Kindle Unlimited e-book
Author: Jennifer Hartmann
When Sydney Neville met Oliver Lynch she knew: they’d be together forever. It didn’t matter that she was five. She knew. He knew it too. Form that moment on, they were inseparable…until a fateful night on a 4th of July 22 years ago. Oliver vanished into thin air, leaving a hole in her heart she never managed to fill. She still lives in the same house and her best friend is Oliver’s brother, who’s still her neighbor. To her utter shock, Oliver is found wandering, disoriented, in hazmat suit. He’s alive.
Oliver has spent the last 22 years holed up in a basement, believing the lies his captor fed him. Now free, he has to figure out what is real and what memories are real or fantasies created by a little boy trying to survive. He can’t believe that his most treasured fantasy is actually real – his Sydney.
This is a very compelling book. We are left through most of the book with a feeling of “what the hell happened to Oliver?!” The love story is beautiful and “delicate”. The puppy love proving to be the real thing.
People who follow my reviews know that “mysteries” and “plot twists” never get me. I usually figure out what happened (to my utter annoyance). I did figure out WHO the villain was but was very surprised as to the WHYs and HOWs. Always a bonus in my book!
I loved the side characters, especially Clementine and Gabe, and there’s the addition of two adorable pets who feel right out of a Pixar movie!
Not as dark as I thought it was going to be, but still dealing with some pretty heavy shit. I loved the epilogues so so much!
Possible triggers: grief; kidnapping; living in captivity; sexual abuse of a minor; attempted assault; murder; fire
