Even though I finished reading May’s book club selection a few weeks ago, typing up the review you’ll find below really made me think a lot about the book again. It was incredibly disturbing and I think that just remembering what I read and typing up my thoughts suppressed my appetite a bit because I wasn’t very hungry when my normal lunchtime rolled around.
I started with a small bowl of cottage cheese topped with a sliced red velvet apricot.
At the grocery store over the weekend, I saw the red velvet apricots and thought they were plums! Not so!
Since this particular fruit was new to me, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was sweeter than a plum and so refreshing.
While I snacked on my cottage cheese and apricot mixture, I prepared a lavash pizza with squash, mushrooms and shredded cheese.
This pizza made me want to make my cheeseburger pizza again sometime soon! (<—That is such an old blog post! It’s from my first month of blogging when Ryan was still just my “boyfriend.” Ah!)
Still Missing
Alright my fellow readers, it’s time to discuss the May’s Book Club selection: Still Missing.
You may also find other PBF book reviews and discussions on my Books page if you’re looking for some summer reading material.
Brief Summary
Still Missing follows the abduction of Annie O’Sullivan, a 32-year-old realtor living on Vancouver Island.
The story begins with Annie speaking to her psychiatrist, recounting what happened to her during the time of her abduction and the events that followed her eventual escape.
The book is descriptive, disturbing and a very intense read, specifically in the first half of the novel when the author describes what exactly happened to Annie during her time with her abductor in a remote mountain cabin.
My Review (Includes spoilers!)
I had no idea just how disturbing this book would be when I began reading it in the middle of May. When Ryan asked me how I was liking it when I was about a quarter of the way through it, I simply said, “It’s miserable. It’s just very disturbing.”
The vivid descriptions in the first half of the book made me uncomfortable since I couldn’t stop my mind from thinking about victims of rape, kidnapping and sexual abuse who may have gone through something similar or even much worse. It’s sick and horrifying. I know this is a work of fiction, but I had a hard time reminding myself that Still Missing was “just a book.”
As for Annie, I didn’t like the way she talked to her psychiatrist in the beginning of the book, but I quickly grew to really like her and found her to be a strong and powerful woman. When she gave birth to her daughter, my heart grew for her even more when I saw what a nurturing mother she was, especially under such horrific circumstances.
Thank goodness the second half of the book wasn’t nearly as disturbing as the first half, though it was most certainly just as captivating, if not more so!
I was very invested in Annie by the time she finally escaped and wanted to see how her relationships would develop or flounder and rooted for her to find true security and happiness.
The twists and unexpected relationships that developed in the second half of the book made me fly through the final pages of Still Missing and left me with a much better taste in my mouth following such an intense first half.
Blogger Link Up
Additional reviews of Still Missing may be found on the following blogs:
- Just a One Girl Revolution
- This Bride’s Joyride
- After Dinner Dance
- Recimplicity
- Kisses From Pug
- Lofty Appetite
- Craftfully Cooks
- Enjoy Your Healthy Life
- Run, Eat, Play
- Daydreams and Shoestrings
- A Better Life with Burgers
- Peace, Love and Oats
- The Quilting Doberman
- My Freckled Life
- Beanie Bumbles
- KyRee90
- Chelsea Eats Treats
- A Year of Quick Eats
Discussion Questions
- How did you feel about the graphic nature of the rape scenes in the book? Do you think they were necessary to help convey the horrific events that occurred during Annie’s captivity?
- Were you rooting for a relationship to develop between Annie and her previous boyfriend or Annie and the detective? Which man (if any) did you want her to be with in the end?
- Were you surprised by the twist in the second half of the book that revealed more about why Annie was chosen by The Freak?
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