Review: Didn't Meet My Expectations
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 12, 2014
This was an okay book... but it was nowhere near as gritty and heart-wrenching as I'd expected it to be. Definitely didn't meet my expectations. *sad face*3 STARS FOR ANNIE & PATRICK!Young, beautiful, rich, American girl, Annie, was kidnapped from her Carribean cruise five years ago and forced into an underworld of sex slavery and drug addiction.Patrick Walsh is a Navy SEAL. On a night off he visits a brothel and when he chooses Annie from a line up of hookers, she recognises it as her final chance to be rescued, so she risks everything and tells him her name, in the hope that he will save her."My name is Annie Hamilton. I'm an American citizen. I was kidnapped from a cruise ship five years ago. You're my last hope. Please save me."Never a man to walk away from somebody in need, or from a challenge, Patrick can't help but return to Annie, despite the trouble it could cause for him, in an attempt to return her safely to her parents in America, who had all but given up hope of ever seeing her again.'They had once been little girls playing make believe, dreaming of princes and castles. But I was no prince. I'd done enough life saving in my time and I'd learned the hard way that I couldn't save them all.'Now, I was so excited to read this book. It isn't often that a book can totally grip me from a blurb alone. Usually it's the hype surrounding the book, the recommendations through word of mouth, reviews from trusted sources, etc. But with this book, I read the book and I had to read it as soon as I could get hold of it. And I have to admit, I was pretty disappointed.This could have been sooooo good. This could have completely blown my mind, broken my heart, made my pulse race, made me cry, filled me with adrenaline and made a huge mark on this indie romance community. But it didn't. It was short, quick, a bit rushed and just not nearly as hard-hitting as I wanted it to be. Everything was wrapped up pretty swiftly, there were no big climaxes, no complications to navigate... Find girl, save girl, bring girl home, get together with girl, the end. It just kind of fell a little flat, really.Invincible is told from Patrick's POV. Now, one thing that I felt this book could have really benefited from was some scenes from Annie's POV. How great would that have been? To get inside her head, see what she'd been through. I wanted to be shocked and horrified. I wanted to be as desperate for her liberation as she was. But as we didn't really get to know Annie until she free, I really wasn't too fussed either way. She was just a statistic to me, albeit one that gives really good head and has an alien tattoo on her ankle. Not really grounds for heartfelt emotional investment in a character."For five years, I've head on to this fantasy that I'd be rescued. I prayed for you, I've dreamt of you. I just knew you were sent for me. You are my only hope."And then, once she was free, (which actually seemed like a pretty painless rescue mission to me... although I'm no expert on rescue missions, so y'know, I could be wrong) I really felt she got over the whole ordeal rather too quickly. Here is a girl who has been sold as a sex slave, passed from place to place, raped and violated repeatedly, been forced to engage in all kinds of unmentionable, unimaginable things at the hands of the absolute scum of society. She's been forcedly addicted to heroine, using the drugs to numb her pain and as the only form of release, she's lost the only friend she had whilst in captivity, lived in complete squalor, stripped of her identity... I mean, she's been in the epitome of living hell for five years. I'd imagine it is virtually impossible to fully recover from this kind of experience. And Annie kind of just slips back into society quite neatly, with the exception of some cold-turkey induced tantrums whilst she detoxes. I just felt like it would have been really fascinating if the author had explored the huge obstacles Annie had to face when returning back to America after such a traumatic ordeal. But she didn't."You aren't invisible - you're invincible."Again, this was just one way that this book felt far too rushed. And then there was the ending which really took the biscuit... *looks shocked* I just felt like the author got a bit bored with writing and just went 'Ah, that'll do.' For me, it wasn't a satisfactory ending at all. Things with Annie and Pat moved waaaay too quickly, completely unrealistically, again there was no real climax and then... bish, bosh bash, The End. Ta daaaa. *jazz hands*Erm, no. I wanted to get to know and love these characters. I'm reading this book because I want to know their story. I don't want a bullet point rendition of what happened to them. I want to know it all!Patrick was okay. He was a bit up his own arse, though. He was very full of the whole 'I'm a Navy SEAL and we are the s***!' thing. He had commitment issues, trust issues, etc. at first, but then just completely forgot they even existed once the author decided she'd had enough of those. But overall, he was a good enough guy and he was pretty adept at saving his damsel in distress, although the guys guarding her didn't exactly seem up to the job. But then, didn't you know, SEALs are awesome badasses who can conquer anything and anyone... so maybe that's why. Who knows?!'In times of war or uncertainty there is a special breed of warrior ready to answer our Nation's call.A common man with uncommon desire to succeed.Forged by adversity, he stands alongside America's finest special operations forces to serve his country, the American people, and protect their way of life.I am that man.'So, what there was of this book was okay. Could have been better, but it was alright. But there wasn't near enough character development, detail, action... anything really. The premise is fantastic, I so wanted to love this book. I thought it was going to rock my socks off! But the execution left so much to be desired in my opinion. I feel like I want to go to the author and go, great, now fill in the gaps and tell me the rest! What a shame.Have you read it? Tell us what you thought?'Invincible' Statistics• Steam Rating (out of 5): ♥♥♥• Ending: Happy ending, but very abrupt.• Length: 157 pages• POV: Patrick's POV.• Narrative: First person. Past tense.• Series: ✗• Can this be read as a standalone? Yes• Themes:Navy SEALKidnapProstitution• Writing: FairReview by Smitten's Book Blog