http://www.hyperebaaktiivne.ee/2021/05/xxiii-ehk-kui-naaseb-kadunud-tutar.html

Aitäh, Koolibri, raamatu eest!

S.K. Barnett "Tagasi" on väga köitva kirjeldusega põnevik, sest tõotab põnevat teemapüstitust. Kadunud tüdrukutega raamatuid on raske kokku lugeda, aga selliseid, kus neist mõni uuesti elusana välja ilmub, ei oska mina küll rohkem ühtegi nimetada.

2019, Long Island. Jenny Kristal haihtus 6-aastasena, olles teel paar maja edasi elava sõbrannaga mängima. Üles riputati tuhandeid plakateid ning tüdruku vanemad palkasid ka eradetektiivi, aga ükski juhtlõng ei viinud kuhugi. 12 aastat hiljem ilmub tüdruk sama äkitselt koju tagasi. Ta on ilmselgelt traumeeritud ning ei taha möödunud aja ega oma röövijate kohta eriti detaile jagada. Kui vanemad tervitavad tema naasmist avasüli, siis Jenny vend Ben ei ole sugugi veendunud, et too tõesti tema õde on.

Mõtlesin viimast kadunud tüdrukute raamatut lugedes, kuidas sellistes teostes kipub mind rabama ainult see, kui kõrgele on tõstetud tarvitatava vägivalla latt, aga üldjoontes pole raske arvata, mis haihtunud/röövitud tüdrukust saab. Siinkohal pean oma sõnu sööma, sest "Tagasi" pakub hoopis teistsugust lahendust - ammu kadunu ilmub uuesti välja. Juba esimesest leheküljest tekkis nii palju küsimusi, mis lugemas hoiavad, ja neid tuli aina juurde. Kes Jenny röövis? Vägivalda ja laste väärkohtlemist esineb muidugi. Jennyt ei röövitud kahjuks selleks, et teda 12 aastat Disneylandis lõbustada. Kus ta oli viimased 12 aastat? Kuidas ta põgenes? Kas ta räägib kõige kohta tõtt? Kas üldse kedagi saab usaldada?

Jennyl ei õnnestu kuigi kaua kodu nelja seina vahel turvalisust ja rahu nautida, sest järjest hakkab pinnale tulema aina uusi asjaolusid. Mõned on igati etteaimatavad, teised üllatavad ja kolmandad löövad sootuks pahviks. S.K. Barnett keerab korralikult vinti peale. Natuke oli uskumatut ja liiga drastilisi detaile ka.

Spoiler

Sellest ei saanud ma näiteks sugugi aru, miks nad ikkagi kohe ei öelnud, et see ei ole nende tütar.

Aga nii-nii põnev oli lugeda, kui aina uusi ja uusi kihte maha kooriti. Isegi siis, kui tundub, et kõik on viimaks selge, tuleb veel midagi uut välja. Nii oli seda pinevat põnevikku võimatu enne käest panna, kui viimane leht läbi oli. Mine tea, äkki tuleb lõpus veel mõni pööre.

"Tagasi" on lugu kadunud tüdrukust, kes 12 aastat hiljem tagasi koju ilmub ning sellest, et asjad ei ole kunagi nii, nagu nad algselt paistavad. Jenny Kristali loost koorub välja kõike, nii etteaimatavat, jalustrabavat kui ka üle mõistuse pöörast. See on ühe õhtu lugemine, sest tekib nii palju küsimusi, et raamatut enam käest panna ei saa. Soovitan, kui armastad rohkete loopööretega põnevikke!

Well after reading this, I had to take a few minutes to think about it before reviewing. This is one of those books that will stay with me for a really long time. This book deals with some very heavy and dark themes. *trigger warning for child sexual abuse*.

12 years ago, 6 year old Jenny goes missing, taken off the sidewalk on her way to a friend's house. Now she's back after escaping from her kidnappers. But as her family welcomes her back...questions begin to pile up...and is she really safe now that she's home?

This book was at times disturbing and disconcerting. It had an very interesting plot and the character development was well written. I have a hard time saying I enjoyed this one because of the disturbing subject matter...but it was a good story and I was unable to put it down. I needed to know how it ended. Have to say I was very surprised by the ending. Definitely a 5 star read, even with the heavy subject matter.

Wow! What started out as rather simple turned me left, right, and upside down. Bizarro world. I'm still trying to process. In a good way. Six year old Jenny was snatched from the street and somehow found her way back home twelve years later. A family reunited. End of story. But it's not. Not at all. It's only begun. Any more would be telling. Read on. And be prepared.

hmmm this was totally going to be a 4 stars until the last 50 pages or so, but i guess that's what you get with a mystery novel.

this book had twists on twists on twists which made it, and very little filler in between - would be a great movie

the writing though, a little atrocious. the author can't write a paragraph without at least one hyphen, random capitalisation and bold... it's like they just learned how to use Microsoft Word. But yet and still a 5 stars so yeah

The modern-day references were icky... named all of the Kardashians for what...

I liked the amount you could do with the characters, all four of the Kristals (incl jobeth) had such interesting motivations for their actions and I liked that we switched POV for them all to be unreliable narrators for different reasons, but not in a stupid way.

The dream stuff could've been cut and sometimes the chapters do weird timeline things, which though fine, was overdone.

Also the forgiving of Jobeths biological mum is a bit ?? and what happens to laurie, she's complicit ig but if the truth is out I think she deserved a more sympathetic ending.

This feels a little scathing, but my jaw was on the ground at multiple times in this book and it's my second 5 stars of the year (first fiction 5 stars!).

ehhh it was decent but the story was awfully predictable and i didn't really like some of the directions the book took. interesting concepts, poor executions.