Member Reviews
I loved this book. It kept my interest from beginning to the end. Every time I had to put it down I kept thinking about it and what would happen next. Great character development. I felt like I was part of the story.
I cannot get enough of BA Paris’ novels. They suck my in from page one and my plans, chores, etc disappear until I am done with the book, and The Prisoner was no exception!
The story is based around Amelie a young woman residing in France who recently lost her father. She decides to move to England to start over. In England, things are very tough in the beginning until she meets a woman who shows her some kindness. But that is short lived and Amelie’s luck starts to change again….
This novel is a fast read and I love her the author always takes time to tie up loose ends!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital advanced readers copy!!
I wasn't too excited about reading this book, but I wanted to like it and give it a chance. It's hard to make any story about a person being held hostage exciting simply because they're stuck in a room with not much change in the position they're in.
The story lacked character development. The main character's background was detailed, but everyone else was just a part of the story and they were just there with little to no background.
The first half of the book was okay. It got better a little into the first half. The second part was an explanation of the plot, but it felt rushed and everything was thrown together quickly. I didn't really like the ending and expected more.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
This is a great page turner which keeps you guessing. Who can you trust? Are some things that happen by chance too good to be true?
When life takes a terrible turn for Amelie who is orphaned as a result of her fathers death, she decides to pick up and move to London to make a new life for herself. She ends up encountering the right people to help her get on her feet in the hopes of ultimately pursuing her dream of one day going to college. But is this new life and friend group too good to be true? When Amelie finds herself a prisoner in her new life she begins to question everything.
This book starts out really strong and really draws you in with a format alternating between past and present- making you want to just read one more chapter! I was very engaged from the beginning and wanted to keep reading.
I really liked the main character of Amelie and felt for her as she has gone through a lot even though she is very young. She was orphaned at 17 and the homeless until she was employed and semi adopted by a woman who meets her in a coffee shop.
The story never stopped being enthralling for me- I really liked the short chapters that were full of suspense and didn’t guess the ending which can be hard for some thrillers to accomplish.
I did feel that the ending was lackluster- while I didn’t guess it, I didn’t think it was great. Overall- I enjoyed the book!
The Prisoner starts out as a fast paced thriller that had me reading off and on all day…I couldn’t put it down! But I felt it went on way too long and by the end, I was just frustrated. I was going to rate it as 3 stars but the final chapters just knocked it down one. I don’t like loose ends but the “explanation” went on and on, and then abruptly ended with a “maybe” that was just annoying. I guess that was the point but Amelie mentioned Stockholm syndrome earlier…anyway, not my favorite, but it was a fast read and started out great, so I didn’t hate it!
I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review and opinions are my own.
Wow! B.A Paris has done it again! 5 stars! Captivating and thrilling!!! Read it in one day, could not put it down. Definitely my new favorite book of hers!!
I’m kind of confused on my feelings for this book right now so I’m going with 4 stars. Amelie has a tragic upbringing with her mom dying during childbirth, then her dad’s alcoholism and death when she was a teen. She ran off to London where she tried to succeed in her own, and she was doing good until suddenly she fell for Ned. Now this is one of the parts that I’m stuck on, she has great friends, a good job, and plans to enroll to law school, why is she believing a word Ned says? She’s heard how slimy he is from her friends and she seems to be the type of person who knows hard work pays off, not the type that’s would fall for his $100,000 proposition *sigh*
The kidnapping and time spent captive had me turning pages, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with her or Ned.
Then she’s let free and all of her friends are dead, she convinces Ned’s father not to argue his “suicide”, and she finds out her dad has left her a lot of money that she never knew about. If she had known about the money then none of this would’ve happened but she apparently didn’t pay much attention to her dad to even know that he had a friend *sigh*.
Anyway. of course she still wants answers about the kidnapping. She travels to New Zealand and finds out (surprise but not really) Hunter is still alive and he quickly fills her in on all the why’s and how’s. So she ends up with money, no friends or family, and feelings for her captor *sigh*, hence my confusion on how I feel about this book.
Well that was a disappointing read to say the least and this coming from a huge thriller love and fan of B.A. Paris. On the positive side, the book is a quick read and has tons of tension, suspense, and darkness. However, the main character Amelie was too naive and annoying. Amelie marries billionaire Ned to help him escape an arranged marriage by his parents in exchange for 100,000 pounds after a few weeks of marriage to help her pay for college. Unfortunately, that isn't the first lie Ned has told and he is not as he seems. Ned has a secretive and evil past that Amelie is quick to discover. Next thing she know she and Ned are kidnapped. The story line was quite unbelievable, in my opinion, and lacked that twist or surprise that I kept waiting to happen. There is a huge lack of character development and felt very weak overall. And the ending, well, that just was a bit of cliff dive off to nothing. I had high hopes but this was not the author's best and would call it less a thriller and more a claustrophic atmospheric mystery read.
Received as an ARC. I read this on a flight to LA. I couldn’t put it down, that was the fastest 3.5 hour flight. The book goes from present day to what happened prior. Amelia has experienced at a lot for only be 21 years old. I was surprised with how everything was wrapped up in the end. B. A. Paris has another successful book!!
2.5 stars rounded up bc it was such a quick read.
I finished it in a few hours; the chapters are short which makes the dual timelines work.
If the protagonist had been any younger I'd say this was Y.A; I actually feel horrible for her and am trying to work out what was coincidence and what was real for her. This girl has been through some TRAUMA. Yeesh.
This book was a quick read for me. The storyline is a little predictable, but my main issue is the characters, I disliked pretty much all of them (except Carolyn). Amelie is not really likeable, so I struggled reading from her perspective. Ned was well written and was easy to hate. I felt the story was a little predictable and rushed. I have loved The Therapist and Behind Closed Doors, so I was surprised to feel less connected to this story,
Amelie is given a trope background of orphan and it is meant to make you feel bad for her, but I found her internal monologue to be insufferable as she often came off as a "woe is me". I think if we had seen more of the relationships she had before the story started or even flashbacks, she could have felt more human, but because we only got her monologue of "I have friends" she just came off as a desperate and kind of lonely character that I just could not like.
I do think the story premise is incredibly interesting though. I think the premise of being prisoner and held ransom was well done, I just did not like the MC.
This books starts off fast! The author immediately throws the reader right into the middle of it. Following Amelie’s story was interesting but slightly predictable. I enjoyed the book overall, but felt that it was almost over too fast!
It makes for a quick, but thrilling read!
Thanks to Netgalley for the book!
Yes!! The best kind of thriller to READ and never experience! Waking up in a pitch black room with meals delivered in silence. A bathroom with the only source of light. Pure hysteria for Amelie.
Amelie can hear her A**hole husband, Billionaire Jed, separated from her being kept for a ransom.
I really enjoyed the short past/present point of view chapters and the tension and suspense of not really knowing what was going on. The end of this one truly gives you shivers and then thinking back for clues in the earlier chapters.
Whew, I am stressed after reading The Prisoner! This was a WILD ride! I honestly had no clue what was happening until the very end and I loved every second of it! Excellent, fast-paced thriller that kept me not only on my toes but glued to the chair until the very last page.
First off. I love B. A. Paris books. This one was such a great beginning and middle and then the end happened and I wasn’t that happy. I was intrigued with the unique kidnapping story but by the end I got a little confused and then it was over. I am looking forward to the next book and hope it will be more along the lines of the previous books.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the DRC.
This started out strong for me and kept me engaged but the ending was wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly. It felt rushed. The writing style was blunt, not necessarily a bad thing. I just finished and honestly can't tell if I loved it or hated it. The characters didn't have a lot of depth or development. This was definitely a plot-driven book. I'm giving it 3 stars because it was intriguing but predictable. It didn't wow me by any means, but it was interesting enough that I read it quickly, in two sittings. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me an ARC of the book in exchange for my honest review. PS - Hoping it goes through another round of edits before final publishing as there were several errors with the names that could be confusing to some.
3 stars
I was very excited to be able to read this before hand as B.A. Paris has written some amazing mystery/thrillers! Thank you to Netgalley and St.Martins Press for a copy of an ARC in return of a honest review.
This started of with a bang; intriguing, descriptive, left you wondering what is going to happen. I loved the short chapters as it made it for a quick read. But after the first couple of chapters, i felt like it didn’t rise to the top. The story dragged on with random plots added here and there. Over explanation and retelling of every little thing. It just got quite boring after a while and the ending was disappointing.
Overall, this is a quick read for those interested but it just didn’t wrap up the best!
Wow! I loved this one. Fast-paced and I was hooked from the the very first chapter. The main character is orphaned as a teen and lives a tough life before meeting her new billionaire husband. Cut to her waking up in a dark room all alone. Without giving too much away, she is quickly faced with trying to figure out who she married and why is she in this situation. I’m a fan of everything B.A. Paris and would recommend this quick read!
The only reason I wouldn't recommend it to students is because of some of the content.
Next, I enjoyed the format that switched between past and present. The short chapters sped the pace up. However, I found the middle of the book to drag and the conclusion was not very thrilling. It was actually confusing. Overall, it wasn't a terrible book and was entertaining.