The Puppet Master - Abigail Osborne

Synopsis:
Manipulated by fear and love...could you cut the strings and take back control?

Billie’s hiding from the world, believing it to be the only way to take control of her life as she lives in fear of the man who nearly destroyed her. But what she doesn’t realise is that she’s exactly where he wants her; isolated and afraid. A chance meeting with budding journalist Adam sparks a relationship that could free her from the terror that controls her. But will Adam be able to see the real Billie buried under her terror and pain?

Adam knows exactly who Billie is and is determined to expose her and get justice for the lives she ruined. But first, he needs to convince her to open up to him but as unwanted attraction and feelings blossom between them, Adam is forced to realise that all is not as it seems.

Most of their lives have been unknowingly governed by the desires and needs of someone who considers himself their master. He has influenced and shaped them for years, meticulously weaving a web of lies and control around them. Can Billie and Adam survive the betrayals in store and cut the strings that bind them?

One thing is for sure. The master wants his puppets back – and he’ll do anything to keep them.


Review:

So this book is actually told through 3 points of view, our main character Billie, our supporting character as I like the call them, Adam and then a point of view you don't know who's it is until near the end I suppose.

Automatically we are thrown into the world of Billie and you can tell straight away she has had a terrible past in the way she lives and interacts with everyone around her, its soon in the story that you meet Adam in her perspective and It seem like they both get along quite nicely until the POV changes and you can suddenly tell that Adam has ulterior motives for striking up conversation with her.
 Billie has a past she wants to escape, she's learnt to lock it away and she is just getting by living but as soon as Adam appears everything begins to change.

What's great about these characters is that Adam is persistent and funny, handsome and intelligent and very much protective but also he is easily angered but also gets what he wants. Billie is very excluded from the world, she's not exactly happy and she haunted but around Adam she comes out of her shell and they're literally opposites of each other and you know what they say, Opposites attract. Throughout the story Adam tries to get Billie to open up to him about her pat because he knows there's something in there he needs to know but all the way she refuses to open up even when he opens up first hoping to lure her out. eventually sparks begin to fly between the pair and they both have conflicting feelings about it because Adam doesn't want to love her but he can not and Billie loves him but knows she is in danger if she does.

There's a lot of build up to the end that I feel is 100% worth it. When Billie finally feels comfortable enough to open up and the suspense is at what you think is the most it can be we finally get to see what has traumatised Billie for so long and what has really given Adam motivation in his actions. I physically felt my heart drop and my anger bubble in my blood, it hit me so hard and made me angry because of the other characters that were portrayed in Billies past, if you ever read this book you'll know why, I just hate characters that are so oblivious, rude and horrific.

The book begins in the present day then visits early years and then back to the present day once we have all the information we need, even though the transitions are quite large its very easy to keep track and build up both characters and see them for who and what they really are. The story does have some twists and turns surprise wise for the reader, the author really holds your attention and immerses you into the story where you feel like you're in the scenes, not in physical form but you can see it unfolding like you're invisible right next to them if that makes sense.

I have to give this book a 4.7 out of 5, it's definitely a great read however I just found that it didn't particularly blow me away hard enough to get a 5/5 yet it wasn't a waste of my time to read to get anything lower than a 4,but I enjoyed it none the less. As this is Abigail's debut novel I cant wait to see what else she comes up with because I'll definitely be looking out for her.

If you do want to read this book I don't want to spoil it for you but it doesn't contain the grooming and mild description of child molestation so that is just a warning. I do recommend it to anyone who really loves trying to figure out things just because I was totally unable to do so until the book literally spelt it out for me. Thank you to Faye Rogers who supplied me with a free copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

Caged - Onaiza Khan

Synopsis:

"Keep your mind right, put your body in action and let your spirit guide you.”

These are the words keeping her sane after her husband takes her from India and into isolation in northern Canada. But after three months with only a servant, a television and the screams of another captive keeping her company, she begins to lose touch with reality - even forgetting her own name.
With the help of an unexpected ally, she discovers an inner strength and powers previously unknown; changing her perspective and realigning her past, present and future.

Review:

Our protagonist Noor, is being held by her husband, she hasn't left the house in 3 months, and longs to be free. Her days are consistent, the routine she is used to is suddenly broken when her captor begins to break It in unusual was that seem nice  us but make our character weary which turns my feeling of the actions being nice into being suspicious. After all he has beaten and abused her over her time as his prisoner.

After her routine is broken in small, subtle ways she finds the other human who she has been hearing being tortured and abused. However he is kept differently to her, Noor finds him chained to a chair and in the dark. To anyone normal this is suspicious.
In short they both plot escape, and it works, but she has moments of panic as to whether she can actually trust him, or will she find herself worse of. It turns out that all is not as it seems and it causes Noor to call in toe question the whole 3 months she was held captive in her own home by her husband Daniel.

I felt really odd about this book, at the beginning I was really into it, there was a beautiful and well described dream scene which really had me interested but pretty much everything from there on out wasn't exactly brilliant. The plot itself was actually a very smart and cunning one, you're lead to believe one thing when in fact its something, not entirely but somewhat different. I felt like the story was rushed, that the ending was important and you were needed to get there urgently. The book has potential, it really does, I really thought I'd be absorbed into this book and have emotions and connections to the places and people but I didn't, I felt very little towards each character, I just didn't click with them and I was unable to care for them as much as I usually would.

Its classed as a supernatural thriller, psychological thriller but I'm not really sure I feel comfortable using those genres with this book. I mean it works as s psychological thriller I suppose, but I don't feel like it really emphasised the psychological state of Norah's character.

I really appreciate receiving a copy of this book and that I was asked for an honest review. For those who like fast pace books that you can get through really quickly his is one for you. Though I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would I give this book a 3 out of 5 and I wish Onaiza all the best with the success of Caged and all of her projects in the future.