Book Review
Seven Days
The man kept her captive for 12 years. Now, she has merely 7 days left to escape.
Rating: 3.25/5
“She cannot let it happen again. But she has no idea how to stop it. And the clock is ticking”
Maggie Cooper, a bubbly 15-year-old girl, was abducted and locked in a room for 12 years. The kidnapper had no identity. She had to endure torture, rape, and forced to bear children. He took away her first two sons and their whereabouts are a mystery after that.
Now she has just 7 days to escape or otherwise, he would take away her 3rd child too. Would she be able to escape the inevitable? Why is she kidnapped in the first place? What is the motive?
Story
The story jumps into the subject without wasting much of the reader’s time. It delves into the pain, and torture both the victim and the parents endure. The language is simple and easy to understand. The story’s pace is so ideal, with no abundant characters or side plots to annoy the readers.
There are adequate characters in the book, and the story is unequivocal. The characters are compelling and convincing. They delivered the required portion of emotions at the right time without exaggerating it. Their love for each other and their pain are genuinely striking through the lines.
This book displays how a single tragic happening could take away all the happiness in the family. The characters are all combined like they all share common feelings. If you take away one, all others will disintegrate. These sentiments clung well with the readers and we could feel the hatred towards the antagonist for disrupting the peace in a beautiful family.
The story has a one-way route. There are no nail-biting phases with major twists or dramas but it was not flat either. It is more of a family drama rather than an edge-of-a-seat thriller. The ending seems to be rushed and unfulfilled without satisfactory room to convey the emotions they all had inside them.
What was better?
A simple plot entangling love and emotions in a nearly perfect blend. It depicted the pain of losing an apple of an eye in the family and their struggle thereon, heading into the path of peril. But, when there is hope, when there is love, nothing is unhealable. Characters had their time to express themselves and they are connectable. No unnecessary sidetracks and brief reading time are the positives.
What could have been better?
The character development of the antagonist could have been better. There was no proper background for his motive, whether he is a psychopath or simply had an abused childhood — no backstories. He had no room in the story. Even the protagonist was too weak but that was understandable because of her condition. The police and the family had little to do with the story barring emotional aspects.
Verdict — 3.25/5
But one cannot expect this kind of story to be an action thriller. It dwells on a different genre. Leaving all those insignificant lapses, Seven days is a reasonable emotional drama that may or may not linger in our hearts for a while.
For more book reviews, follow me on Goodreads
