And I have to admit, doing a book haul (for the first time in 3 months, might I add) was a nice break from the mountain of reviews I need to do.
But today I'm back to reviews, because I have still got 2 to do (including this one). But I love reviews, so it's not that bad!
Enough talk, now for the review!
Baby Doll, by Hollie Overton
Title: Baby Doll
Author: Hollie Overton
Genre: Thriller
Release date: 29th December, 2016
Pages: 384
Blurb: "You've been held captive in one room.
You've been mentally and physically abused
every day since you were sixteen years old.
Then, one night, you realise your captor has left the
door to your cell unlocked.
For the first time in eight years you're free.
This is what happens next..."
My Thoughts
This book was a spur on the moment buy. I was in Asda, and it was a buy two for said price (it was a deal). I'd heard about this book on Booktube, and I'd never thought about picking it up. But it had got fantastic reviews, and so I bought it.
And before I knew it, I'd finished it by the following morning.
Just 12 hours later.
That's how good it was.
This book was electric from start to finish. The story starts when Lily escapes after being held hostage for eight years, and as the book progresses, we learn just how much Lily's disappearance has affected every member of the family (the story jumps from her twin sister Abby, and her mother) as well as her captor Rick's perspective. And I'm glad that this was a multiple perspective book, because it wouldn't have had as nearly impact otherwise, especially in Rick's case.
Because that's something else I wanted to talk about. In some aspects, you actually feel sorry for him. NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT HE'S DONE, let me explain. Rick actually has no idea that he's done anything wrong. What makes it worse is that capturing Lily was a calculated act. He actually planned this. He thinks he's given Lily a happy home, and was genuinely shocked when she escaped and called the police, which made his perspective that much more interesting to read about.
Abby was a really interesting character too. She was the most affected by Lily's disappearance, as you would imagine she would be, as her twin sister. They had a really close bond when they were younger, and so she had nothing left after her disappearance. So after eight years, she's kind of hardened. She's got this deep anger that she doesn't seem to be able to control, which made her unpredictable at times. She is also still searching for her sister, because even after eight years, she doesn't believe that she is dead, as everyone else does at this point. There's also the layer that she is pregnant with her sister's old boyfriend's baby. (But I'll let you read about that, because I don't want to give away too much).
There was Lily's perspective as well. She's just trying to make sense of everything: how her family has changed, how they were affected, what happened between her sister and her old boyfriend, what has happened in the last eight years while she was captured, trying to get Rick charged, and also trying to tell Sky what happened to her, because she thinks of Rick as her dad.
But overall what I liked about the characters was that Lily's disappearance affected them all in different ways. Her sister became harder and more outwardly angry- it seemed to be a constant part of her; her mum, who we also got to see the perspective of, become more withdrawn and cautious, and Lily was just confused and trying to make senses of all the changes. The fact that they were also different makes the story really well rounded, and that's more or less what it was.
One thing I did really like about this book was that everything was consistent. The characters didn't change much throughout the book, and although that isn't normally a good thing, this time it was. Because that meant their actions made the book that much more shocking. What I mean is, since the characters didn't change much, you didn't expect them to do what they did. That was what kept the book exciting- if you read it, you'll know what I mean when I say that.
But overall, this book was amazing. It packs such a punch in just 380 odd pages, it will blow you away. This book has love, loss, shock, horror and a whole lot of twists: especially at the end. Totally recommend. I rated this a solid four stars.
Okay! So that was my review for Baby Doll, by Hollie Overton! I hope you enjoyed it, and I will see you all on Friday!
Byeeee!
-Abi xxxxxx
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