Random Reads discussion

Let's talk about the start of the book here! How is everyone liking it?

Off to a good start! I initially thought the book was set in the early 70s, just because of the overall setting and the TCM vibes (which is 70s) but then when Michael was at the record store and Alice gives him a record by The Cure I was like wait....lol! Am I the only one? Or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention.

It’s interesting that Michael was kidnapped. I kind of wonder if it would be a different type of story if this was his biological family? They’ve definitely got an interesting dynamic lol. I’m not sure that the trips into the past are super necessary, but who knows maybe it will amount to something. How is everyone else liking it?

I am loving this book. I imagine that some people will avoid this book due to the premise, but that is a shame because so far it is delivering some amazing and interesting characters. I've been hooked since page one with the sentence "Reb said that if they wanted to hear a baby scream bloody murder, all they had to do was ask"...I mean come on, how can you not what to see where that leads? Ha!

Like you Vicky, I was having a hard time figuring out the time frame. I was thinking it was early 70's too, and the hippy radio DJ helped make me think that...but then Alice gives Michael a record from The Cure, and I was like huh? I don't know anything about The Cure, but always assumed they were a 90's band...I was wrong...the two song 12 inch of The Forest that she let him "borrow" was from 1980...plus she mentions that the store might start stocking cassettes soon, so yeah...got to be '80 or '81. Speaking of The Cure, I went to Youtube and checked out The Forest, and it fits Michael's character perfectly!

I love the trips into the past and discovering Lauralynn and that she has "gone to the grandparents farm"...and I like that this part of the story is in a different font, so it is really easy to distinguish past and present.

So far, this is my favorite read of the year. Hope it keeps up!

So I was pretty intrigued by the premise of this book and was excited to get started on it. But. For some reason I'm not connecting with it. I feel like I must have a cold, cold heart, but the characters aren't really drawing me in.

I don't know what's wrong with me... Maybe it's because Michael is 19 and not younger? I realize that the trauma he's experiencing really doesn't have a magical expiration date when he turns 18 and becomes "an adult" and that he'll suddenly be able to exert control over his own destiny when he's been conditioned through his whole childhood that he has zero control. Maybe it's just the fact that he's obviously strong and fast and could probably do some physical damage if he chose to.

Maybe it's because my oldest child is just a little older than he was when he was kidnapped and because I don't want to think of that possibility for my own kid, I am distancing myself from the story...? Like some kind of almost unconscious block?

I will continue to read and see if there are some good twists. Surely something is going to go down with the girls at the record store...?

It's interesting so far. I definitely thought it was set farther back until I came across the Cure and I was like wait a minute, what? I'm liking it. The very beginning caught my attention and has kept it since!