#notes from my captivity

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books i've read in 2019 » Notes From My Captivity by Kathy Parks

Everywhere in the world, magic works and doesn't work and no one's ever figured out how to make it more consistent, not with technology or potions or prayers.

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notes from my captivity

author: kathy parks

length: 335 pages

stars: ★★★★☆ 4/5

goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35564535-notes-from-my-captivity?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=3L6jyUxRPe&rank=1

review: enjoyable and engaging! this book was a very fast read for me for a variety of reasons. for starters, the narrator, Adrienne, is relatable and wonderful to read from. making Adrienne an aspiring reporter was a very clever move on Parks' part, as it equips her narrator with compelling and unique motivation, as well as a level of attention to detail that would simply not be seen from another 17-year-old in the same situation.

the exploration of loss and grief in the book was also well-paced and refreshing. i don't want to go into too much detail, as you should definitely read it yourself, but Parks' slow pace in revealing Adrienne's history and struggle lends itself to a very cathartic payoff. i'd be lying if i said i wasn't tearing up fairly often throughout this book, but nothing got me as good as Adrienne's final growth within her own personal grief. as i said, i don't want to elaborate too much, but in a book about something as foreign as a Siberian kidnapping, i was surprised at how well i was able to connect to the protagonist and her much more domestic growth. 

overall, i thoroughly enjoyed the book, its well-paced, topsy-turvy plot, and its fascinating and unique characters. how many other books have you seen that feature a mystical Russian family living in the treacherous forests of Siberia? i'd guess not many, but I suppose I don't really know what you get up to. 

yours,

frooty

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Title: Notes from My Captivity | Author: Kathy Parks | Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (2018)

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August Once Upon a Book Club: Notes From my Captivity by Kathy Parks IMAGES

August Once Upon a Book Club: Notes From my Captivity by Kathy Parks IMAGES

This is going to be an entirely different type of review, because Once Upon A Book Club is an entirely different type of subscription service. There are spoilers for the box, and some spoilers from the book past the read more tab, so enter with caution!

Once Upon a Book Club is a phenomenal subscription box, where recipients aren’t supposed to open all of their gifts right away. Instead, each…

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Girl meets boy… and the family holding her hostage. Adrienne Cahill cares about three things: getting into a great college; becoming a revered journalist like her idol, Sydney Declay; and making her late father proud of her. So when Adrienne is offered the chance to write an article that will get her into her dream school and debunk her foolishly optimistic stepfather Dan’s claim—no, belief—that a legendary family of hermits is living in the Siberian wilderness, there’s no question that she’s going to fly across the world. After all, it is the trip of a lifetime. But the Russian terrain is even less forgiving than Adrienne. And when disaster strikes, nothing—not the flirtatious guide or her stepdad’s obsessively detailed preparations—can protect Adrienne from the sheer force of nature. Now, Adrienne’s being held captive by the family she was convinced didn’t exist, and her best hope for escape is to act like she cares about befriending them, even if it means wooing the youngest son.