Appetite for Innocence
Be careful what you post online. Your next check-in might lead him right to you...
A serial rapist is kidnapping teenage girls. But he's not interested in just any teenage girls-only virgins. He hunts them by following their status updates and check-ins on social media. Once he's captured them, they're locked away in his sound-proof basement until they're groomed and ready. He throws them away like pieces of trash after he's stolen their innocence. Nobody escapes alive.
Until Ella.
Ella risks it all to escape, setting herself and the other girls free. But only Sarah-the girl whose been captive the longest-gets out with her. The girls are hospitalized and surrounded by FBI agents who will stop at nothing to find the man responsible. Ella and Sarah are the key to their investigation, but Sarah's hiding something and it isn't long before Ella discovers her nightmare is far from over.
A serial rapist is kidnapping teenage girls. But he's not interested in just any teenage girls-only virgins. He hunts them by following their status updates and check-ins on social media. Once he's captured them, they're locked away in his sound-proof basement until they're groomed and ready. He throws them away like pieces of trash after he's stolen their innocence. Nobody escapes alive.
Until Ella.
Ella risks it all to escape, setting herself and the other girls free. But only Sarah-the girl whose been captive the longest-gets out with her. The girls are hospitalized and surrounded by FBI agents who will stop at nothing to find the man responsible. Ella and Sarah are the key to their investigation, but Sarah's hiding something and it isn't long before Ella discovers her nightmare is far from over.
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Community Reviews
First person POV, an unpleasant mix of choppy and run on sentences. 21 pages in, and there are so many errors that I'm questioning if there was an editor. I will not be reading this author's work again.
Wow!!! So much to unpack in this book! 1st of all what the heck up with Jocelyn How ever you spell her name! How dare you bring your child Tormentor In your house! And not see your OWN child struggle with it! Like you was paying Sarah so much attention you couldn't see your child sparing more and more!
I was so sad to see that the other child didn't make It out! I was so pissed that Sarah did that! I know she was brainwashed and everything but damn you didn't have to push the button and burn down the house ugh! The book was really sad read!
I'm so glad that Ella was like nope! I'm not going down without a fight! And proved to Sarah over amd over she had the wrong Freaking one! Thank goodness for her fighting power!
Berry is easily becoming one of my favorite authors her books make you sit and think about what you have read after all you have closed the book! Makes you just sit and stare off and collect yourself
What can I say about this book? Lucinda Berry always catches me with her phenomenal ability to mess with my head.
Ella and Sarah are victims of a sadistic, kidnapping pedophile, John Smith. The events that unfold are told in both past and present. We are taken through the pain this man puts on these girls-one more than the other. One suffers from Stockholm Syndrome, and the other falls into a deep depression.
Now, the nitty gritty... What the actual hell is wrong with Ella's mother, Jocelyn? I've read reviews stating that she has "a heart of gold." The FBI advocate for the girls, Randy, says the same thing. But I didn't see her that way. Everything was about how she felt, how the world would see her like she was the one that just escaped. Jocelyn ignored Ella's needs and wants just because Jocelyn needed to feel better. Nothing was ever about Ella for Jocelyn. When she decided to bring Sarah home with them, Ella and Randy both told her it was a bad idea. Jocelyn wouldn't hear of it because it would make her feel like a shitty person. She completely ignored Ella's cried for help when the girl locked herself in her room, refused to communicate with her, and hated the idea of all the attention her mother was forcing on her. I do mean forced. That poor child had gone through one of the most traumatizing events in anyone's life, and her mother couldn't care less because she needed it for herself.
This woman threw two huge parties, not once considering the distress her daughter was under. She wanted everyone to see she was a good mom and everything was back to normal. Heaven forbid the community look at her like the mother of the girl who escaped a madman. It took Ella to overdose for Jocelyn to finally open her eyes. But only because of how it would make her feel if Ella had died.
What topped the narcissistic cake was when Jocelyn had to break the news to Sarah that Ella wanted her to leave. She made it seem like it was all Ella's fault she had to kick Sarah out of the house. She even told her they could stay in touch. Yeah, 'cause that would go over well with Ella.
Then, because of course, Sarah tries to kill Ella to get her out of the way. Surprisingly, Jocelyn stopped her. But, while Sarah is in psychiatric custody, she writes to Jocelyn, who keeps the letters in a lock box. The girl just tried to kill your daughter, and you still entertain her delusion? It sounds like the second Ella moves out of the house, Jocelyn will try to develop a relationship with Sarah, I say again, the girl who tried to kill her daughter.
Jocelyn shows narcissistic tendencies and makes this whole ordeal about her. Her daughter's pain and suffering are something for her to make people feel bad for her. She doesn't care about anyone but herself.
Regardless, this was a great read! The above is the reason I only gave it 4.5 stars (though, here, it shows 4).
Ella and Sarah are victims of a sadistic, kidnapping pedophile, John Smith. The events that unfold are told in both past and present. We are taken through the pain this man puts on these girls-one more than the other. One suffers from Stockholm Syndrome, and the other falls into a deep depression.
Now, the nitty gritty... What the actual hell is wrong with Ella's mother, Jocelyn? I've read reviews stating that she has "a heart of gold." The FBI advocate for the girls, Randy, says the same thing. But I didn't see her that way. Everything was about how she felt, how the world would see her like she was the one that just escaped. Jocelyn ignored Ella's needs and wants just because Jocelyn needed to feel better. Nothing was ever about Ella for Jocelyn. When she decided to bring Sarah home with them, Ella and Randy both told her it was a bad idea. Jocelyn wouldn't hear of it because it would make her feel like a shitty person. She completely ignored Ella's cried for help when the girl locked herself in her room, refused to communicate with her, and hated the idea of all the attention her mother was forcing on her. I do mean forced. That poor child had gone through one of the most traumatizing events in anyone's life, and her mother couldn't care less because she needed it for herself.
This woman threw two huge parties, not once considering the distress her daughter was under. She wanted everyone to see she was a good mom and everything was back to normal. Heaven forbid the community look at her like the mother of the girl who escaped a madman. It took Ella to overdose for Jocelyn to finally open her eyes. But only because of how it would make her feel if Ella had died.
What topped the narcissistic cake was when Jocelyn had to break the news to Sarah that Ella wanted her to leave. She made it seem like it was all Ella's fault she had to kick Sarah out of the house. She even told her they could stay in touch. Yeah, 'cause that would go over well with Ella.
Then, because of course, Sarah tries to kill Ella to get her out of the way. Surprisingly, Jocelyn stopped her. But, while Sarah is in psychiatric custody, she writes to Jocelyn, who keeps the letters in a lock box. The girl just tried to kill your daughter, and you still entertain her delusion? It sounds like the second Ella moves out of the house, Jocelyn will try to develop a relationship with Sarah, I say again, the girl who tried to kill her daughter.
Jocelyn shows narcissistic tendencies and makes this whole ordeal about her. Her daughter's pain and suffering are something for her to make people feel bad for her. She doesn't care about anyone but herself.
Regardless, this was a great read! The above is the reason I only gave it 4.5 stars (though, here, it shows 4).
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