The Venus Trap starts off with an incredible hook: Claudio, the spurned lover, is holding Jo, the object of his affection, hostage with the option of her either telling him she loves him, or he’ll kill her. Jo’s daughter is away with her father (Jo’s ex), leaving days for possible torture and suffering. The fact that her daughter will come home to this situation makes Jo’s captivity all the more tense.

In the days that follow, Claudio takes a mostly passive, but very personal path of inflicting torment on Jo via her past. He’s found her diary from when they were young (a time when Jo’s been sexually attacked), and when Claudio was never really on Jo’s radar. He reads her most personal thoughts, and forces Jo to read them to him. Things escalate from there, Claudio systematically destroying Jo’s past so that he can be her future.

Claudio is deluded, twisted, and lashes out in ways that makes the danger to Jo seem real.

Jo is a woman with very few options, but a lot of thinking to do. Reflecting on her past brings her to the realization that things may not be as over with her ex as she had once believed. Jo is undoubtedly confused (if not cursed) in love.

The novel starts strong, with a decisive voice that later wanders as Jo’s history is revealed through diary passages. The invasion of privacy angle worked in that it made Claudio seem all the more villainous. As an American reading British English, I was, at times, confused what the author was talking about. I read some British novelists, but this one had colloquial language I was unfamiliar with. It did hinder my enjoyment of this book that I didn’t fully understand the references. I didn’t realize it was British when I picked it up.

Overall, I would have liked a little more “thrill” from The Venus Trap. Jo’s singular attempt at escape was short-lived, and the most action in an otherwise slower paced thriller. I found myself wanting to skim read some of the diary passages, and found Jo to be somewhat unlikeable in that she left her husband for sex with another man (only to realize she did love her husband after all). She made a lot of poor choices, and Claudio seemed to be retribution for some of them. That being said, the premise of Jo (and the tension of her daughter coming home) kept me reading until the end. Three and a half stars.
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Full review to come! ( )

This book started off really well, but feel it lost some of its tension as we learnt more about Jo’s back story rather the kidnapping. Interesting premise though being kidnapped and held in your own house by a former boyfriend. Overall though I did enjoy this as picked the tension back up as the book progressed. I look forward to reading more by Louise Voss. ( )

I loved this book :)
WHAT I LIKED:

The Twist
The ending is INSANE!! I really should have seen it coming, but I just didn't I guess. I was too caught up in anxiety as to how the story would end. While the rest of the book wasn't very captivating (see below), the ending was fantastic and really got me.

Besides this, there were a plethora of twists throughout the book. The main character was so full of pain and regret, and we really felt as if life gave her every thing she could handle, and did its best to kill her.

Easy to Read
This book and author (Louise Voss) are very easy to read and understand. There's no unnecessarily big words, and everything is like you would say it in real life. It reminded me a lot of Mark Edwards, who also writes in first person point-of-view a lot.

It's no surprise the two have worked together on books in the past. Both are phenomenal writers and have created amazing, simple plots that really power their stories. Louise Voss is truly a great author of this time period.

Main Character
The main character who I've mentioned before -Jo Atkins- is a very intriguing person. On the outside, she seems simple. Divorced, coming out of a broken relationship, trying online dating, victim of assault as a teenager, and a plethora of terrible events. Seems simple, like a lot of us have gone through these things. But then her insane date goes and kidnaps her inside her own apartment and keeps her trapped, threatening to kill her.

We see the past and present of Jo throughout the book, as she shows us glimpses of her former self through diaries, memories, and conversations. The present Jo is shown through her talks with the kidnapper and with memories of the recent few weeks and years.

She really is a complex person and makes the book tons better.

Up and Downs of Story
This novel, perhaps more than any other I've read, has lots of ups and downs. There are happy moments, sad moments, glad memories, depressing memories, and ultimately a fitting, fantastic ending. We grow alongside Jo as she goes through terrible ordeals, and even if we don't connect we can certainly relate.

WHAT I DISLIKED:

Title?
So the title is The Venus Trap and I'm not sure how that connects at all with the story? Because she's... trapped? I guess. That's the only real connection I see. Anyways. Move on.

Not Capturing/Engaging
For some reason, this book didn't grab my attention as much as other books I've read lately. This book was great, yes, but it just didn't get as invested emotionally. Maybe it was because the concept (a girl trapped inside her house by a crazy man) wasn't very broad and I didn't connect as much.

Besides that, it was just that the book didn't encompass as many ideas and people as some other books. The main character had lots of regret, and the other dude was a psychopath. It was an interested mesh, but for an entire book didn't hold all that much interest. At least the author's a great writer.

MY RATING: 8.5/10

This book was fulfilling, fantastic, and fitting for an author of Voss's renown. It really was a great read, and the plot keeps you on the edge of your eSeat. I highly recommend picking up a copy here and reading it. ( )

This book was very 'mid range' for me. It is an interesting story about a woman called Jo being held captive by a psycho from her past. It spends a lot of time describing flashbacks and past diary entries as a way of explaining why Jo is in the situation she is in now.

I was not keen on the lengthy diary entries and flashbacks, it's just not my cup of tea. I like kidnapped/captive thrillers to be focused on the present dire situation at hand, I don't like 3 quarters of the book being just one big lengthy description of past events. I also guessed the 'twist' with Claudio halfway through so it did not shock me at all.

Jo struck me as quite a silly woman, still idolising over a past dead boyfriend she knew for all of 10 minutes as a teenager - yet somehow that fleeting relationship was 'the one' and not destined to fizzle out after another couple of months like almost every other teenage relationship ever. Jo spends her whole adult existence trying to recreate the intense sexual attraction of youth that can only come with an adolescent brain. It was pathetic, I felt sorry for her daughter. Needless to say I was not a fan of Jo... the book is nicely written though, not too long and has an interesting plot so not an entire fail.

***Disclaimer***
I received this book for free through Netgalley.com, the opinions stated in this review are entirely my own. ( )