4 Stars
Truly captivating!
Firstly, I found the concept of the novel itself of interest: locking your little brother in a closet to keep him safe and promising to return to him. Unfortunately, looking back retrospectively, we know that nothing is for certain. Would you keep your loved ones with you to keep them safe or hide them away somewhere hoping for the best?
I loved that the chapters alternate between the Now and Then and the distinguishing feature of different fonts to let the reader know right off (no chapter headings stating when / who is necessary) without much ado.
The characters felt so real that I felt like kicking one in the shin for his stupidity, shaking back to reality from her obsession, and just gather the little girl into my arms for warmth & protection. *Sigh* People can be so brutal and yet, I do believe there is hope…
I only rated this book a 4 because I didn’t particularly like the ending – it’s not a bad ending, in fact, it’s quite realistic but I’m an emotional rater so it’s a 4 because I would have preferred something else :p
Tien's Blurb 