Series: Standalone
Author: Raphael Montes
Release Date: February 16, 1016 - Penguin Press
Format: EGalley
Pages: 272 per Goodreads
Teo Avelar is a loner. He lives with his paraplegic mother and her dog in Rio de Janeiro, he doesn't have many friends, and the only time he feels honest human emotion is in the presence of his medical school cadaver—that is, until he meets Clarice. She's almost his exact opposite: exotic, spontaneous, unafraid to speak her mind. An aspiring screenwriter, she's working on a screenplay called Perfect Days about three friends who go on a road trip across Brazil in search of romance. Teo is obsessed. He begins to stalk her, first following her to her university, then to her home, and when she ultimately rejects him, he kidnaps her and they embark upon their very own twisted odyssey across Brazil, tracing the same route outlined in her screenplay. Through it all, Teo is certain that time is all he needs to prove to Clarice that they are made for each other, that time is all he needs to make her fall in love with him. But as the journey progresses, he digs himself deeper and deeper into a pit that he can't get out of, stopping at nothing to ensure that no one gets in the way of their life together.
What do I say about this book? I really wanted to love it. I mean, it features a psycho kidnapper - what's not to love? Sadly, while a good read, it fell short of my expectations.
Teo is a young man, he keeps to himself and his disabled mother. And his best friend is a corpse. Then he meets Clarice and the excitement begins. I was so excited at the beginning of this book, raving to my friends how I had such high hopes. But by the middle my balloon had just popped.
A lot of the story felt really slow to me. Maybe just too much information. And while there was some wildly exciting moments, they were so far and few in between that it didn't make up for the slow parts.
I do love the premise though. And the characters were interesting. The end took a twist that I definitely wasn't expecting, even though it kind of left me shaking my head at the wrongness of it. For me, this book rates right around the middle. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either, sad to say.
Buy It!
