Thursday, June 23, 2016

Review: 738 Days

738 Days
By Stacey Kade
Published: June 7, 2016

At fifteen, Amanda Grace was abducted on her way home from school. 738 days later, she escaped. Her 20/20 interview is what everyone remembers—Amanda describing the room where she was kept, the torn poster of TV heartthrob Chase Henry on the wall. It reminded her of home and gave her the strength to keep fighting.

Now, years later, Amanda is struggling to live normally. Her friends have gone on to college, while she battles PTSD. She’s not getting any better, and she fears that if something doesn’t change soon she never will.
 
Six years ago, Chase Henry defied astronomical odds, won a coveted role on a new TV show, and was elevated to super-stardom. With it, came drugs, alcohol, arrests, and crazy spending sprees. Now he's sober and a Hollywood pariah, washed up at twenty-four.

To revamp his image, Chase’s publicist comes up with a plan: surprise Amanda Grace with the chance to meet her hero, followed by a visit to the set of Chase’s new movie. The meeting is a disaster, but out of mutual desperation, Amanda and Chase strike a deal. What starts as a simple arrangement, though, rapidly becomes more complicated when they realize they need each other in more ways than one. But when the past resurfaces in a new threat, will they stand together or fall apart?
 
With charm and heart, Stacey Kade takes readers on a journey of redemption and love.

My review:

Amanda survived the horrific ordeal of being kidnapped and held captive for two years. Two years after her rescue, it is still hard for her to get through the day. She suffers from PTSD, taking comfort in hiding in her closet. Her family has been fractured by what happened to her and they don't treat her the same way. Amanda's mom likes to act like everything is just fine while her dad doesn't even acknowledge her. Her sisters are resentful though younger sister Mia is the only one to treat Amanda in a semi-normal fashion and her resentment is due to her parents' lack of notice. 

Chase is trying to stage a career comeback. He is getting ready to film a movie set in a small town near Amanda. When his publicist comes up with the dubious idea of a publicity shot with Amanda and having her visit the movie set, Chase isn't completely on board with the idea but he could really use some positive publicity so he agrees. When he sees Amanda and how she reacts, he changes his mind but she wants to help his career and get away from home for awhile. Unfortunately there are complications in the form of Chase's cutthroat publicist, a stalker and Chase's past failures.

I felt so bad for Amanda. She suffered a lot and is having a hard time fitting in to her family now that she is back home. I did like how the author portrayed her relationship with her family especially Mia who may be selfish at times but at least she talks to Amanda even if it isn't what Amanda wants to hear. I had a harder time with Amanda's parents though her father's behavior is explained towards the end of the book and I understood why he had been acting that way. The abduction affected more than just Amanda and it definitely took a toll on her sisters and her parents treatment of them too.

While Chase makes some bad decisions he does care about Amanda and I thought that they were really good for each other. My one issue was with the timing of their relationship. This book takes place within a few days although it feels like a longer length of time has passed. It is a little hard to believe that Amanda is able to have a physical relationship with Chase after knowing him just a short amount of time considering the trauma of her past. I liked how the friendship and relationship with Chase blossomed to love but I thought it should have been over a few weeks or a month at least and not just a few days. 

Overall aside from the timing issue, I liked this book and I think readers who enjoy contemporary new adult fiction should give it a try. It offers plenty of romance, some suspense, emotional growth and a strong heroine to root for.


Note: I received an ARC for review purposes courtesy of the publisher and Edelweiss

1 comment:

  1. This is a new-to-me book; it definitely sounds compelling, especially the storyline about her past. Thanks for putting this one on my radar!

    ReplyDelete

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