The only reason I finished this book was because I won the ARC (Thank you Henry Holt & Co Goodreads!). It was an absolute hot mess. I couldn’t get into the writing, the story was all over the place, and I really just wanted to give up. I really wanted to enjoy this too, because the premise was interesting. ( )

I struggled to read this one. It had such an interesting premise and I was fully invested in what happened to the abducted girls, and how the columnist was connected to the story and was looking forward to figuring out how it all came together. But It felt a bit like a fever dream, stream of conscious, disjointed - while original in style, it just didn't work for me. It felt like work at times to read it and wish it hadn't been be so hard to wade through. ( )

It’s like broken light scattered through a fractured crystal. ( )

I received an advance copy of this book. Thank you

I struggled to read the entire book, but I persevered, only to conclude that is wasn't a very good book. The premise was promising. three young girls are abducted and abused; live for 10 years, being hidden in the middle of a neighborhood where no one suspected a thing. An advice columnist lives in that neighborhood, and never knew feeling that she should have. Somehow though, it never really came together. First we briefly meet the columnist right at the beginning of the book, when it's not really clear what's going to happen, and then she doesn't appear until near the end and really isn't pivotal character. She really doesn't factor into the story at all. We meet the girls, we hear their stories while they are in captivity, and that is graphic, they are just barely surviving, but have each other. Once they are freed, it loses focus. More and more people are introduced briefly and then we don't really hear about them again. The whole story is rather disjointed and the many characters make it confusing, like if they had anything to do with the girls, that gets them a chapter. ( )

I usually don't gravitate towards books about missing people, kidnappings, abuse, etc, but this book seemed to have a certain special something to it - maybe this book would be worth all that negativity. Told in a unique format, this is the sad story of Fern, Gwin and Jesenia, teenagers kidnapped and held in a Queens house for a decade. More importantly, what happens after. Told in scattered chapters that somehow still make tons of sense with informative chapter titles, also including occasional photos. What I do appreciate about this narrative: it is not at all about the mysterious perpetrator - not wasting time making excuses for him. Also, the terrible horrible abusive atrocities are hinted at, but aren't entirely the focus. It's enough to let you know what these girls went through. It is far more about the resilience, memory, fortitude, persistence, survival and healing of these wonderful inspiring girls. They are linked through suffering and they remain linked afterwards. They are the ones that remain human after, and that is no small task. I like the writing skills here, and can't wait to see what Ferrell does in the next novel, which will hopefully appeal to me even more than these topics. But if I had to read these topics, this is the one I would prefer over other novels about abuse and kidnappings. It DID end up having that something special. Understandably, if you're not up for reading about such dark topics, Ferrell is certainly a writer to watch to see what she does in her next book. I will certainly be waiting. ( )