Tuesday Reviews: The Detour by S.A. Bodeen

Title: The Detour

Author: S.A. Bodeen

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Release Date: October 6, 2015

Format Read: Hardback

Rating: Four Stars

Description from Goodreads: Livvy Flynn is a seventeen-year-old bestselling author whose YA fiction has sold all over the world. People in the industry kiss up to her. She's rich, she's famous, and she's full of herself.

When she's invited to an A-list writers' conference, she decides to accept so she can work on her next book and enjoy the admiration-- and envy-- of the writer wannabes. Plus, she has a new, cute sports car, and it'll be fun to drive there by herself.

And then she hits the detour. Before she knows it, the car is wrecked, she's hurt, and she's trapped in a basement with  no idea where she is. A woman and her apparently manic daughter have kidnapped her. And they have no intention of letting her go. 

I bought THE DETOUR when it first came out in 2015, and I've had it on my shelves all this time. You guys know that I absolutely adore S.A. Bodeen's THE COMPOUND, and sequel THE FALLOUT, so I've collected each of Bodeen's novels throughout the years, and just never realized I hadn't read this one. SO, I did.

I started it a few hours ago, and now I'm writing this. 

I'll be honest-- I had my doubts. A YA book about a teen YA writer? It seemed like it would be a bit corny. But holy geez, you guys. THIS BOOK.

As much as I'd love to give this thing a full review, I'm not going to, because this was such a fresh and interesting story that I want all of you to pick it up. This story is so relevant to today's society, and my goodness, talk about a thriller. AND THE WHODUNNIT PLOT. 

The main character, Livvy is super transparent and it was great to see the world through her eyes, especially considering her status in the world was something I'm so involved and interested in. Along with that, you also got a nice look inside the publishing industry. Not super detailed, obviously, but enough to feel like you have a slightly better understanding.

There's something, also, about Bodeen's endings. Unless you've read her works, it's hard to explain, but she does this thing with her standalones that end on a cliffhanger, and I love it. But I also hate it at the same time because I need more information and I know it's not going to be given to me.

I give THE DETOUR a four star rating. There were a few things that I didn't like so much, but in all honesty that superb ending more than made up for it. I'm so pleased with this read, you guys! It was nice to read something that didn't feel at all familiar, even if I did have half of the plot figured out early on (but the other half??? Whoa.)

Anyway, it's a good thing I'll be meeting Mrs. Bodeen soon. I have a bone to pick with her over this book...

Happily,

Stephanie