I have just read this whole thing in a day! Could not put it down I just had to keep going the twists pulling me In and making me want to uncover all the secrets.

See the thing with discovering a new-found affection with a particular genre, every book is just as awesome as the last. Moreover, for a sloth reader like me, to finish a book in 4 days just tells you this is, indeed, such a compelling read that for some of you will probably breeze through in one sitting.

So the storyline follows a 6-year-old girl that was kidnapped on her way to a friend's house for a play date. Her family is expectedly devastated but seems to have managed to live through their loss, until that one faithful day, 12 years after, Jenny Kristal miraculously came back.

I really love the premise of the story and enjoyed reading it. It's the kind of book you'll certainly latch onto because you've just got to find out how it ends. I love how the protagonist was redeemed towards the end coz' to be honest, despite of what she has gone through, I had a bit of a hard time liking her character initially for some reason. The last sentence in the book, albeit short and sweet, almost made me shed a tear. On the other hand, trigger warnings of child abuse and rape remain to be an excruciating theme for me to fathom.

Definitely worth squeezing in your summer reading pile for an awesome thriller read or to just simply break a slump perhaps.

*4.25*

4.5⭐️

Wow. This book is incredible! The twists just keep on coming. I literally flew through the whole book in one day. It had me hooked. In Safe, we learn about the miraculous return of Jenny, who disappeared off the face of the earth 12 years ago, when she was only 6 years old. Now she has finally been reunited with her family, and everything is sunshine and roses. Or is it? There are some unanswered questions about Jenny's ordeal, and there may be more than one skeleton in the closet. The tension just kept on building every page, and I think I said "wtf" and "omg" out loud more than once. I loved the depths of human depravity that was explored in this crackling, electrifying thrill ride. I definitely could not have predicted how things turned out. If you've been hungering for a good psychological suspense novel, definitely give Safe a read. You won't regret it!
4.5 stars

I was provided a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to Dutton and Netgalley

I guessed what was gonna happen at the start but THAT WAS NOT THE FIRST PLOT TWIST. I feel like the author wants you to know the big plot twist just so he can hit you with those other plot twists and blow your mind

it was a very fast paced story and I enjoyed reading it a lot but it didn't do all that for me, this is just an average mystery thriller.

when i started this book, i thought i had it all figured out. girl goes missing and comes home twelve years later. i don’t know how many times i’ve read that plot. she’s either really messed up from her time gone or she’s a fake. too easy to even bother. i thought, why am i reading this? i guess i just wanted to know what happened before she came back.

but, friends, this is a completely different book.

i can’t tell you too much about what happens to make it different, but i can tell you that the writing is taut and it makes it hard to put the book down. it causes that certain anxiety in the pit of your stomach that good thrillers pull off. the edge of your seat suspense, the what the heck is going to happen? what has happened? it’s the kind of thriller i crave.

it took me a few days to read, but it still seemed to read really quickly. i think that if i were avoiding instagram more and i picked it up in the afternoon instead of at night, i would have finished it much faster. honestly, i didn’t want it to end. there aren’t really any likable characters. there’s one part where jenny fat shames an old friend in her head and i don’t even understand why that had to be part of the story. so she was definitely not my favorite main character. but everything else that happens is so gripping, it’s impossible to just push aside because of triggers (for some, anyway).

it’s a dark and disturbing book but i feel like the tension and suspense was worth it. it was an excellent thriller and take on something i thought had been done enough.

trigger warnings: abuse, drugs, the r word, mental illness, fatphobia, prejudice, body shaming, rape/sexual assault of a minor. *i realize that the r word was spoken at the time that it was a typical word for kids to use. but still.

A really great and imaginative story line with lots of twists and turns. A quick read, but an very engrossing one. I did at times struggle to keep up with different characters coming and going.