Author: Suzanne Redfearn
Pages: 345 (in my edition)
Read On: iPad
How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days
Plot Summary: If I stay, he will kill me. If I leave, he'll destroy Addie and Drew.
Jillian Kane appears to have it all - a successful career, a gorgeous home, a loving husband, and two wonderful children. The reality behind closed doors is something else entirely. For nine years, she has hid the bruises and the truth of her abusive marriage in order to protect Addie and Drew, knowing, if she left, Gordon would destroy her-destroy them.
When, in an act of desperation, she flees, her worst nightmare is realized, and she finds herself on the run with her two young children, no money, and no plan. With Gordon in hot pursuit, there is only one inescapable certainty: No matter where she goes, he will find her. Kill her. And take her children.
Things I Liked:
1. The writing was nice and the author did a great job at conveying the feelings and inner workings of the mind of someone living in an abusive situation.
2. I liked that the woman in the abusive marriage was someone who had it together in the outside world, someone who was successful in her job and seemed like her life was good. Most books/movies show the abused woman as a stay at home mother without any financial independence but that is not always how domestic abuse works. Sometimes it's a very successful and independant woman who suffers at the hands of an abusive spouse.
3. I also liked the bits where Jillian and her kids make a run for it. The way they survive and manage on the run were also interesting.
4. I also really loved the people Jillian meets when she escapes her old life. Such a wonderful people who help her and her kids and go above and beyond to make her feel welcome. It's nice to read about good and kind people.
5. I also liked that the book showed how being in a house where there is violence affects the kids too. Drew who is only 7 years old and he senses what goes on in his house is not normal and not right and his bahviour is changing as a result. He too is getting violent and unruly.
6. Gordon was not just a abusive prick but also a general jerk who had caused financial ruin in this family. He was controlling, conniving and evil and all that was shown very well.
7. It was terrifying to read about Gordon and how he his public perception was so far from his real self. He worked hard on making himself seem like the perfect father and perfect spouse and in fact made Jillian seem like the bad/cold/un-involved parent.
Things I Didn't Like:
1. Jillian---- our leading lady is not very likable. She is not the best mother...which is alright not everyone is mother of the year. I felt like I didn't really get to know her or understand her. She takes an almost passive interest in her life and that was just off-putting.
2. Jillian and the kids mean some truly amzing people when they are on the run. People who give her a job, a place to live and support her and stand by her even though they know she is in the run and wanted by the cops. The minute Jillian goes back to her life...she just forgets all about them. There is no mention made of them at all in the rest of the book! Really? How ungrateful can you get?
3. The blurb makes you think that this book is going to be about Jillian escaping from her husband and living on the run. But that is only a small part of the book. A tiny part. I don't like when blurbs give me a wrong idea about a book.
4. The book was unclear as to how long the abuse was going on for...it is made to seem like it wasn't always a part of this marriage and has started a couple of years ago...such ambiguity wasn't nice and didn't give a clear idea as to the history of this relationship.
5. The ending of the book was so over-the-top and melodramatic! Just no! It would work for a movie but it was so unrealistic and so not on.
6. The second half was just a little too crowded and a little too much happened.
Rating: 2.5/5
This wasn't a bad book, I did enjoy my time reading it but it most certainly had it's issues!
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