The first half of this story was excellent. It's told in alternating chapters of past and present. We learn of Amelie's past while also experiencing what's she's going through being locked in the dark room. The way B.A. Paris describes Amelie's experiences with her kidnappers and being locked in the room is hair raising. The second half of the story was flat and predictable to me. It went from a thriller story to a mystery story with Amelie searching for answers. Then all of a sudden the answers are given and the story is over. The ending felt very rushed. There was so much great storytelling in the beginning and it just didn't follow through to the end. This starts as a great read then just fizzles, but still worth a read.

🚨UNPOPULAR OPINION ALERT🚨

Let me begin by saying that I am a huge fan of B.A. Paris. With that said, I did not love this one.

Things were rolling along in the first part of the book, and I was invested. The short chapters of past and present timelines kept things flowing nicely, but in the end could not redeem the story for this reader.

Here’s why I say this:

The plot was very incohesive, full of holes, and frankly required suspension of belief to an excessive degree. To a point, it was simply not believable.

The character development was tenuous at best with a main character that was impossibly naïve. I found it difficult to care about any of them.

The second half was extremely slow, and I found myself skimming a good part of it. The last chapter infuriated me to the point that I wanted to throw the book across the room. The ending was as abrupt as slamming into a brick wall. I closed the book feeling very unsettled to say the least.

While B.A. Paris has written some phenomenal psychological thrillers, this one was definitely not for me. With that said, I will be eagerly awaiting her next title because I do tend to enjoy her work on the whole.

My thanks to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this book before its publication date.

I enjoyed this one by B.A.Paris. Specifically liked the short, quick fast-paced chapters. Also liked the alternating past / present chapters in the first half. The character of Amelie was strong and fearless. I could have learned more about her friends characters. Ned was unlikeable from the start. The plot was suspenseful. I never thought I could figure out the twists until they were revealed. I felt like the ending was abrupt. When I got to the end of the e-book, I was confused that there wasn’t more. Overall, 4 stars.

Amelie has a rough past. She has lost everyone she loves and decides to commit herself to Ned. After some weird occurrences on a trip together they are snatched and being held captive. She is trapped in a dark room trying to figure out who took her and why this is happening.

This was a less than par book for me and I love B.A Paris. The story felt drawn out and the end was not really exciting.

I did enjoy the back and forth of past and present with Amelie but overall was looking for more out of this one.

I am a tad on the disappointed side after reading this one.

The short and sweet of it.....
While trying to put her life back together Amelie marries billionaire, Ned Hawthorne after a bizarre arrangement between the two. Nights after their marriage Ned and Amelie are kidnapped, locked in separate rooms. Ameile is kept in the dark (literally) for 14 days. The second half of the book we watch as Amelie tries to put recover and move on, all along needing answers of who her captors were.

I feel as if this was written in a whirlwind. The first half bounced between past and present and there was a lot going on. Introduction of characters, brief mentions of others all the while being transported back to the dark room Amelie now resides. The second half slowed down and ended so abruptly I was left with a ton of questions. None I will list here, as I do not want to give any spoilers away.

There wasn't a whole lot of character development, which I think is where a lot of my questions stem from. I have read The Therapist and Behind Closed Doors, both from Paris and thought they were phenomenal psychological thrillers. I'm not sure what happened here.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martins Press and B.A. Paris for my E-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book. This was my second BA Paris novel. I also read the author’s debut, Behind Closed Doors. This book actually reminded me a bit of Behind Closed Doors, but it wasn’t nearly as good, or as shocking.

Amelie and her rich husband Jed are kidnapped and the entire first 20% of this book details the captivity - it’s so repetitive. We get it, the room was dark, the window was boarded up. Once we get more into the plot, the twists are quite strange and hard to follow. I wasn’t a fan of this one..

I thoroughly enjoyed the novel! I haven’t read a single POV novel in quite awhile and I forgot how much I enjoy it. You become so much more invested in them when it is all from their sole perspective. The two timelines moved smoothly throughout. I felt anxious at times wondering how things would play out. I thought the resolution was going in a completely different direction than it did and I was pleasantly surprised with the ending! I have read The Therapist from B.A. Paris and I loved that one! Hard to compare the two because they are entirely different. However, I will say that I enjoy the fluidity of her writing. I am not usually someone that flies through a book in a day or two and I couldn’t put this one down. Definitely recommend and can’t wait to read more of her work.

Thank you so much @netgalley and @stmartinspress for my e-arc!

I really don’t want to say too much in fear of spoiling something, but here are some of my takeaways:

The Good:
* SUPER short chapters (I’m talking 2-3 pages) that kept the pace lightening quick.
* I was captivated throughout the story while trying to figure out what was going to happen and who was behind it all. It got a tiny bit repetitive, but not enough to really bother me.
* Past & Present timeline so you can try and piece together the information was done really well!

The Not So Good:
* I was a left with a question or two at the end 😒
* There are two parts, and the second half of part 2 slowed down the story a bit which frustrated me since it was towards the end and the big reveal.
* It ended abruptly. I turned the last page and thought, “that’s it?!”

I can’t say that I was shocked by anything, but a surprise happened here and there. It was a solid read that I would definitely recommend for anyone looking for a fast paced, intriguing story.

“Amelie wakes up in a pitch-black room, not knowing where she is. Why has she been taken? Who are her mysterious captors? And why does she soon feel safer here, imprisoned, than she had begun to feel with her husband Ned?”

This book was a bit of a head-scratcher. As in: Did I like this book? I think I liked it. Maybe? Most of it? I think?

The first bit was really interesting. I thought the lead up to her being alone in London (the world, really) and her friendship with the three women was well fleshed out. I think someone offering a job to a girl who’d basically stalked her was a little odd, but, I can suspend disbelief enough to get past that.

The abduction part, and the two timelines, I really enjoyed. Finding out How The Got Here was a wild ride doled out in bite sized pieces. I thought the descriptions of her inner thoughts, and her interactions with her captors, was compelling.

The story broke down a bit, for me, after that. First off, I honestly thought the book was done at one point, only to have another 1/4 of the book left. That 25% was far-fetched, even for me. The thought of Amelie pulling a Liam Neeson, except ENTIRELY WITHOUT a “very particular set of skills” was absurd, and the “Is it Romance or is it Stockholm Syndrome?” question made my eye twitch.

The book was decent. I just wish more of the good stuff was at the end, so I could have finished on a higher note.

6.5/10

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and MacMillan Audio for this captivating ARC.

Another great read from B.A. Paris!
Amelia lost her parents as a child and made it on her own for years. She understands what it means to be a survivor. When she wakes up in a pitch black room, she knows it has something to do with her husband.
A gripping novel that constantly leaves questions to be answered. High recommended!

* I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for my honest review

This is a quick moving book by the popular BA Paris! The story is told in two parts and two timelines. Amelie at 16 years old was the caregiver to her father. He as the only family she had, and his passing caused a lot of difficulty for her at a young age. She found work in London with her friend, Carolyn. Another chance meeting with her and next thing you know she is introduced to wealthy Ned Hawthrope. Flash to today and she is a kidnapped woman, But is it what it seems to be???? Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this gem.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the copy of this ARC.

The first half of this book was incredible! It started off with a bang, held my attention, and was honestly just a really gripping thriller with a kidnapping, an array of shady characters, and a girl with a broken past. However, elements of this book started getting a little more outlandish as the book went on. I did still want to see how it all ended up and was hopeful the thrilling elements of the first half would pick back up, but was definitely let down by the second half.

I was enthralled immediately with this story. Enjoyed the ride of moving from the present to the past and back again. Slowly revealing what was happening. Was surprised at the ending.

B.A Paris is one of my favorite authors. She is top three, not top five, top three!

She just has a way with telling a story that just keeps your butt in the chair and turning pages as fast as you can to find out what the heck is going on.

If you have never read B. A Paris, you need to start. She will hook you from the very first paragraph.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC!

4.5/5 stars

The Prisoner is a psychological thriller. It is my sixth book by this author.

This book is divided into two parts and is mostly set in the UK. And it has a past/present storyline in part one.

The narrator is Amelie (1st person POV). In the past we see how Amelie survived in London. And in the present we see a kidnapping. I think that this back and forth in time added so much to the story.

I really enjoyed this book. The title is perfection and really captured the essence of the story. I was very interested in the kidnapping storyline. And I was anxious to find out everything. Part 2 of the book was really good and I found this part of the story to be riveting. The only part that I'm not 100% sold on is the end. The reveals were good. But when I started the last chapter I was honestly wondering how everything could possibly tie up in only a few pages. I think that maybe I would have liked to see more with these characters. But overall I really liked this thriller.

I wanted to like this one - Behind Closed Doors is one of my favorite domestic thrillers and one I highly recommend. Amelie was a good MC - strong, feisty and independent but too naive. I wanted her to succeed. I had no idea where this was headed and I was so into it for the first half but ultimately it fell flat. The ending was extremely lackluster and at the end of the day seemed like it wasn’t a fully formed plot.

The Prisoner by B.A. Paris
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5 stars)

Start date: October 24, 2022
Finish date: October 27, 2022
Pub date: November 1, 2022

▫️alternating then/now timeline ⏰
▫️short chapters 📄
▫️ author of Behind Closed Doors and The Dilemma 📚

Thank you Netgalley and St Martins Press for a providing me with a copy of this e-ARC.

Well. I don’t really know what to say about this one! It starts by basically dropping you into the middle of the plot with no background information - for that reason, it took me about 25% to really get into this. Then it really starts to get interesting, revealing more information through the then/now narrative. My interest in this peaked at around the halfway mark, which was exciting and intriguing.

And then there was the ending. This wrapped up in the last 10% and just seemed really rushed to me. I don’t know how to explain it without spoilers but it was just kinda like “okay let’s just explain everything all at once to wrap it up”.

Overall, not a bad read, just wasn’t as gripping as I had hoped for it to be.

Amelie and her husband have been kidnapped. Why? By whom? And why is she as afraid of her husband and she is the kidnappers? Most of those questions are answered in the first part of the book. In the second, Amelie goes to find the answers to the rest of the questions and the ones raised by events after she was released. For the first half the writing and storyline were taut and I wondered what was going to happen. But in the second part it felt like the story knew what needed to happen but didn't know how. The result was a lot of fumbling around and then a couple chapters where all is explained. It felt like one of those over explanatory epilogues that seem to be flooding books recently and I didn't like the approach here any better. Those details should be revealed throughout the story. Isn't that the point of a thriller? Like a joke, if you have to explain it then you didn't tell it right to begin with. Needless to say, it is a good story but I was a bit disappointed in the presentation.

Amelie has had a rough go of things for a good portion of her life. She lost her parents when she was very young, then, stranded with no family, she landed on her feet with a live-in position with a woman who was recently widowed. Carolyn decides to take Amelie under her wing, helping her find her way to back to her feet, and eventually to a husband and happily ever after with Jed Hawthorne. She seems to have struck the lottery with this, but nothing is ever as it seems. Soon, the unthinkable happens and Jed and Amelie are kidnapped for a hefty ransom. Things will work out, though, in the end, right?

I really, really enjoyed this one! Straight off I want to compliment the writing style the most. I loved how mysterious it was, without completely withholding plot points. I really enjoyed the little revelations along the way that called back on various facts previously laid out within the storytelling. I really enjoyed how cinematic and immersive the writing felt. I loved that Amelie was a fighter. That there was very little to no "woe is me" moments. I liked it a lot that she was always trying to think ahead...though sometimes, admittedly, without thinking of the big picture. The only thing I could say that's negative, is I feel like I just wanted more from the ending. That said, it wasn't anything super disappointing that really changed how I felt about the overall story, just it felt a little lacking. This was my first novel by Ms. Paris and it certainly won't be my last.

4.5⭐️ wow, this book was fantastic! The story follows Amelie who is an orphan that moves to London. There she meets Carolyn who saves her from living on the streets by giving her a live in housekeeping job. Amelie’s life turns around as she develops friendships that become family.
Her life takes an even more glamorous turn when she married a billionaire!
Flash forward, she is kidnapped in the middle of the night. She has no idea by who or what’s going on, but she’s beginning to feel more safe with her captors than her husband….
This psychological thriller was super fast paced and hard to put down. The second part of the book did slow down a tiny bit for me, but features it’s own twists and turns! I definitely was not expecting the ending!