3.5 stars for this chilling debut thriller.
I went in expecting your average kidnapping story but I got so much more than that. The description sets things up nicely but very very early on you learn that the captives held in the cabin are role playing scenes from their abductor’s childhood. This twist makes everything that much more creepy and messy.
I do feel like the ending section was a bit jumbled for me. I read this almost all in one day, which says something to how invested I was. But by the end it felt like it was trying a little too hard to be twisty and intense and it was just a tad too dramatic and extreme.

And the fact that there are not many reviews for this made it so hard to know what to expect, so this is even more of a testament to my genuine response.

My occasionally unhinged but always brutally honest thoughts:
- This is MESSED UP. But like in a good way?
- Like imagine spending 10 years of your life reliving the same day over and over again pretending to be an outdated housewife in danger of being murdered any day. WHAT.
- I also love the fact that they are held hostage in such a strangely free way, like they can wander outside without actually being able to leave. It’s extra devious but also different than most abductions held in a closet or basement or something.
- The collars added an extra element of danger and I think it helped lead the plot along as the captives had to not only escape, but not detonate their collars.
- Grace acting like her child-self gave me the creeps, and ESPECIALLY when she starts coming on to Derek as her “dad”??
- Mitch was kinda garbage and I never really cared about his character or involvement. He was kind of a wet rag kind of guy. Along for the evil ride but carrying no real personality or interest.
- I loved Kinsey and Brooke and their dynamic, their differences but their way of working together in understanding of their situation.
- The twist of Grace changing the script was really interesting in how this sets off a new urgency to the captives.
- Mina’s involvement was interesting. I knew there had to be a connection and I put the pieces together pretty quick, but seeing it all laid out was fun as it was woven into the other characters.
- I love romance, but this romance was not needed. I didn’t want the characters to end up together because this was some messed up trauma bonding. It kind of felt forced and didn’t actually add much to the overall story.

MILD SPOILERS based on the ending section:
- I simply do not believe that this would be remotely possible to pull off. There’s no way an entire town’s police force just let this shit happen??
- What are the odds that Mina just HAPPENED to be at the Airbnb at the same time all this was happening?
- Did they ever think to look at the collar remote once they got it from Grace? Instead of testing Cody’s collar on the perimeter, did they even check to see if the remote would let them deactivate them??
- Mina and Brady reuniting at the end was cringy and weird. I didn’t need their heartfelt love declaration while the whole freaking forest was burning down? Maybe talk about this later?