There has been a lot of hype surrounding [b:Safe|51591889|Safe|S.K. Barnett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1571128344l/51591889._SY75_.jpg|73394592] by [a:S.K. Barnett|19639430|S.K. Barnett|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1585322091p2/19639430.jpg] and now I can tell you I see why! It has a relatively slow pace which at first I wasn't excited about, but it definitely makes up for that at the end. I love the fact that this book has such a short synopsis, and this is truly a wonderful read to go into knowing very little, if anything at all. I got way more than I had bargained for which is one of the many things I loved about it. There are a few different viewpoints, but the majority of the story is told from Jenny's POV which is something I really appreciated. It also has lots of really short chapters which made it seem like it was going by really quickly despite the slower pace.

I also have to mention that there is some pretty disturbing content in Safe. A lot of it is alluded to for the most part, but at the end it gets a little more specific and could be a bit triggering for some people. None of it is graphic (at least I didn't think so) though so for the most part it would be considered to be pretty tame, at least to longtime thriller lovers and any Slaughter fans out there. This book is seriously unputdownable and I read it in the span of 2 days, I even found myself making time to read it because I had to know where the story was going. So if you start it at night, be prepared to want to stay up to the early hours to finish!

S.K. Barnett is a pseudonym for the author who also wrote the book [b:Derailed|314362|Derailed|James Siegel|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1173684161l/314362._SY75_.jpg|995] which was turned into a movie. I actually remember watching the movie and being completely shocked by it, and I didn't even realize it was by the same author until I started Safe. I was again completely shook, and the end of this book is CRAY. I never saw it coming and I am such a huge fan of Barnett now. I love when a new-to-me(ish in this case) author blows me away and makes me an instant fan and that is exactly what happened from reading this book. I don't want to give anything away, so I will just say that if you are a fan of slower paced thrillers with shocking endings Safe is going to be a must read! I can't wait for whatever this author writes next.

Jenny Kristal is 6 years old when her mom sends her two houses down to play with a friend. The problem is Jenny never made it. She was abducted. Now 12 years later she escapes her captures and she’s returned home. Shortly after her arrival questions begin to mount. Where has she been all these years. Is she safe?

Did this book keep me interested and was it fast paced? Yes. Did it keep me guessing? Also yes. Unfortunately it also fell short for me. It started out really strong but then it started to feel a little disjointed at times. I would have liked more background on one of the main characters. Certain parts just didn’t make sense which I can’t get into without spoiling the story. Parts of the story also felt a little out of left field. I don’t regret reading it but I was also looking for more.

received a complimentary egalley of SAFE by S. K. Barnett for an honest review. Thank you to Dutton Books and Netgalley!

Publication Date: 6/9/2020
Rating: 4.5 / 5
SAFE begins with a missing young girl. Twelve years ago, Jenny’s mother sent her out to play with a friend a couple doors down, but Jenny never arrives. The community rallies to set up searches, post fliers and bring Jenny home, but the case quickly goes cold and the missing signs slowly begin to fade and be plastered over. Now, all these years later a young woman comes into town claiming to be Jenny, returning home to her overjoyed family. But are her claims true?

The premise of this one had me intrigued. I received the approval on Netgalley for this ARC yesterday and I was so excited to get to it, I shoved all my other current reads aside. I didn’t quite manage to make it to the end last night, but I jumped right back in this morning and finished it before logging in to work (only a little late).

On the surface, this sounds like a decent thriller with a not too unusual plot setup. When a family reunion seems a bit too good to be true, I expect there to be a twist. The initial plot twist (which admittedly was what I expected) happens very early on in the story and the twists just keep coming after that! Some things I suspected and a few things I absolutely did not.

I especially enjoyed following Jenny on her journey. I can’t speak in detail about some of the elements of her character I liked without getting into spoilers, but she’s smart and resourceful, though flawed. There are plenty of characters with questionable actions and motives to leave the reader guessing.

This book does have a lot of potentially triggering content, so do be aware going into it. Given the premise of a young girl kidnapped and kept for years, I didn’t find it to be unexpected or overly graphic given the nature of the story.

I flew through this novel in less than a day because in spite of many distractions, this one kept me hooked and kept me reading! SAFE by S. K. Barnett is out today and I absolutely recommend it for the thriller fans!

This was looking to be a 4.5-5 star read until the verrrry end. Still, a twisty book worth reading!

The point of a book like this is the twists, so they didn't come out of nowhere, but they were done well. Don't read this if you don't want to read about harm to children, as that's where the whole story starts and stays. It's bad.

Safe was a dark and twisty thriller that left my jaw dropped! The ending completely shocked me, I never saw it coming!⁣
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12 years ago Jenny was kidnapped as she walked to her friends house. Now she’s back! But is she....?⁣
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This was so twisted and fabulous! There were so many unique twists thrown in that were completely shocking. I truly never saw any of them coming! Make no mistake, this is dark and disturbing. I was horrified by many events and trigger warnings abound! But the writing is incredibly well done and the plot slowly unravels, revealing so many shocking things that my mind couldn’t keep up. This was a unique and interesting thriller that left me whispering WTF multiple times. The ending completely flipped the script and had me going back to re-read it. 4⭐️. My thanks to @duttonbooks for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

5/10

Thank you Dutton for the gifted copy.

OK, so I honestly don't know what to say about this book. I keep switching between 3 and 4 stars, because I liked the plot overall but there was a lot of things that are really disturbing. (please check for trigger warnings before you read the book if you are sensitive to some material)

Jenny goes missing on the way to her friends house when she is 6. Twelve years later, she's back. Seems like she escaped from the kidnappers. Pretty standard, cut and dry thriller right? Ummm...no. The twists come one after another. Just when I thought I knew what was going on, something else would get thrown at me and I was like WHAT?!

I almost think there were too many twists. Is that possible?

4 stars for creativity and the fact that I read this in one day, but 3 stars because of disturbing content at the end.