Friday, January 10, 2020

Book Review: Seven Days

You might recognize this author because I reviewed The Last Lie last January I gave that one 4 stars and absolutely loved it. It's safe to say I wasn't disappointed this time either.
Seven Days - Alex Lake

A race against time to save her child…

In seven days, Maggie’s son, Max, turns three. But she’s not planning a party or buying presents or updating his baby book. She’s dreading it. Because in her world, third birthdays are the days on which the unthinkable happens… she loses her child.

For the last twelve years Maggie has been imprisoned in a basement. Abducted aged fifteen, she gave birth to two sons before Max, and on their third birthdays her captor came and took them from her.

She cannot let it happen again. But she has no idea how to stop it. And the clock is ticking…

Alright, I have to tell you that not only did I fly through this book over the course of two days, but this felt like the longest seven days of my life. The story takes place over the last seven days before Maggie's son, Max, turns three. The third birthday is significant because her other two boys were taken from her when they turned three and she knows the same will happen to Max unless she can figure out a way to save them both. She has no idea where she even is and she doesn't know what is just beyond the door she hasn't been allowed to go through in 12 years, but she's determined to save Max even if she can't save herself.

I had so many questions throughout this book and I was initially fairly frustrated because even though Maggie was abducted as a teen, she was kind of stupid. I mean, the manner in which she was abducted is startling and terrifying but also not super creative and we all tell kids to not talk to strangers in cars. Ever. I mean, come on. Her life inside this.... box (because that's basically what this is) is so isolating and it's clear from the get go that she wasn't dealing without someone without mental illness.

The book alternates between present day and flashbacks to when she was abducted, snapshots of past things from the last 12 years, we get the point of view of other characters, and it sets the book up to go quickly. Once you start reading this it is hard to put down because you just want to know- is she going to get out? Can she save Max? I can't tell you what happens but honest to god I thought I was going to have a panic attack the last 50 pages or so because I had to know what was going on.

It was stressful.

I have to tell you this is absolutely a 5 star read for me because even some of the things that made me roll my eyes or things that made me question something, the fact that I couldn't put it down sold me on this. I absolutely loved this one in all of its creepy glory.

   
A big thank you to HarperCollins and TLC Book Tours for having me on this tour and sending me an ARC of Seven Days! This post contains affiliate links. 

2 comments:

Shooting Stars Mag said...

This sounds fantastic. I'm sure I'd be stressed reading it too!

-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net

mypixieblog said...

What?!?! Okay adding this to my list: it sounds terrifying and creepy and totally crazy and up my alley, obvs. Thanks for sharing! Xo