Monster by Julia Sykes

Series: Impossible
Author: Julia Sykes
Page Count: 122
Published: March 29th, 2013
Publisher: Amazon
  3 Stars ★★★

Claudia is kidnapped by Bradley when leaving work one day, needed for her medical skills. When he takes her to his home, she meets Sean, his best friend, who is suffering from a bullet wound. After treating him, she finds herself handcuffed to the bed, unable to escape, and incredibly afraid.

Sean is different from Bradley, he's charming and much more laid back. Often defending Claudia from Bradley's anger and frustration, she begins to feel attracted to him. As her feelings grow she learns more and more about the two boys...and is torn apart by her emotions. Will she escape, or will she choose to stay with Sean?

I'm a big fan of kidnapping books, I find them very exciting and suspenseful. This book had its fair share of suspense and excitement, however I found it somewhat cliché at times.

The emotional turmoil Claudia was going through seemed a bit unrealistic, and badly paced. For example, if you have been kidnapped, you're generally not going to find yourself constantly admiring one of your kidnappers' bodies and appearance, within the first few days of captivity. Sure you can find them attractive, but I felt like the whole Stockholm Syndrome thing happened a bit too quickly.

The author also included 'misunderstood bad boy' elements. Sean is revealed to have had his own share of hardships within his life, and Claudia feels a connection to him through them. While this wasn't stressed too dramatically, I feel like it could've been executed better and could've had a larger, more significant impact had it been addressed in a more original manner.

I did appreciate that the author didn't jump into the erotic scenes right away; they occured closer to the end of the book. I'm glad because by doing this, she was able to develop the relationships between the characters and make their decisions all the more realistic.

Trigger warnings include kidnapping, gang/mafia activity, attempted rape, and mentions of an unpleasant experience in the foster care system.

Overall, an enjoyable story. Suspenseful with erotic elements, it wasn't perfect, but it was far from bad.

I recommend this to those who enjoy kidnapping-themed stories, and who are looking for a shorter book with suspenseful and erotic elements.


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