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Precious and Fragile Things
Gilly Soloman has been reduced to a mothering machine, taking care of everyone and everything except herself. Burned-out and exhausted by the endless days of crying children and menial tasks, Gilly doesn't immediately consider the consequences when she's carjacked. With a knife to her throat, her first thought is that she'll finally get some rest. Someone can save her for a change.
But salvation isn't so forthcoming. Stranded in a remote, snowbound cabin with this stranger, hours turn to days, days into weeks. As time forges a fragile bond between them, she learns her captor is not the lunatic she first believed, but a human being whose wasted life has been shaped by secrets and tragedy. Yet even as their connection begins to foster trust, Gilly knows she must never forget he's still a man teetering on the edge, one who's not about to let her leave. And she cannot stay.
But salvation isn't so forthcoming. Stranded in a remote, snowbound cabin with this stranger, hours turn to days, days into weeks. As time forges a fragile bond between them, she learns her captor is not the lunatic she first believed, but a human being whose wasted life has been shaped by secrets and tragedy. Yet even as their connection begins to foster trust, Gilly knows she must never forget he's still a man teetering on the edge, one who's not about to let her leave. And she cannot stay.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 21, 2010
32 people are currently reading
2198 people want to read
About the author
Megan Hart
263 books4,052 followersMegan Hart has written in almost every genre of romantic fiction, including historical, contemporary, romantic suspense, romantic comedy, futuristic, fantasy and perhaps most notably, erotic. She also writes non-erotic fantasy and science fiction, as well as continuing to occasionally dabble in horror.
--from the author's website
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
For Megan Hart, the nutritionist, click here
--from the author's website
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
For Megan Hart, the nutritionist, click here
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 313 reviews
April 28, 2011
Opening Line: "This was the life she'd made."
I am rapidly reaching the point with Megan Hart that if she were to write a phone book I’m pretty sure I would read it because she’s just that good at making words beautiful. She also manages to put those words into exactly the emotions and private thoughts I assumed I was alone in having while weaving and layering together an achingly thoughtful story. And here with Precious And Fragile Things I’ve learned that she can hold my attention without the erotica too. Because this was so not erotic, it wasn’t even in any way a romance, in fact it was kind of disturbing. Yet in the end I would have to say that it was also amazing, because its lingered with me for days now.
I’ve never read anything like this before, (which I seem to say with each of Hart’s books) 99% of this takes place within a secluded, snowed in, mountain cabin and its here within those 4 walls, in a simple character study that we watch two very different yet equally damaged souls bounce off each other. By all rights this should have been boring and tedious read yet because of Hart’s gifts as a writer I was left utterly entranced.
Gilly Solomon is exhausted. Mentally and physically burnt out from the endless cycle of looking after her house, her husband, and her two young children. All she dreams about is a couple of hour’s peace, a break from the constant crying children, menial tasks, and endless demands to her time, someone to look after her for a change. Gilly’s at a breaking point the night a man jumps into her Suburban, holds a knife to her throat and tells her to drive. She isn’t thinking clearly when she manages to get the children out and she’s definitely lost it when they stop for gas and Gilly doesn’t run….
Now she’s stranded in a remote cabin with a dangerous knife wielding stranger who can’t release her because he fears going back to prison and she’s only got herself to blame. Time however forges a bond of sorts between the captor and the captive and as the snow piles up around them and the days turn into months she learns that her kidnapper -Todd is not the lunatic she first believed. He’s but a man shaped by his horrific past much in the same way Gilly is.
The tension throughout this is palpable by the end though the suspense was killing me because I had absolutely no idea how this was going to play out, and I knew there couldn’t really be any kind of conventional HEA. All I will say about “that” is I was VERY surprised by what did happen and my only disappointment in this book lies here as well, as I would have liked more details on the …afterwards. Cheers people.
I am rapidly reaching the point with Megan Hart that if she were to write a phone book I’m pretty sure I would read it because she’s just that good at making words beautiful. She also manages to put those words into exactly the emotions and private thoughts I assumed I was alone in having while weaving and layering together an achingly thoughtful story. And here with Precious And Fragile Things I’ve learned that she can hold my attention without the erotica too. Because this was so not erotic, it wasn’t even in any way a romance, in fact it was kind of disturbing. Yet in the end I would have to say that it was also amazing, because its lingered with me for days now.
I’ve never read anything like this before, (which I seem to say with each of Hart’s books) 99% of this takes place within a secluded, snowed in, mountain cabin and its here within those 4 walls, in a simple character study that we watch two very different yet equally damaged souls bounce off each other. By all rights this should have been boring and tedious read yet because of Hart’s gifts as a writer I was left utterly entranced.
Gilly Solomon is exhausted. Mentally and physically burnt out from the endless cycle of looking after her house, her husband, and her two young children. All she dreams about is a couple of hour’s peace, a break from the constant crying children, menial tasks, and endless demands to her time, someone to look after her for a change. Gilly’s at a breaking point the night a man jumps into her Suburban, holds a knife to her throat and tells her to drive. She isn’t thinking clearly when she manages to get the children out and she’s definitely lost it when they stop for gas and Gilly doesn’t run….
Now she’s stranded in a remote cabin with a dangerous knife wielding stranger who can’t release her because he fears going back to prison and she’s only got herself to blame. Time however forges a bond of sorts between the captor and the captive and as the snow piles up around them and the days turn into months she learns that her kidnapper -Todd is not the lunatic she first believed. He’s but a man shaped by his horrific past much in the same way Gilly is.
The tension throughout this is palpable by the end though the suspense was killing me because I had absolutely no idea how this was going to play out, and I knew there couldn’t really be any kind of conventional HEA. All I will say about “that” is I was VERY surprised by what did happen and my only disappointment in this book lies here as well, as I would have liked more details on the …afterwards. Cheers people.
January 19, 2011
This was honestly one of the weirdest books I have read in awhile. I picked up 'Precious and Fragile Things' expecting what I usually read by Megan Hart, hot and steamy. Instead I got a crazy guy and a slightly-off mother who are unwillingly stuck together in the middle of the PA mountains.
I literally spent the entire book waiting for the sexy, it is my fault, I should have read the jacket I guess, I am slightly relieved after finishing the book there was no sex, that would have made this book completely unreadable. Both Todd and Gilly are both characters I couldn't relate to and I didn't even really like them. That being said, I had to finish the book so I could find out what happens. The emotions in this book are well written but they were all just messed up. I found myself thinking "What the f***?" quite often.
That is really all I have to say. Maybe if I were a mother or someone with severe psychological trauma I could have understood this book better, but alas, I am neither. I just didn't like this one. If you read this your head will spin, which way however, is up to you. I commend Ms. Hart on a well written tale, this one was just not for me.
I literally spent the entire book waiting for the sexy, it is my fault, I should have read the jacket I guess, I am slightly relieved after finishing the book there was no sex, that would have made this book completely unreadable. Both Todd and Gilly are both characters I couldn't relate to and I didn't even really like them. That being said, I had to finish the book so I could find out what happens. The emotions in this book are well written but they were all just messed up. I found myself thinking "What the f***?" quite often.
That is really all I have to say. Maybe if I were a mother or someone with severe psychological trauma I could have understood this book better, but alas, I am neither. I just didn't like this one. If you read this your head will spin, which way however, is up to you. I commend Ms. Hart on a well written tale, this one was just not for me.
January 22, 2012
4.5 stars
I love Megan Hart’s writing - Broken is hands-down one of my all-time-favourite books. So, probably like other readers (and for sentimental reasons), I was a little perturbed to see her moving away from the erotica for which I know and love her.
But then I got to thinking. What is it that I love about this her books? The answer, most certainly, is not the sex scenes. In fact, though they undoubtedly well-written, that’s probably the very least of it. What I love about this author is that she writes confronting, challenging, thought-provoking stories with gritty realism that really make you think.
That she could do that so well within the erotica genre only serves to highlight her unique talent. I seldom step away from the romance genre these days (with fantasy being the notable exception). Why should or would I? They’re the books that resonate with me, that hold my interest. They’re the stories that focus on the characters and relationships, rather than the action and events. People over plot.
And while Precious and Fragile Things is not a romance, and definitely not erotica, it delivered what I love in spades. A study of characters and relationships in circumstances that were fascinating, complex and confronting. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while.
Megan Hart can write in whatever genre she wants. I’ll definitely still be reading.
She has a way of writing with completely bare-arsed and ballsy realism. Hers are not always comfortable stories and they don’t view the world through a soft-focus lens. She tells it like it really is and allows you to so easily put yourself in shoes of her characters. She takes readers to the kinds of places that are supposed to be kept hidden from polite company. She makes you think about things… admit things. Challenges your moral compass.
And I love her for it.
I love Megan Hart’s writing - Broken is hands-down one of my all-time-favourite books. So, probably like other readers (and for sentimental reasons), I was a little perturbed to see her moving away from the erotica for which I know and love her.
But then I got to thinking. What is it that I love about this her books? The answer, most certainly, is not the sex scenes. In fact, though they undoubtedly well-written, that’s probably the very least of it. What I love about this author is that she writes confronting, challenging, thought-provoking stories with gritty realism that really make you think.
That she could do that so well within the erotica genre only serves to highlight her unique talent. I seldom step away from the romance genre these days (with fantasy being the notable exception). Why should or would I? They’re the books that resonate with me, that hold my interest. They’re the stories that focus on the characters and relationships, rather than the action and events. People over plot.
And while Precious and Fragile Things is not a romance, and definitely not erotica, it delivered what I love in spades. A study of characters and relationships in circumstances that were fascinating, complex and confronting. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while.
Megan Hart can write in whatever genre she wants. I’ll definitely still be reading.
She has a way of writing with completely bare-arsed and ballsy realism. Hers are not always comfortable stories and they don’t view the world through a soft-focus lens. She tells it like it really is and allows you to so easily put yourself in shoes of her characters. She takes readers to the kinds of places that are supposed to be kept hidden from polite company. She makes you think about things… admit things. Challenges your moral compass.
And I love her for it.
December 5, 2020
What a weird little book.
I actually don't know what to say about this book. I have no clue how I'm supposed to feel about these characters. But it definitely made me think and I did find the story compelling.
No rec.
I actually don't know what to say about this book. I have no clue how I'm supposed to feel about these characters. But it definitely made me think and I did find the story compelling.
No rec.
December 23, 2010
Gilly Soloman has a life most women would die for. She’s a stay at home mother married to a wonderful man, who has two adorable children, and even a dog. Gilly is truly living the American dream. But Gilly wants to run away from it all, this life she has made for herself with the stink of spilled milk in the backseat of her car because of her needy children, an always unfinished To Do List, and a husband who only helps out when he feels like it. Gilly can barely function anymore as she longs for release from her personal hell.
As Gilly drives home from her latest time consuming errand, she stops at an ATM. When she gets back in the car, a man holding a knife climbs into the passenger seat. Gilly must stop this madman before he can hurt her or her babies. She crashes the car and helps her children flee, only to be held hostage by the man, who makes her drive without telling her where he plans to take her. Finally when the car needs gas, this gives Gilly the perfect opportunity to get away. But she doesn’t jump out of the car and scream for help. She realizes if she stays, she doesn’t have to return to the constant needing and never-ending demands placed upon her.
Her chain-smoking, knife holding kidnapper, Todd, takes her deep into the woods where he was left a cabin by his uncle. Todd never planned to take Gilly with him, he only wanted her car. But since they are miles from nowhere and a wicked winter storm has arrived, he has no choice but to keep Gilly with him. Gilly does try to escape, to no avail. She hates Todd and longs for her husband and children, but she also has a sense of tranquility, a time to reflect back on her life. Gillys thinks of her mentally unstable mother and how she met her husband Seth. Todd is lonely and afraid, just out of prison with nothing to live for, other than what his uncle has left him and now Gilly. He feels Gilly is a kindred soul, and soon he wonders if he and Gilly can stay in the woods together and build a happy family. Gilly begins to sympathize with Todd and the steps he has taken and why, but as the winter moves on, she longs to return to all she has left behind. She comes to the conclusion how special those precious things really are that once drove her crazy. But Todd refuses to let her go. Now she has another decision to make regarding Todd and how far she will go to get free.
Precious and Fragile Things is the first book I’ve ever by Megan Hart, and one that really opens your mind to those precious things that may drive you crazy sometimes. Told from the point of view of Gilly, this is a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She wants to escape her perfect life and her husband and two young children. She gets her wish when she is carjacked. Gilly comes to a few welcomed conclusions, and how her kidnapper Todd, is not what he seems. These are two very flawed people who come to rely on one another.
Some may view Gilly as selfish. But I saw her as a woman on the verge of despair and hopelessness. Even though her decision to stay with Todd may seem very strange, this gives her the chance to open her eyes to all that she has and how blessed she truly is.
Todd is a sympathetic character that reminds me very much of Bigger Smart, from the classic novel, Native Son by Richard Wright. As Bigger was a product of his environment, the same applies to Todd. He acts the way he does because he’s a desperate man with no hope, much like Gilly is in regards to the downward spiral of her own life. Whereas Gilly suffers mainly in silence, Todd is very vocal. When he tells Gilly what his mother did to him and his siblings as children, your heart will break. Megan slowly builds a shaky camaraderie between these two that can never go farther than the cabin. And the outcome with how Gilly finally ends her relationship with Todd is poetic in a sense.
The one major problem I had with Precious and Fragile Things is a sudden, out of left field shocking admittance on Todd’s part about his mother and uncle’s relationship. This outlandish reveal may stun the reader and would have been left unwritten. I really can’t understand why Megan would add it in the first place. Perhaps to shed light on why Todd turned out the way he did? Even with this issue concerning Todd, and the too pat, questionable ending, I still felt myself drawn in by these two characters and their histories.
Much like Emma Donoghue’s Room is about the power of love, Megan Hart’s Precious and Fragile Things shows how nothing should never be taken for granted. Life is precious in all its forms, and sometimes it takes a disturbing event or an unsettling person to place a mirror up to our faces, much like Todd does with Gilly.
Precious and Fragile Things is a poignant and reflective tale that I urge anyone read. Afterward, you may find yourself holding those you love close and thanking them for loving you in return.
As Gilly drives home from her latest time consuming errand, she stops at an ATM. When she gets back in the car, a man holding a knife climbs into the passenger seat. Gilly must stop this madman before he can hurt her or her babies. She crashes the car and helps her children flee, only to be held hostage by the man, who makes her drive without telling her where he plans to take her. Finally when the car needs gas, this gives Gilly the perfect opportunity to get away. But she doesn’t jump out of the car and scream for help. She realizes if she stays, she doesn’t have to return to the constant needing and never-ending demands placed upon her.
Her chain-smoking, knife holding kidnapper, Todd, takes her deep into the woods where he was left a cabin by his uncle. Todd never planned to take Gilly with him, he only wanted her car. But since they are miles from nowhere and a wicked winter storm has arrived, he has no choice but to keep Gilly with him. Gilly does try to escape, to no avail. She hates Todd and longs for her husband and children, but she also has a sense of tranquility, a time to reflect back on her life. Gillys thinks of her mentally unstable mother and how she met her husband Seth. Todd is lonely and afraid, just out of prison with nothing to live for, other than what his uncle has left him and now Gilly. He feels Gilly is a kindred soul, and soon he wonders if he and Gilly can stay in the woods together and build a happy family. Gilly begins to sympathize with Todd and the steps he has taken and why, but as the winter moves on, she longs to return to all she has left behind. She comes to the conclusion how special those precious things really are that once drove her crazy. But Todd refuses to let her go. Now she has another decision to make regarding Todd and how far she will go to get free.
Precious and Fragile Things is the first book I’ve ever by Megan Hart, and one that really opens your mind to those precious things that may drive you crazy sometimes. Told from the point of view of Gilly, this is a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She wants to escape her perfect life and her husband and two young children. She gets her wish when she is carjacked. Gilly comes to a few welcomed conclusions, and how her kidnapper Todd, is not what he seems. These are two very flawed people who come to rely on one another.
Some may view Gilly as selfish. But I saw her as a woman on the verge of despair and hopelessness. Even though her decision to stay with Todd may seem very strange, this gives her the chance to open her eyes to all that she has and how blessed she truly is.
Todd is a sympathetic character that reminds me very much of Bigger Smart, from the classic novel, Native Son by Richard Wright. As Bigger was a product of his environment, the same applies to Todd. He acts the way he does because he’s a desperate man with no hope, much like Gilly is in regards to the downward spiral of her own life. Whereas Gilly suffers mainly in silence, Todd is very vocal. When he tells Gilly what his mother did to him and his siblings as children, your heart will break. Megan slowly builds a shaky camaraderie between these two that can never go farther than the cabin. And the outcome with how Gilly finally ends her relationship with Todd is poetic in a sense.
The one major problem I had with Precious and Fragile Things is a sudden, out of left field shocking admittance on Todd’s part about his mother and uncle’s relationship. This outlandish reveal may stun the reader and would have been left unwritten. I really can’t understand why Megan would add it in the first place. Perhaps to shed light on why Todd turned out the way he did? Even with this issue concerning Todd, and the too pat, questionable ending, I still felt myself drawn in by these two characters and their histories.
Much like Emma Donoghue’s Room is about the power of love, Megan Hart’s Precious and Fragile Things shows how nothing should never be taken for granted. Life is precious in all its forms, and sometimes it takes a disturbing event or an unsettling person to place a mirror up to our faces, much like Todd does with Gilly.
Precious and Fragile Things is a poignant and reflective tale that I urge anyone read. Afterward, you may find yourself holding those you love close and thanking them for loving you in return.
May 7, 2016
Quick review for a quick read. Dude, I haven't felt so completely conflicted after reading a book in a long while, as far as emotions are concerned. I don't think this book started off on the strongest note, but it had its moments which carried it forward, so it kept me reading. This is one of those stories where I absolutely hated the characters, but I ended up liking the story. (Figure that out.)
Gilly is a woman who's not exactly a model for self-control. She's very flawed - put at her wits end with patience in a life that she should otherwise be thankful for (according to her). Her screaming kids who don't give her a moment's worth of quiet, her husband who seems to be away too much - she longs for having moments to herself and to just get away from it.
In a twist of fate, things get complicated really quickly when a man holds her at knifepoint with her kids in the car. Now this scenario could've gone many, many ways, but Gilly's able to get her kids out of the car and she ends up having a chance to escape. But she doesn't. And I'm like "Woman, what are you doing? Go!" (Which is a very palpable, understandable reaction if this were the kind of story where you're following someone who is in a race for your life/survival situation.)
This is not that kind of story, however. I think it's actually far more messed up than that, considering Gilly doesn't get away from her captor the very moment she has the opportunity. On one hand, she almost welcomes her quieter state of captivity (like WTF?) and yet at the same time she genuinely wants to go back to her family - but it's all twisted up in her head. That's how you know that the two of these characters are more alike than one would think - and that's something that's established from almost the get go. What happens is a steady steamroll of two character studies that feel genuine but at the same time off-putting. Gilly's life expansion is something of a deterioration based on her relationship with her family and her own insecurities. Todd, her captor, is a desperate man who somehow felt he would do one last thing to keep himself from going to prison, but ended up screwing himself over after a series of one tragic events after another in his life. I'll admit there were moments I felt for Todd given what happened to his family and his time in the foster system and his genuine lack of any reliable feminine figures in his life. So he has this confliction of holding on to Gilly because she represents something that pulls him but repels him at the same time.
The scary thing to me is that I could actually see some things that occur in this book happen in real life. It's not a romance - far from it. It's a twisted tale, and I think I realized just how much given the 0-60 the story takes as it marches towards the end. There are lighter moments in the book between the interactions of the characters, but they're tentative and fleeting. I thought the first twist towards the end involving Gilly was brilliant, because it made sense and I wasn't expecting it at all. (Though given the signs, I should've known. I keep wracking my brain like "Rose, you should've seen that coming, the signs were THERE, for crying out loud." Nope, I didn't.) Second twist, to me wasn't that great and I felt like it was undermining given Todd's situation (like his life wasn't already messed up as it was, plus the reveal just felt like it came out of almost nowhere and contrary to something that was presented as fact in the story.).
Third twist just turned this book into morbidly dark territory for all it was worth. I think the "Precious and Fragile Things" that are referenced in the title might be the fragile hold these characters had onto so many aspects of their life and psyche.
This was a good book - didn't like the characters but really appreciated the story. At the same time it was hard to read - some parts in good ways but others I think the execution could've been a bit better.
P.S. I blame this book for getting "Precious" by Depeche Mode stuck in my head. It fits better than one would think.
Overall score: 4/5 stars.
Gilly is a woman who's not exactly a model for self-control. She's very flawed - put at her wits end with patience in a life that she should otherwise be thankful for (according to her). Her screaming kids who don't give her a moment's worth of quiet, her husband who seems to be away too much - she longs for having moments to herself and to just get away from it.
In a twist of fate, things get complicated really quickly when a man holds her at knifepoint with her kids in the car. Now this scenario could've gone many, many ways, but Gilly's able to get her kids out of the car and she ends up having a chance to escape. But she doesn't. And I'm like "Woman, what are you doing? Go!" (Which is a very palpable, understandable reaction if this were the kind of story where you're following someone who is in a race for your life/survival situation.)
This is not that kind of story, however. I think it's actually far more messed up than that, considering Gilly doesn't get away from her captor the very moment she has the opportunity. On one hand, she almost welcomes her quieter state of captivity (like WTF?) and yet at the same time she genuinely wants to go back to her family - but it's all twisted up in her head. That's how you know that the two of these characters are more alike than one would think - and that's something that's established from almost the get go. What happens is a steady steamroll of two character studies that feel genuine but at the same time off-putting. Gilly's life expansion is something of a deterioration based on her relationship with her family and her own insecurities. Todd, her captor, is a desperate man who somehow felt he would do one last thing to keep himself from going to prison, but ended up screwing himself over after a series of one tragic events after another in his life. I'll admit there were moments I felt for Todd given what happened to his family and his time in the foster system and his genuine lack of any reliable feminine figures in his life. So he has this confliction of holding on to Gilly because she represents something that pulls him but repels him at the same time.
The scary thing to me is that I could actually see some things that occur in this book happen in real life. It's not a romance - far from it. It's a twisted tale, and I think I realized just how much given the 0-60 the story takes as it marches towards the end. There are lighter moments in the book between the interactions of the characters, but they're tentative and fleeting. I thought the first twist towards the end involving Gilly was brilliant, because it made sense and I wasn't expecting it at all. (Though given the signs, I should've known. I keep wracking my brain like "Rose, you should've seen that coming, the signs were THERE, for crying out loud." Nope, I didn't.) Second twist, to me wasn't that great and I felt like it was undermining given Todd's situation (like his life wasn't already messed up as it was, plus the reveal just felt like it came out of almost nowhere and contrary to something that was presented as fact in the story.).
Third twist just turned this book into morbidly dark territory for all it was worth. I think the "Precious and Fragile Things" that are referenced in the title might be the fragile hold these characters had onto so many aspects of their life and psyche.
This was a good book - didn't like the characters but really appreciated the story. At the same time it was hard to read - some parts in good ways but others I think the execution could've been a bit better.
P.S. I blame this book for getting "Precious" by Depeche Mode stuck in my head. It fits better than one would think.
Overall score: 4/5 stars.
April 17, 2015
I wavered between giving this book a 3 or a 4. Finally settled on a 4 because this book isn't getting enough love.
I can't say that I loved this book.
It was disturbing to say the least.
And I can't say I liked either of the characters.
But it was different and engaging. Kind of like a horror show. Certainly not a romance.
I can't say that I loved this book.
It was disturbing to say the least.
And I can't say I liked either of the characters.
But it was different and engaging. Kind of like a horror show. Certainly not a romance.
December 27, 2010
:Some Spoilers:
Precious and Fragile Things is about Gilly Soloman, a worn out mom who craves escape, who wants just a few precious moments that belong to herself. Salvation - oh how she'd wish someone would just take her away so she wouldn't have to stew in her own life.
Needless to say, I don't think getting kidnapped was her exact ideal, but that's exactly what happened. More or less. Only this isn't your standard crazy man takes women hostage story.
It's goes a whole lot deeper. This is a powerful story about one woman's mistake and another mans misery.
Trapped, snow bound. A fragile relationship, an unnamed bond, how two people were thrown together and how it changed there very souls.
Wow! Where to begin? There is so much I want to say but I don't want to overly spoil anything. There are a lot of emotions running through my head right now that I honestly don't know how I feel. This was such a sensational read. Hart took these characters and made them feel so real that you constantly didn't know where and what you wanted for them.
If it wasn't such a dire situation, it would almost be comical.
Gilly is a hard characters for me. I can't say that I particular liked her because she did something completely stupid.
I hate that word, but there it is.
See, I'm a mother of two very energetic boys, so I understand the need for escape. Just five minutes to relax, to do something, anything without the constant yelling, pulling and pushing. I totally hear where Gilly is coming from. But! To actually be a willing victim just to escape a life of screaming children is just crazy talk.
Seriously, Gilly had that one chance to run and she.didn't.take it.
Bring the dog to the vet? Bring my daughter to ballet? Landry?
No no no, I rather stay in the car with this crazy guy with the knife. Lets see where he'll take me next and maybe I wont die, but I'll be away from my life...if only for a moment. Realllly? What.the.hell.
Eventually she snaps out of it and regrets her idiotic decision, but still, little too late there lady. Later on as the story goes on I felt more sympathy towards her, understanding her a lot more.
Three words that would describe Gilly? Selfish. Depressed. Human.
Then there's Todd, okay, I know I'm suppose to hate him, but I just can't. Yes he kinda kidnapped Gilly, but he didn't actually want her, he was just aiming for her truck. She's the idoit who stayed, but I'm getting off topic, Todd, he's a pretty messed up dude I gotta tell ya, but he's not evil, hell, he's not even bad. I found myself feeling so sorry for him. His whole life was tragic and cruel and my heart really went out to him. I don't want to sound like what he did was right, cause it wasn't. It's horrific and tragic to put someone through something like this, even if it's not his intent.
Three words to describe Todd? Lonely. Fragile. Human.
Still, the very odd friendship between Gilly and Todd is like no other I've ever read. These are two very complex characters who hold a lot of emotional baggage in a situation that's mucked up, extreme, intense and gripping. It was a hard story to process since I was constantly changing my opinion about them. There was a lot of heart in some of these scenes, heart I didn't expect to find actually, so it was really great to see. The way they handled one another was pretty incredible.
I love stories that can totally sucks you in a situation and wont let go. It pulls on your heart strings and makes you feel a wide range of emotions from pissed off to tears.
Very compelling indeed.
The ending was something I'll never forget though. It completely broke me. Was it right? Was it wrong? Could something else be done? Did it really have to end that way? I don't actually have an answer and I guess in it's own way it was the best for these characters, but still, I lay awake at night thinking about it since it felt so sudden and shocking. Definitely something I'll never forget.
Megan Hart is a very talented author and while I've only read her erotic pieces, I hope that she'll write more books like this. I don't know how to define this one, surely not romance, maybe a thriller? How ever it's labeled, it's nice to be able to enjoy her books without the constant steamy, smoldering and sexy that are laced in her other books, not that I mind them, but sometimes they can be a little to much.
This was very, very well done.
An exceptional story about how tragedy can open ones eyes and another about finally finding something to live for, even if it was...just in these moments.
Arc provided by Netgalley.
Precious and Fragile Things is about Gilly Soloman, a worn out mom who craves escape, who wants just a few precious moments that belong to herself. Salvation - oh how she'd wish someone would just take her away so she wouldn't have to stew in her own life.
Needless to say, I don't think getting kidnapped was her exact ideal, but that's exactly what happened. More or less. Only this isn't your standard crazy man takes women hostage story.
It's goes a whole lot deeper. This is a powerful story about one woman's mistake and another mans misery.
Trapped, snow bound. A fragile relationship, an unnamed bond, how two people were thrown together and how it changed there very souls.
Wow! Where to begin? There is so much I want to say but I don't want to overly spoil anything. There are a lot of emotions running through my head right now that I honestly don't know how I feel. This was such a sensational read. Hart took these characters and made them feel so real that you constantly didn't know where and what you wanted for them.
If it wasn't such a dire situation, it would almost be comical.
Gilly is a hard characters for me. I can't say that I particular liked her because she did something completely stupid.
I hate that word, but there it is.
See, I'm a mother of two very energetic boys, so I understand the need for escape. Just five minutes to relax, to do something, anything without the constant yelling, pulling and pushing. I totally hear where Gilly is coming from. But! To actually be a willing victim just to escape a life of screaming children is just crazy talk.
Seriously, Gilly had that one chance to run and she.didn't.take it.
Bring the dog to the vet? Bring my daughter to ballet? Landry?
No no no, I rather stay in the car with this crazy guy with the knife. Lets see where he'll take me next and maybe I wont die, but I'll be away from my life...if only for a moment. Realllly? What.the.hell.
Eventually she snaps out of it and regrets her idiotic decision, but still, little too late there lady. Later on as the story goes on I felt more sympathy towards her, understanding her a lot more.
Three words that would describe Gilly? Selfish. Depressed. Human.
Then there's Todd, okay, I know I'm suppose to hate him, but I just can't. Yes he kinda kidnapped Gilly, but he didn't actually want her, he was just aiming for her truck. She's the idoit who stayed, but I'm getting off topic, Todd, he's a pretty messed up dude I gotta tell ya, but he's not evil, hell, he's not even bad. I found myself feeling so sorry for him. His whole life was tragic and cruel and my heart really went out to him. I don't want to sound like what he did was right, cause it wasn't. It's horrific and tragic to put someone through something like this, even if it's not his intent.
Three words to describe Todd? Lonely. Fragile. Human.
Still, the very odd friendship between Gilly and Todd is like no other I've ever read. These are two very complex characters who hold a lot of emotional baggage in a situation that's mucked up, extreme, intense and gripping. It was a hard story to process since I was constantly changing my opinion about them. There was a lot of heart in some of these scenes, heart I didn't expect to find actually, so it was really great to see. The way they handled one another was pretty incredible.
I love stories that can totally sucks you in a situation and wont let go. It pulls on your heart strings and makes you feel a wide range of emotions from pissed off to tears.
Very compelling indeed.
The ending was something I'll never forget though. It completely broke me. Was it right? Was it wrong? Could something else be done? Did it really have to end that way? I don't actually have an answer and I guess in it's own way it was the best for these characters, but still, I lay awake at night thinking about it since it felt so sudden and shocking. Definitely something I'll never forget.
Megan Hart is a very talented author and while I've only read her erotic pieces, I hope that she'll write more books like this. I don't know how to define this one, surely not romance, maybe a thriller? How ever it's labeled, it's nice to be able to enjoy her books without the constant steamy, smoldering and sexy that are laced in her other books, not that I mind them, but sometimes they can be a little to much.
This was very, very well done.
An exceptional story about how tragedy can open ones eyes and another about finally finding something to live for, even if it was...just in these moments.
Arc provided by Netgalley.
February 24, 2011
There was a lot that I liked about this book. The complexity of the abductor/abductee relationship is one I truly hadn't considered before, and Hart skillfully elucidates the humanity of this novel's "villain" while carefully and meticulously developing the narrator's conflicted feelings toward him. However, there were also many things that bothered me about this book. First, without spoiling anything, the initial decision Gilly makes (which sets the plot into motion) really rang ridiculous to me. And trust me...I have felt exactly as she did in that opening scene (harried frazzled mother at the end of her rope)...but I truly do not know a single mother who would have made the same rash decision that she did. I also felt like some of the metaphors (the roses, the roses) were overwrought. But most importantly, I had a fundamental issue with the narrator. By the end of the novel, I found Todd (the abductor) a thousand times more likable and sympathetic and (most importantly) authentic than Gilly. It is for this reason that the ending was not only incongruous to the rest of the story but abrupt and unearned as well. I am torn about this novel. Some might be willing to forgive those little thorns (sorry) that bothered me.
March 15, 2011
Let me start off by saying that if you've ever read a Megan Hart book before, be warned; this is NOTHING like her erotic fiction novels. If you've had the extreme pleasure of reading one of her novels then you are aware at how extraordinary a writer this woman is. One of my absolute favorite things about Megan's books are that she writes raw, realistic emotions that people truly experience. Life is not always fluff, nice, and the feelings of falling inlove. Sex is not always graceful and earth shattering as we read so often in all those delicious romance novels. Megan captures that and this book takes the cake, in my opinion, for capturing those real honest feelings.
Anyone who is a mother knows the joy that comes from having children. Having a child is like removing your heart from your body and letting it walk around outside all the time. Having said that, anyone who is a mother also knows the difficulties of being a mother. No privacy, no time for yourself, never being finished, always fixing things, feeding someone, the list goes on and on. In "Precious and Fragile Things", Gilly is a stay at home mom to two kids. She is the epitome of a selfless mother that never has anything for herself nor requires it. She loves her husband and her kids and makes sure their needs are met and taken care of above all else. When one lives a life like this 24/7, it begins to take its toll. Underneath everything, we are human, and selfish in the sense that we want things for ourselves too; and Gilly desperately wants something for her, someone to take care of her, to just have peace and quiet. One scene in particular could've been a line from my life personally. She goes to Wal-Mart food shopping after her husband gets home from work and spends as much time there as possible, just to have time for herself!! She takes the long way home and cranks the stereo to music she can't listen to with the kids in the car. This is so true! I live this life!!
Gilly is running errands with her two kids when a carjacker comes into her car and pulls a knife on her. Instantly the primal mother protector instinct kicks in and she takes action literally "dumping" her kids out the window infront of an old farmhouse. As scared as she is, as worried as she is for her kids, she can't help but enjoy the silence. No one asking her for anything, no one bothering her, just silence and peace. As she continues to drive with the man beside her, she pulls into a gas station and he gives her a perfect chance to make a run for it, and she doesn't.
As the story unfolds her kidnapper takes her to an old hunting cabin left to him by his uncle. Just as they are pulling in a huge snowstorm dumps a ton of snow onto the area they are, on top of a mountain, and strands them there together, with no way of getting out.
Three months they spend together and they develop a relationship. The kidnapper, Todd, comes from an absolutely horrifying past that explains a lot of reasons why he is the way he is. Gilly becomes a comforter to him and he to her in ways that her husband never could.
This book has ZERO romance or sex in it, but I didn't miss it. The incredible way these characters were written made them come to life right out of the page for me. It seems funny to say and possibly even a bit morbid, but I found myself actually "liking" Todd and wanting something good to happen to him.
I will not give away the rest of this story as I think it's probably one of the best books I've ever read and therefore, if you're reading this review, you should read it too. It will make you think and possibly even admit to having very similar feelings as those that Gilly has. It's not wrong to feel the way that we do, but sometimes it takes the unthinkable to really make us appreciate what's really good in our lives. FIVE STARS
Anyone who is a mother knows the joy that comes from having children. Having a child is like removing your heart from your body and letting it walk around outside all the time. Having said that, anyone who is a mother also knows the difficulties of being a mother. No privacy, no time for yourself, never being finished, always fixing things, feeding someone, the list goes on and on. In "Precious and Fragile Things", Gilly is a stay at home mom to two kids. She is the epitome of a selfless mother that never has anything for herself nor requires it. She loves her husband and her kids and makes sure their needs are met and taken care of above all else. When one lives a life like this 24/7, it begins to take its toll. Underneath everything, we are human, and selfish in the sense that we want things for ourselves too; and Gilly desperately wants something for her, someone to take care of her, to just have peace and quiet. One scene in particular could've been a line from my life personally. She goes to Wal-Mart food shopping after her husband gets home from work and spends as much time there as possible, just to have time for herself!! She takes the long way home and cranks the stereo to music she can't listen to with the kids in the car. This is so true! I live this life!!
Gilly is running errands with her two kids when a carjacker comes into her car and pulls a knife on her. Instantly the primal mother protector instinct kicks in and she takes action literally "dumping" her kids out the window infront of an old farmhouse. As scared as she is, as worried as she is for her kids, she can't help but enjoy the silence. No one asking her for anything, no one bothering her, just silence and peace. As she continues to drive with the man beside her, she pulls into a gas station and he gives her a perfect chance to make a run for it, and she doesn't.
As the story unfolds her kidnapper takes her to an old hunting cabin left to him by his uncle. Just as they are pulling in a huge snowstorm dumps a ton of snow onto the area they are, on top of a mountain, and strands them there together, with no way of getting out.
Three months they spend together and they develop a relationship. The kidnapper, Todd, comes from an absolutely horrifying past that explains a lot of reasons why he is the way he is. Gilly becomes a comforter to him and he to her in ways that her husband never could.
This book has ZERO romance or sex in it, but I didn't miss it. The incredible way these characters were written made them come to life right out of the page for me. It seems funny to say and possibly even a bit morbid, but I found myself actually "liking" Todd and wanting something good to happen to him.
I will not give away the rest of this story as I think it's probably one of the best books I've ever read and therefore, if you're reading this review, you should read it too. It will make you think and possibly even admit to having very similar feelings as those that Gilly has. It's not wrong to feel the way that we do, but sometimes it takes the unthinkable to really make us appreciate what's really good in our lives. FIVE STARS
March 7, 2011
A woman who hates the life she made for herself gets all happy about abandoning her kids and husband when she is kidnapped. I barely made it a few paragraphs into the third chapter. I hated her too much, and the premise was making me mad. I skimmed the end and let's just say that I am ridiculously happy I didn't waste the precious little non-law school time I have reading this mess.
November 14, 2011
Ugh, okay. *deep breath*
This book left me really depressed and just empty feeling. I would have written this review yesterday but I was too busy crying myself to sleep. Megan Hart never ceases to pull the tears out of me--and yet I keep coming back for more!
I now feel like a total douche for always ragging on my cousin after she calls me sobbing having just finished watching some film adaptation of a Jane Austen novel. I am convinced that the Pride & Prejudice movie is her emotional kryptonite and have even gone as far as to tell her as much, and yet, EVERY TIME that friggin movie comes on the tele (which is quite often I'm afraid), she is there watching it (and then crying on my shoulder afterward) because she can't not watch it. Well, the same can now be said about me with Megan Hart novels. I know I should just say no, and yet the second I notice a new one of her novels has been published I am at the ready to consume it--and then have the audacity to be surprised afterward when I am reduced to a sniveling little girl. Friggin masochists, man!
Moving on...
I felt like a deplorable human being while reading this book. If a situation such as the premise of this novel were to take place in reality, common society or morality or whatever would demand that I detest the abductor and feel for the abductee. Thankfully this was a work of fiction though because it was just the opposite for me.
The story is told through the voice of the "abductee" and she was so detached and cold towards everything (including her family and her seemingly cozy life) that I couldn't help but feel that way towards her myself. She even admits on several occasions that she willingly put herself in the situation she found herself in. Then she would describe her captor as having a childlike innocence and a sweet nature to him that it was never really hard pressed that he was actually the "bad guy" but rather ambiguously so? And I'm not talking Stockholm Syndrome either. I kept expecting the story to go there, but thankfully I don't think it ever truly crossed that line, though it skated awfully close to it at times... making this all the more uncomfortable to read. (Nice job, Megan Hart!)
Then once the "bad guy's" secret past is revealed my heart just ached for him all the more! (actual freakin tears, people!) He then became the ultimate victim in my eyes, and (for me) she became the emotional bad guy. I attribute this to the wonder that is Megan Hart's writing. She had me sympathizing for a knife-wielding abductor of a mother with two young children!!! I'm not going to lie, I felt dirty at times. That's the beauty of this author's writing though. She is so keen on writing human emotion that I can't help but feel that this emotional mind-f*ck was actually her intent. (that or I am just as warped as the characters in this book...)
...
Ultimately, these two characters were placed in an impossible lose-lose situation where they were both screwed one way or another.
In the end, she was the one & only silver-lining he'd ever experienced in his entire wretched existence in which he was constantly kicked, poked and slapped down and never given a chance. And he was the slap in the face that she had been needing in her life to make her wake-up and appreciate all that she had.
Story aside, I do have some critiques on the writing of this one which is actually what makes me score this one with a 3.75 rating.
For my money, this author is a must-read. She writes with such emotion and depth and creates an atmosphere where you really become part of the story. In this one, however, the writing seemed a bit rushed at times and there was something missing that I've come to expect from her writing. It felt like she had run out of time and had to meet her deadline and as such this story suffered because of it. The story still comes across, but it was definitely lacking in detail. Also the entire novel is a build up to the end, which sadly, if you blinked you missed it! It was all wrapped up in literally two pages!! I walked away from this one feeling a little cheated in some way. It's hard to explain.
This book left me really depressed and just empty feeling. I would have written this review yesterday but I was too busy crying myself to sleep. Megan Hart never ceases to pull the tears out of me--and yet I keep coming back for more!
I now feel like a total douche for always ragging on my cousin after she calls me sobbing having just finished watching some film adaptation of a Jane Austen novel. I am convinced that the Pride & Prejudice movie is her emotional kryptonite and have even gone as far as to tell her as much, and yet, EVERY TIME that friggin movie comes on the tele (which is quite often I'm afraid), she is there watching it (and then crying on my shoulder afterward) because she can't not watch it. Well, the same can now be said about me with Megan Hart novels. I know I should just say no, and yet the second I notice a new one of her novels has been published I am at the ready to consume it--and then have the audacity to be surprised afterward when I am reduced to a sniveling little girl. Friggin masochists, man!
Moving on...
I felt like a deplorable human being while reading this book. If a situation such as the premise of this novel were to take place in reality, common society or morality or whatever would demand that I detest the abductor and feel for the abductee. Thankfully this was a work of fiction though because it was just the opposite for me.
The story is told through the voice of the "abductee" and she was so detached and cold towards everything (including her family and her seemingly cozy life) that I couldn't help but feel that way towards her myself. She even admits on several occasions that she willingly put herself in the situation she found herself in. Then she would describe her captor as having a childlike innocence and a sweet nature to him that it was never really hard pressed that he was actually the "bad guy" but rather ambiguously so? And I'm not talking Stockholm Syndrome either. I kept expecting the story to go there, but thankfully I don't think it ever truly crossed that line, though it skated awfully close to it at times... making this all the more uncomfortable to read. (Nice job, Megan Hart!)
Then once the "bad guy's" secret past is revealed my heart just ached for him all the more! (actual freakin tears, people!) He then became the ultimate victim in my eyes, and (for me) she became the emotional bad guy. I attribute this to the wonder that is Megan Hart's writing. She had me sympathizing for a knife-wielding abductor of a mother with two young children!!! I'm not going to lie, I felt dirty at times. That's the beauty of this author's writing though. She is so keen on writing human emotion that I can't help but feel that this emotional mind-f*ck was actually her intent. (that or I am just as warped as the characters in this book...)
...
Ultimately, these two characters were placed in an impossible lose-lose situation where they were both screwed one way or another.
In the end, she was the one & only silver-lining he'd ever experienced in his entire wretched existence in which he was constantly kicked, poked and slapped down and never given a chance. And he was the slap in the face that she had been needing in her life to make her wake-up and appreciate all that she had.
Story aside, I do have some critiques on the writing of this one which is actually what makes me score this one with a 3.75 rating.
For my money, this author is a must-read. She writes with such emotion and depth and creates an atmosphere where you really become part of the story. In this one, however, the writing seemed a bit rushed at times and there was something missing that I've come to expect from her writing. It felt like she had run out of time and had to meet her deadline and as such this story suffered because of it. The story still comes across, but it was definitely lacking in detail. Also the entire novel is a build up to the end, which sadly, if you blinked you missed it! It was all wrapped up in literally two pages!! I walked away from this one feeling a little cheated in some way. It's hard to explain.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 22, 2016
A standalone psychological suspense of a a woman relieved when she's carjacked.
My Take
I don't think I've ever cried so hard at the end of a story. Hart is the most amazing writer. She looks into the heads of average people and brings them to life. In Precious and Fragile Things, we share Gillian Solomon's frustration with her kids as she's struggling to finish her errands and get home all with the chant of "mama, mama, mama" piercing her brain.
So it's understandable that she collapses into inertia once she has protected her children, and it's only her at her kidnapper's mercy.
The start just sets the background, so we understand why Gillian is so compliant at first. As we get deeper in, we learn more about her traumatic childhood and why she behaves as she does with her own children. The effort she puts in to counter her mother's influences. Through her kidnapper Gilly learns to see herself from an outside perspective. Her reactions, her anger, her love for her children. Her realizations about her husband.
Further in, we begin to learn about Todd. What drives him. His childhood experiences and how they shaped him. The dreams he realizes will never be realized. Finally we learn his true intentions, which Gillian helps him achieve. Oh god…I can't believe she did it. I cried huge sobbing tears. Such a waste of a person. It's a good argument for forcing people to apply for a parenting license. Enforced sterilization until people prove they will do their best and are ready to be parents. We obviously can't help traumatized children with our current system, and I so hate that children, babies, suffer like this.
Reading this particular story of Hart's has made me realize just why I prefer my more usual fictional interests. I empathize too much with the story's characters. Yes, I know they're not real. The problem is that they are representative of people and children who do exist. And I hate it.
Life is hard enough without witnessing the horror of other peoples' lives.
The Story
Gilly Soloman has been reduced to a mothering machine, taking care of everyone and everything except herself. But the machine has broken down. Burnt out by the endless days of crying children and menial tasks, and exhausted from always putting herself last, Gilly doesn't immediately consider the consequences when she's carjacked.
With a knife to her throat, her first thought is that she'll finally get some rest. Someone can save "her" for a change. But salvation isn't so forthcoming.
Stranded in a remote, snowbound cabin with this stranger, hours turn to days, days into weeks. As time forges a fragile bond between them, she learns her captor is not the lunatic she first believed, but a human being whose wasted life has been shaped by secrets and tragedy. Yet even as their connection begins to foster trust, Gilly knows she must never forget he's still a man teetering on the edge. One who just might take her with him.
The Characters
Gillian Soloman is a mother on the edge. Seth is her husband.
Todd is the kidnapper.
The Cover and Title
The cover is absolutely fabulous. Todd has taken Gillian to his Uncle Bill's cabin up in the woods in January and shortly after they arrive it begins to snow. The little bit of news they can get over the radio is that it's the storm of the century.
The title, precious and fragile things, is also perfect, as it's about children. How very precious and fragile they are. Meant to be protected
My Take
I don't think I've ever cried so hard at the end of a story. Hart is the most amazing writer. She looks into the heads of average people and brings them to life. In Precious and Fragile Things, we share Gillian Solomon's frustration with her kids as she's struggling to finish her errands and get home all with the chant of "mama, mama, mama" piercing her brain.
So it's understandable that she collapses into inertia once she has protected her children, and it's only her at her kidnapper's mercy.
The start just sets the background, so we understand why Gillian is so compliant at first. As we get deeper in, we learn more about her traumatic childhood and why she behaves as she does with her own children. The effort she puts in to counter her mother's influences. Through her kidnapper Gilly learns to see herself from an outside perspective. Her reactions, her anger, her love for her children. Her realizations about her husband.
Further in, we begin to learn about Todd. What drives him. His childhood experiences and how they shaped him. The dreams he realizes will never be realized. Finally we learn his true intentions, which Gillian helps him achieve. Oh god…I can't believe she did it. I cried huge sobbing tears. Such a waste of a person. It's a good argument for forcing people to apply for a parenting license. Enforced sterilization until people prove they will do their best and are ready to be parents. We obviously can't help traumatized children with our current system, and I so hate that children, babies, suffer like this.
Reading this particular story of Hart's has made me realize just why I prefer my more usual fictional interests. I empathize too much with the story's characters. Yes, I know they're not real. The problem is that they are representative of people and children who do exist. And I hate it.
Life is hard enough without witnessing the horror of other peoples' lives.
The Story
Gilly Soloman has been reduced to a mothering machine, taking care of everyone and everything except herself. But the machine has broken down. Burnt out by the endless days of crying children and menial tasks, and exhausted from always putting herself last, Gilly doesn't immediately consider the consequences when she's carjacked.
With a knife to her throat, her first thought is that she'll finally get some rest. Someone can save "her" for a change. But salvation isn't so forthcoming.
Stranded in a remote, snowbound cabin with this stranger, hours turn to days, days into weeks. As time forges a fragile bond between them, she learns her captor is not the lunatic she first believed, but a human being whose wasted life has been shaped by secrets and tragedy. Yet even as their connection begins to foster trust, Gilly knows she must never forget he's still a man teetering on the edge. One who just might take her with him.
The Characters
Gillian Soloman is a mother on the edge. Seth is her husband.
Todd is the kidnapper.
The Cover and Title
The cover is absolutely fabulous. Todd has taken Gillian to his Uncle Bill's cabin up in the woods in January and shortly after they arrive it begins to snow. The little bit of news they can get over the radio is that it's the storm of the century.
The title, precious and fragile things, is also perfect, as it's about children. How very precious and fragile they are. Meant to be protected
Do not go gentle into that good night…
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
May 4, 2011
Despite the ignorant and/or stubborn booksellers that continue to place Precious and Fragile Things in the romance section, to the frustration of Megan Hart and her many fans, this is NOT a romance. Instead, this is one of my favorite erotic romance author’s first forays into general fiction.
Right out the gate, it becomes clear that Gilly is a woman on the edge. She’s running errands with her 2 young children in the backseat and her inner dialogue is hilarious. What she says to her children and what she wants to say to her children are vastly different. At home, she has a husband, Seth, who loves and desires her, but he doesn’t help enough with their children and he keeps Gilly on an extremely tight budget. And maybe that frustration is why sex with her husband, lately, has felt more like a chore. For Gilly, there’s no greater pleasure than a few solitary evening hours in her home, when her family is asleep.
After Gilly ushers her children to safety in the midst of a carjacking, but later remains in the car, even after her abductor, Todd, has clearly given her an opportunity to escape, you know you’ve never read about a woman quite like Gilly :) She is confident that someone will eventually come and rescue her, so she enjoys the quiet in the secluded hunting cabin with Todd. The sleeping in. The not taking care of kids & husband. Todd is even cooking for her. Taking care of her….They are playing board games…Todd wants Gilly to like him…and slowly, they begin to share information about their respective lives. It’s a nice change of pace, despite the fact that he’s dangerous and unpredictable and took her at knife point…
Once Gilly begins to miss her family and realizes that Todd has no intention of ever releasing her, she realizes the gravity of her mistake. Despite the ups and downs of Gilly and Todd – the hurting…and the being nice – going both ways, a tension remains because Todd wants her to stay, and Gilly wants to leave.
I found myself rooting for a good outcome for everyone. Especially after learning about Todd’s horrific, tragic upbringing. Another GR review gave an obvious hint, and sadly, that took away some of the impact of the “reveal” when I read this, so I will just conclude by saying this was a moving story I won’t soon forget. I will gladly follow author Megan Hart for any future general fiction releases.
Right out the gate, it becomes clear that Gilly is a woman on the edge. She’s running errands with her 2 young children in the backseat and her inner dialogue is hilarious. What she says to her children and what she wants to say to her children are vastly different. At home, she has a husband, Seth, who loves and desires her, but he doesn’t help enough with their children and he keeps Gilly on an extremely tight budget. And maybe that frustration is why sex with her husband, lately, has felt more like a chore. For Gilly, there’s no greater pleasure than a few solitary evening hours in her home, when her family is asleep.
After Gilly ushers her children to safety in the midst of a carjacking, but later remains in the car, even after her abductor, Todd, has clearly given her an opportunity to escape, you know you’ve never read about a woman quite like Gilly :) She is confident that someone will eventually come and rescue her, so she enjoys the quiet in the secluded hunting cabin with Todd. The sleeping in. The not taking care of kids & husband. Todd is even cooking for her. Taking care of her….They are playing board games…Todd wants Gilly to like him…and slowly, they begin to share information about their respective lives. It’s a nice change of pace, despite the fact that he’s dangerous and unpredictable and took her at knife point…
Once Gilly begins to miss her family and realizes that Todd has no intention of ever releasing her, she realizes the gravity of her mistake. Despite the ups and downs of Gilly and Todd – the hurting…and the being nice – going both ways, a tension remains because Todd wants her to stay, and Gilly wants to leave.
I found myself rooting for a good outcome for everyone. Especially after learning about Todd’s horrific, tragic upbringing. Another GR review gave an obvious hint, and sadly, that took away some of the impact of the “reveal” when I read this, so I will just conclude by saying this was a moving story I won’t soon forget. I will gladly follow author Megan Hart for any future general fiction releases.
November 29, 2017
2.5 stars. The middle was too drawn out and the ending too rushed. Could have been half as long with the same story.
December 27, 2010
I admit that at first I wasn't really sure if I could adore this book as much as I do the rest of Ms Hart's work. You ask yourself why? This is NOT a romance or erotica. *enjoys the stunned silence* I knew I would enjoy reading it. Her writing never fails to grab my attention, but I for my part was a bit unsure if I just love her books because they are romance. But as it seems I'm not as prejudiced as I thought, I adored Precious and Fragile Things and I will try to tell you why.
When I read the blurb of Precious and Fragile Things my first thought was: Stockholm syndrome. I never understood how someone could develop an attraction for the actual source of their suffering. For me it was always clear that I could never like someone who stole my freedom and cut my connection to the world around me. How could you ever forgive something like that? Or at least ignore it enough to feel some kind of companionship? I was sure I would never understand this but Megan Hart showed me how that works. I think I grew my own small case of Stockholm syndrome but don't judge me before you read it too. ;)
Precious and Fragile Things is about two persons, desperate in their need to escape their life, thrown together by fate/serendipity, or however you want to call it.
Gilly Soloman is a stay-at-home mom of two with a husband bringing home the money. She has what some singles dream of: a loving family, wonderful children and the home with the white picket fences. But she's exhausted to the point that she sometimes feels like running away. She can't take any more of the pressure she feels every day. All this chores and the neverending demand of her attention, the unability to finish anything and never having a moment of peace, are driving her slowly crazy. Her breaking point is drawing nearer with every day and she's afraid of becoming what she always despised- being as crazy as her mother was, who neglected her kid and was trapped in her own little world of insanity. She really needs time to find herself again- the person beneath all the strain and sense of responsibility. When this stranger jumps into her car and holds a knife to her thoat she is terrified- not so much about her own life but more about how she got her children into this situation. She finds a way to save them but she is trapped with him. But fate is gracious and gives her the opportunity to escape but she is unsure if the life she's living is really worth getting back to. So she stays and has to live with the consequences.
Todd's life was never easy. He had a horrible youth that changed his life in a fundamental way and left him behind, broken and alone. He's not a bad person at heart but most of the time he seemed more like a kid with a bad temper than like a grown man who kidnaps woman. He made some wrong choices in his life and he really struggles with the consequences. He's helpless and even more hopeless before he meets Gilly. As weird as it seems the woman who is lacking a real love for life at the moment gives him what he always wanted. It's nothing really sexual that draws him to her. It's more like a boy craving the love of his mother or big sister. Todd was an asshole sometimes, childish, stubborn and abusive. I really hated him at some points but then parts of his past were revealed and my heart started to bleed for him. His story really touched me and even though he did all those bad things I pitied him. It was really weird to "like" the bad guy so much but I did. It's a dilemma I pondered the whole time- should I like the bad guy or not? I'm still not sure if I should but I'm sure that I did.
When both of them are isolated in a secluded mountain cabin the real trial starts. How to live in a really small quarter with someone you despise, or better said someone you should despise. They both struggle, their tempers clash but there are also moments they really enjoy each others company. The dynamics of their stay was wonderfully described. I was drawn into the story and couldn't put this book down. Both characters are superbly fleshed out and actually seem to jump from the pages. The plot is heartbreaking and the pace is exactly right. The end made me cry in a public place and also stunned me- I couldn't believe that this would be the way it would end.
Precious and Fragile Things is something special. It's a unique story that is very thought provoking. It will make you think about your life and how you should actually treasure it. I love how much emotion Megan Hart evokes with her writing- with every book it's something new and it will touch you in a different way. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. Precious and Fragile Things is not a typical Megan Hart but definitely one of her best. This is the perfect chance to try something new- believe me, I don't regret stepping out of my comfort zone.
When I read the blurb of Precious and Fragile Things my first thought was: Stockholm syndrome. I never understood how someone could develop an attraction for the actual source of their suffering. For me it was always clear that I could never like someone who stole my freedom and cut my connection to the world around me. How could you ever forgive something like that? Or at least ignore it enough to feel some kind of companionship? I was sure I would never understand this but Megan Hart showed me how that works. I think I grew my own small case of Stockholm syndrome but don't judge me before you read it too. ;)
Precious and Fragile Things is about two persons, desperate in their need to escape their life, thrown together by fate/serendipity, or however you want to call it.
Gilly Soloman is a stay-at-home mom of two with a husband bringing home the money. She has what some singles dream of: a loving family, wonderful children and the home with the white picket fences. But she's exhausted to the point that she sometimes feels like running away. She can't take any more of the pressure she feels every day. All this chores and the neverending demand of her attention, the unability to finish anything and never having a moment of peace, are driving her slowly crazy. Her breaking point is drawing nearer with every day and she's afraid of becoming what she always despised- being as crazy as her mother was, who neglected her kid and was trapped in her own little world of insanity. She really needs time to find herself again- the person beneath all the strain and sense of responsibility. When this stranger jumps into her car and holds a knife to her thoat she is terrified- not so much about her own life but more about how she got her children into this situation. She finds a way to save them but she is trapped with him. But fate is gracious and gives her the opportunity to escape but she is unsure if the life she's living is really worth getting back to. So she stays and has to live with the consequences.
Todd's life was never easy. He had a horrible youth that changed his life in a fundamental way and left him behind, broken and alone. He's not a bad person at heart but most of the time he seemed more like a kid with a bad temper than like a grown man who kidnaps woman. He made some wrong choices in his life and he really struggles with the consequences. He's helpless and even more hopeless before he meets Gilly. As weird as it seems the woman who is lacking a real love for life at the moment gives him what he always wanted. It's nothing really sexual that draws him to her. It's more like a boy craving the love of his mother or big sister. Todd was an asshole sometimes, childish, stubborn and abusive. I really hated him at some points but then parts of his past were revealed and my heart started to bleed for him. His story really touched me and even though he did all those bad things I pitied him. It was really weird to "like" the bad guy so much but I did. It's a dilemma I pondered the whole time- should I like the bad guy or not? I'm still not sure if I should but I'm sure that I did.
When both of them are isolated in a secluded mountain cabin the real trial starts. How to live in a really small quarter with someone you despise, or better said someone you should despise. They both struggle, their tempers clash but there are also moments they really enjoy each others company. The dynamics of their stay was wonderfully described. I was drawn into the story and couldn't put this book down. Both characters are superbly fleshed out and actually seem to jump from the pages. The plot is heartbreaking and the pace is exactly right. The end made me cry in a public place and also stunned me- I couldn't believe that this would be the way it would end.
Precious and Fragile Things is something special. It's a unique story that is very thought provoking. It will make you think about your life and how you should actually treasure it. I love how much emotion Megan Hart evokes with her writing- with every book it's something new and it will touch you in a different way. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. Precious and Fragile Things is not a typical Megan Hart but definitely one of her best. This is the perfect chance to try something new- believe me, I don't regret stepping out of my comfort zone.
Read
July 19, 2018One recipe for a compelling, character-driven plot is simple: give a character what they most want, but in the WORST way possible. Megan Hart employs this technique in her latest novel, Precious and Fragile Things. Protagonist Gilly wants a little breathing room in her life as an overworked stay-at-home-mother of two young children. She experiences snatches of mental freedom, at least, by counting in her head and by taking moments to herself in the kitchen pantry, but it's not enough. When a desperate carjacker unintentionally kidnaps her along with her truck, the two of them are snowbound for months in the carjacker's isolated hunting cabin. Gilly gets the breathing room and the escape she thought she craved, not to mention a hard look at her life and the life of her inadvertent captor.
I really love Megan Hart's writing, and I wanted to read Precious and Fragile Things because I was interested to see what she'd do with a non-romance/non-erotica story. For the most part, I wasn't disappointed. Megan Hart is a master storyteller, willing to delve into the uncomfortable and broken places in the human psyche with care and gentleness. Hearts break, and Hart doesn't shy away from that, but she doesn't exploit that pain, either.
The book's beginning, however, didn't work for me, and for a while I didn't think I'd want to finish the book. I couldn't put myself in Gilly's shoes at all; I'm not a mother and while I could intellectually understand her frustrations, I couldn't relate to them or understand them emotionally, and then when Gilly freezes--she passes up at least one golden opportunity to get herself out of the car and to not let herself be a victim--I had to put the book down. I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue with this kind of book where the protagonist makes such a frustrating choice to be a victim. Gilly remained a frustrating character for me, throughout the book. I wasn't sure if I found her sympathetic or not, and I couldn't follow her emotions as well as I would've liked. However, watching her try to untangle the puzzle of her captor, Todd, and figure out how to save herself and how to treat and relate to Todd, those were all very interesting components of the book to me.
The very ending chapter felt a bit trite to me. The book's climatic scene, the final scene between Gilly and Todd, had me crying and reading it over twice, and while I did want to know more about Gilly's life afterward, I might have liked the story to have ended there instead, because the actual last chapter felt "off" to me.
Overall, I was impressed as always by Megan Hart's imagination, writing, and storytelling, and I look forward to reading what she writes next. (I have so much of her backlist to read, too, which I'm still excited about!)
Note: I read a review copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
I really love Megan Hart's writing, and I wanted to read Precious and Fragile Things because I was interested to see what she'd do with a non-romance/non-erotica story. For the most part, I wasn't disappointed. Megan Hart is a master storyteller, willing to delve into the uncomfortable and broken places in the human psyche with care and gentleness. Hearts break, and Hart doesn't shy away from that, but she doesn't exploit that pain, either.
The book's beginning, however, didn't work for me, and for a while I didn't think I'd want to finish the book. I couldn't put myself in Gilly's shoes at all; I'm not a mother and while I could intellectually understand her frustrations, I couldn't relate to them or understand them emotionally, and then when Gilly freezes--she passes up at least one golden opportunity to get herself out of the car and to not let herself be a victim--I had to put the book down. I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue with this kind of book where the protagonist makes such a frustrating choice to be a victim. Gilly remained a frustrating character for me, throughout the book. I wasn't sure if I found her sympathetic or not, and I couldn't follow her emotions as well as I would've liked. However, watching her try to untangle the puzzle of her captor, Todd, and figure out how to save herself and how to treat and relate to Todd, those were all very interesting components of the book to me.
The very ending chapter felt a bit trite to me. The book's climatic scene, the final scene between Gilly and Todd, had me crying and reading it over twice, and while I did want to know more about Gilly's life afterward, I might have liked the story to have ended there instead, because the actual last chapter felt "off" to me.
Overall, I was impressed as always by Megan Hart's imagination, writing, and storytelling, and I look forward to reading what she writes next. (I have so much of her backlist to read, too, which I'm still excited about!)
Note: I read a review copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
December 28, 2010
Megan Hart is usually known for her romances, but you wont find that here. Hart brings you on an incredibly intense journey filled with some serious emotions.
At first I really wasn't sure what to think about this book, but as the story progresses I was more and more intrigued. I started asking myself some serious questions that I would never thought to ask myself. What would I do in this situation? Hart opens up a whole new world for me because this could actually happen. It's life. Somewhere in the world this could actually happen.
Gilly Solomon is a stay at home mom with a husband and two kids. Sometimes wishing she could just run away. Although she loves her family her breaking point was coming fast and what she fears is becoming like her mother. While running errands with her two children, a stranger jumps in her car. Gilly isn't so much terrified for herself, but her children. Finally she finds a way to get them out of harms way, but now she is trapped with this stranger.
Todd didn't have an easy life, so that has left him in a broken state. He ends up taking Gilly to the cabin that was left to him by his uncle. Now that they are both isolated in the cabin and not to mention in the middle of a massive snowstorm the real trial between them begins. What does he want? How long will Todd keep her? Questions, questions, questions... that I can't answer because I want you to read this book.
I honestly couldn't put this down. It captures your interest in the very first couple of pages. Although the plot is heartbreaking and totally made me cry at the end, I loved every minute of it. I was actually stunned speechless on this whole story and even how it ended.
Precious and Fragile Things is a very unique and a very thought-provoking story. It will for sure will touch you in a different way. To me this is truly one of her best books and I cant wait to read what others will think about this book. Going outside your comfort zone for reading is never a bad thing, so I would like to thank Megan Hart for helping me move past it. Now I will be looking forward to see if she will writing more thought-provoking books in the future because it was a treat. This will always be a reread for me.
At first I really wasn't sure what to think about this book, but as the story progresses I was more and more intrigued. I started asking myself some serious questions that I would never thought to ask myself. What would I do in this situation? Hart opens up a whole new world for me because this could actually happen. It's life. Somewhere in the world this could actually happen.
Gilly Solomon is a stay at home mom with a husband and two kids. Sometimes wishing she could just run away. Although she loves her family her breaking point was coming fast and what she fears is becoming like her mother. While running errands with her two children, a stranger jumps in her car. Gilly isn't so much terrified for herself, but her children. Finally she finds a way to get them out of harms way, but now she is trapped with this stranger.
Todd didn't have an easy life, so that has left him in a broken state. He ends up taking Gilly to the cabin that was left to him by his uncle. Now that they are both isolated in the cabin and not to mention in the middle of a massive snowstorm the real trial between them begins. What does he want? How long will Todd keep her? Questions, questions, questions... that I can't answer because I want you to read this book.
I honestly couldn't put this down. It captures your interest in the very first couple of pages. Although the plot is heartbreaking and totally made me cry at the end, I loved every minute of it. I was actually stunned speechless on this whole story and even how it ended.
Precious and Fragile Things is a very unique and a very thought-provoking story. It will for sure will touch you in a different way. To me this is truly one of her best books and I cant wait to read what others will think about this book. Going outside your comfort zone for reading is never a bad thing, so I would like to thank Megan Hart for helping me move past it. Now I will be looking forward to see if she will writing more thought-provoking books in the future because it was a treat. This will always be a reread for me.
April 27, 2012
Wow. I really, really loved this story.
** spoiler alert **
This is not a romance, but you can really feel Todd falling in love with Gilly. And I think some part of her was falling in love with him too, but we gotta give her credit, she held her ground and didn't give in to whatever feelings she may have had for him, even though it obviously hurt him and made him mad. I really thought while reading this story that at some point, they were going to give in to passion and loneliness and I applaud the author for not going there, as that would have been very predictable in this setting. Yes it would have been sexy, but Gilly wasn't having any of it. As he was slowly falling for her, it was apparent that she almost thought of him as a child. And while Gilly wasn't feeling an attraction to him, I certainly was! LOL.
I pictured Todd in my mind to look like Sawyer from the Lost. Scruffy, sexy, muscular, with a raspy voice. Sarcastic, but with a heart hidden under layers of pain and tragedy. Even tho Todd is the "bad guy", I found myself rooting for him towards the middle of the book. I wanted Gilly to fall for him. I wanted him to feel love, and to feel "good". Sadly, that wasn't meant to be for him.
The end surprised me, I didn't think Gilly would do it. I understood it, tho. Even tho I didn't like it. The characters really tugged at my heart.
Kudos to the author for being able to write a story that took place in one tiny house with only two characters. I never got bored.
I will probably read this again. :)
** spoiler alert **
This is not a romance, but you can really feel Todd falling in love with Gilly. And I think some part of her was falling in love with him too, but we gotta give her credit, she held her ground and didn't give in to whatever feelings she may have had for him, even though it obviously hurt him and made him mad. I really thought while reading this story that at some point, they were going to give in to passion and loneliness and I applaud the author for not going there, as that would have been very predictable in this setting. Yes it would have been sexy, but Gilly wasn't having any of it. As he was slowly falling for her, it was apparent that she almost thought of him as a child. And while Gilly wasn't feeling an attraction to him, I certainly was! LOL.
I pictured Todd in my mind to look like Sawyer from the Lost. Scruffy, sexy, muscular, with a raspy voice. Sarcastic, but with a heart hidden under layers of pain and tragedy. Even tho Todd is the "bad guy", I found myself rooting for him towards the middle of the book. I wanted Gilly to fall for him. I wanted him to feel love, and to feel "good". Sadly, that wasn't meant to be for him.
The end surprised me, I didn't think Gilly would do it. I understood it, tho. Even tho I didn't like it. The characters really tugged at my heart.
Kudos to the author for being able to write a story that took place in one tiny house with only two characters. I never got bored.
I will probably read this again. :)
April 3, 2011
Despite this being a book by Megan Hart, known for her gritty, raw, unforgivingly honest & sexual stories, I knew this was not going to be anything like that, at least not one including any erotic overtones. But she still writes a compelling and moving story that had me choking up at the end.
Realistically, there was one way this could end. I knew it from the start, yet I couldn't help but hope for a way out anyway. But that would have been way too far-fetched and improbable, and happened the way it was meant to.
And though we have the protagonist Gilly and the villain Todd, I couldn't help but sometimes despise Gilly and cheer for Todd at times. These were not perfect people, each having experienced painful childhoods that shaped their adulthood. The choices they make bring them together during one fateful, desperate night which sets the stage for the next several weeks. Regret, shame, and redemption. Now there's no turning back. Their course has been set. And despite the decisions they could make, as I mentioned earlier, it can only end one way....
Heartbreaking. Poignant. Inevitable. This story will stay with me for a long time to come.
Realistically, there was one way this could end. I knew it from the start, yet I couldn't help but hope for a way out anyway. But that would have been way too far-fetched and improbable, and happened the way it was meant to.
And though we have the protagonist Gilly and the villain Todd, I couldn't help but sometimes despise Gilly and cheer for Todd at times. These were not perfect people, each having experienced painful childhoods that shaped their adulthood. The choices they make bring them together during one fateful, desperate night which sets the stage for the next several weeks. Regret, shame, and redemption. Now there's no turning back. Their course has been set. And despite the decisions they could make, as I mentioned earlier, it can only end one way....
Heartbreaking. Poignant. Inevitable. This story will stay with me for a long time to come.
April 26, 2013
I picked this one up a little worried. Guy kidnaps woman and they are confined to a cabin out in the middle of nowhere and it's snowing. EEK - sounds a bit like my book Chosen. But there the similarity ends. Gilly has sort of put herself in the mess she's in and Todd never rapes her when he easily could have.
The story tended to be a bit repetitive - they were stuck, what was there to do, argue, set up a tentative truce and then argue again. Gradually we got to know some details about their characters and the book drew to it's inevitable conclusion. Gulp.
I liked Todd - I suspect that's what we were intended to do. Yes, he'd dragged her to the middle of nowhere but he could have been horrible to her and he wasn't. I didn't like Gilly much. I didn't even feel sorry for her. I suspect that was intended too. So Ms Hart turned the tables on the usual kidnapper-victim relationship. We didn't know what to make of the pair of them. But in that lay a weakness for me. I needed to feel sorry for her and she was so vile at times, I couldn't.
The story tended to be a bit repetitive - they were stuck, what was there to do, argue, set up a tentative truce and then argue again. Gradually we got to know some details about their characters and the book drew to it's inevitable conclusion. Gulp.
I liked Todd - I suspect that's what we were intended to do. Yes, he'd dragged her to the middle of nowhere but he could have been horrible to her and he wasn't. I didn't like Gilly much. I didn't even feel sorry for her. I suspect that was intended too. So Ms Hart turned the tables on the usual kidnapper-victim relationship. We didn't know what to make of the pair of them. But in that lay a weakness for me. I needed to feel sorry for her and she was so vile at times, I couldn't.
July 25, 2011
So far, I hate the writing. I'm more than halfway finished. The author needs coaching on how to write dialogue and action that feels real. It's a bad sign when you're continually thinking to yourself, "No one would think that. Why would anyone do that? I don't understand why she's reacting that way."
Compared to say, Stephen King, who is a master of keeping the writing out of the way of the story, Megan Hart is a master of getting the writing in the way of the story.
It's too bad the writing sucks, because I loved the premise of the book: burned out mom of two young children gets carjacked and at first actually seems to find relief in the idea of getting away from her stressful life. I was expecting the carjacker to be a little more sinister, a little more eloquent, but instead his favorite word is the F-bomb and he's about as sophisticated as a pair of stained overalls.
Not what I expected at all, and I had this book on my wish list for months! ugh...
Compared to say, Stephen King, who is a master of keeping the writing out of the way of the story, Megan Hart is a master of getting the writing in the way of the story.
It's too bad the writing sucks, because I loved the premise of the book: burned out mom of two young children gets carjacked and at first actually seems to find relief in the idea of getting away from her stressful life. I was expecting the carjacker to be a little more sinister, a little more eloquent, but instead his favorite word is the F-bomb and he's about as sophisticated as a pair of stained overalls.
Not what I expected at all, and I had this book on my wish list for months! ugh...
November 5, 2010
Not the type of book that one has become used to from Megan Hart, but certainly excellent. For lack of a better description, I would describe this as a psychological thriller. The emotions portrayed are very intense. The insight into the feelings of a mother struggling with caring for her infant children and with coping with home and husband is a compelling testament to what motherhood often involves.
In a strange way this is a love story; a story of the understanding and attachment that develops between the kidnapped victim and her kidnapper. This attachment is not the typical Stockholm Syndrom, rather a mutual empathy between two people who did not ask to be in the situation they find themselves in.
I must admit that the ending brought tears to my eyes and a great swell of emotion. I would very much like to see this book made into a play or a movie. Highly recommended.
In a strange way this is a love story; a story of the understanding and attachment that develops between the kidnapped victim and her kidnapper. This attachment is not the typical Stockholm Syndrom, rather a mutual empathy between two people who did not ask to be in the situation they find themselves in.
I must admit that the ending brought tears to my eyes and a great swell of emotion. I would very much like to see this book made into a play or a movie. Highly recommended.
March 27, 2011
The story seemed good enough,and it was interesting, but the swearing was a little much for me. I stopped reading after the third chapter. I really don't like reading the "F" bomb every other paragraph. Plus I just couldn't sympathize with her. She totally felt good about abandoning her children at some random strangers house, and didn't escape when she had the perfect opportunity to. I am a mother of 4 and at times have felt that same frustration. But I thought she was a selfish, terrible person.
February 21, 2011
This book is so awful on so many levels. The writing is terrible, the plot makes no sense, and the details are so inconsistent as to be laughable. For example, for the first half of the book, the character has no concept of what time it is or how many days pass because of a lack of clocks, then suddenly she has on a watch that shows the date. I read this for book club or I would have chucked it ten pages in.
February 22, 2011
This was an awesome book, I could not put it down. It is such an incredible story.
August 10, 2017
2 1/2 stars. The pacing was very slow and the book would have been more powerful if it had been 100 pages shorter.
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August 8, 2021Sometimes the question What did you think? on the Edit Review page is a hard one to answer.
For a long time, I was determined to stick to Megan Hart's romance novels and family dramas. Those worked for me, and I suppose because they worked so well, when I was running low on those, I thought why not give something else of hers a chance. I'm not sure if that was the right decision. While Hart's books usually make me sad, that is one of the reasons I like them. Most of the time it all ended happily, so it was all good in the end. Books like this one, made me sad and depressed. They stayed with me, and made me depressed every time I thought about them.
I finished Precious and Fragile Things last night. This morning, soon after I woke up, Todd's fate and how it all ended up came to my mind, and it was all just so sad and depressing.
What happens in this story? Todd jumps into Gilly's car and threatens her with a knife. Complication: Gilly's kids in the backseat. Gilly manages to get them out of the car to a safer place, but when the opportunity arises for her to escape Todd, she doesn't take it. Why? Because the life she made had made her so exhausted, she just wanted a break even if it meant staying with a stranger wielding a knife. Todd takes her to a remote cabin, that soon gets snowed in. They're stuck together there for three months. As the time passes, Gilly's desire to get back to her family grows, as does Todd's for them to stay there together.
It's probably weird, but the more I learned about these two characters, my sympathy only grew for Todd. Gilly... Ugh... I don't get that woman, and I don't want to. Yet, for Todd my heart breaks. That ending coupled with his past just crushed me.
No rating. Any number of stars I pick seems wrong.
March 16, 2021
A good, suspenseful read that "hit the spot" when I needed a change from my usual reading. The ending surprised me--didn't see it coming. I do recommend this novel.
July 10, 2021
I paid $1 for the book. Certainly worth the money. No, really....this book had me guessing. I was surprised at the ending. I really liked this book.
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