by being smart, popular, and tactical in her (usually successful) attempts to get what she wants—just like her father.
The ending crashes into you with the force of a 40-mile-per-hour gale. Kyle realizes who is really responsible for David’s death, detective Ben Gray scrambles to find the missing girl before 48 hours are up, and Cass brushes against death with fingers and toes scraped down to the bone.
This novel is really an exploration of the characters’ psyches, motivations, and personalities. It has less suspense than I expected, which was sort of disappointing, but the concept is certainly very interesting. Overall, Gail Giles does an excellent job of portraying the complexities of family lives.
Both teenagers’ histories are revealed through multiple POVs non-chronologically. We discover that Kyle and David’s mom is verbally abusive, believing David to be the cause of her misfortunes. On the other hand, Cass’ father’s love for her is conditional, so she feels like she must always strive to please him by being smart, popular, and tactical in her (usually successful) attempts to get what she wants—just like her father.
The ending crashes into you with the force of a 40-mile-per-hour gale. Kyle realizes who is really responsible for David’s death, detective Ben Gray scrambles to find the missing girl before 48 hours are up, and Cass brushes against death with fingers and toes scraped down to the bone.
This novel is really an exploration of the characters’ psyches, motivations, and personalities. It has less suspense than I expected, which was sort of disappointing, but the concept is certainly very interesting. Overall, Gail Giles does an excellent job of portraying the complexities of family lives.
4saradouglas's review against another edition
2.0
I'm not even sure what to say about this book. The writing wasn't very good, it was completely predictable, and it was altogether boring.
mischief_in_the_library's review against another edition
3.0
A bit awkwardly written - I think the short chapters, from different perspectives, possibly interrupted the story flow a little - but very suspenseful and...is hooking an adjective? Like it hooked you right into the story. The characters seemed like slightly exaggerated versions of themselves, if that makes sense - their characteristics seemed to be more dramatic than they needed to be, which made it all slightly less believable. But as I said, definitely not one I would put aside halfway through.
littleyarngoblin's review against another edition
4.0
Riveting
Riveting
I chose this book in search of something new to read. It's utterly addictive and you won't be able to put it down.
Riveting
I chose this book in search of something new to read. It's utterly addictive and you won't be able to put it down.
jennaclarek's review against another edition
3.0
Read it in a few hours and WOW. Really well done. Not my favorite book just because it was so short, but dang. Very creepy and well written and I liked it a lot!
justlily's review against another edition
3.0
Wow, is this a fast read! It's not necessarily anything out of the ordinary but something about the writing style and the pacing grips you from the first couple pages and makes it impossible to stop reading until you find out what happens and why. The story, again, isn't necessarily new material but it's told perfectly, the pieces fitting together in just the right way at the right time. While the story itself is just okay, the telling of it makes this a really good read.
audreychamaine's review against another edition
4.0
Cass McBride was what you would call a resume packer: beautiful, popular, athletic, rich, homecoming queen, prom queen, etc. Now Cass has been kidnapped—stolen out of her bedroom window while she slept, and buried alive by Kyle Kirby in a twisted plot to avenge his younger brother’s suicide. It’s a race against time for detectives to find Cass and rescue her before all of her time runs out.
A powerful book with quick pacing to keep readers glued to their seats. Includes some graphic imagery that could turn off people with claustrophobia. The book deals with issues of child abuse, torture, bullying, and suicide.
A powerful book with quick pacing to keep readers glued to their seats. Includes some graphic imagery that could turn off people with claustrophobia. The book deals with issues of child abuse, torture, bullying, and suicide.
mbrandmaier's review against another edition
5.0
This book is not for the faint of heart. Truly terrible thing happens to her, something that would haunt my worst nightmares.
bsmorris's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed the character development in this novel. It was also fascinating to see the relationships develop, and I liked how Giles revealed the characters' pasts little by little and in an organic way.