Author: Caroline Kepnes
ISBN: 9781471162862
RRP: $32.99
Publication Date: 1 August 2018
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher
Providence is my first Caroline Kepnes and it certainly won’t be my last. I found myself completely invested but I was also able to put it down and walk away when I needed to. I found it to be more of a slow burning thriller than a gripping edge of my seat read. I’m trying to think how best to describe it because this was most definitely not your ordinary thriller, yet I’m not sure how I would categorise it. A little Lovecraftian?
Jon Bronson is one of those kids that just seems to have a target on his back. He doesn’t so much have a tiny circle as one single friend, Chloe Sayers. Chloe is friends with the popular crowd as well and splits her time because they certainly don’t mix. Jon is an only child who is relentlessly picked on, which is why he takes a shortcut through the woods at the back of his house to school; it saves him being picked on at the bus stop.
Ironically it is cutting through the woods that is ultimately Jon’s downfall. It may have saved him from bullying at the hands of Carrig Birkus but it made him an easier target for the kidnapper who whisks him away on his way to school.
Chloe Sayers is hit hard by Jon’s disappearance, having it hit home just how close they are now that he’s gone. We watch her through the early days of his disappearance as she misses him, and realises how few people really do. The Police search for him but the team of locals who assist in the search is small and they make no headway, he seems to be gone without a trace. We watch Chloe for a couple of months as she adjusts to life without her best friend and begins her path to becoming an artist.
Four years later Jon returns, completely without warning and with no memory of the time he has been away beyond being able to identify his kidnapper. He isn’t the same since he’s been away and it isn’t just the rockin new bod he woke up with. Strange things seem to happen when he’s around and he needs to work out how to stop it.
It isn’t long before Jon feels that it’s best for everyone if he isn’t around, and leaves again. I think the fallout is worse second time round because he came back, those who loved him expected that things would be ok but they weren’t. In the months that he was back he tried reconnecting but things just weren’t the same.
I really enjoyed this read, it was unique and it made me think; it also made me very curious about Lovecraft and I would love to delve into his work when I have some time. My issue at the moment is that I am stuck on how to go about a spoilerless review that doesn’t tell you more about the book than you can get from the blurb.
Kepnes has explored relationships in depth. This is a tale of that first love, sparked when they were too young to be more than the best of friends and before it could go any further Jon was kidnapped and that changed everything. This is a situation that could have gone a number of ways but the yearning and the missing saw that bond solidify and strengthen in Chloe to where she found it hard to form attachments to other males.
Chloe and Jon were in touch a lot when he was back but they didn’t see each other. Jon had his reasons but it totally messed with Chloe’s head and sends very mixed messages, leaving her with no idea how he actually feels.
The love triangle was an interesting one, and sometimes they are more interesting than predictable. Watching it play through to the very end was eye opening in the way that sometimes you are shown a new perspective that makes everything look different.
Providence is dark, it’s different, it’s a love story doomed from the start but it’s so much more than that. It’s a tale of learning to know yourself, of sacrifice and of connections.
I enjoyed Providence, I loved Eggs as a character, and I would recommend it to people who like things a little disturbing.
Caroline Kepnes can be found on Facebook and CarolineKepnes.com.
Providence is published by Simon & Schuster and is available now through Angus & Robertson Bookworld, Booktopia and where all good books are sold.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster 20 of our Beauty and Lace Club Members will be reading Providence so please be aware that there may be spoilers in the comments below.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
As a fan of the sci fi / fantasy genre I found this book right up my alley.
A love story with a dark twist.
Without giving too much away, this novel tells the story of a young boy who kidnapped and returned years later with abilities that he can’t control.
People are dying and “Eggs” the police detective is determined to find out why even though the deaths are all seemingly by natural causes. His relationship with his wife and son play a significant part in the shaping of his character. I really liked this guy, but sometimes he frustrated the hell outta me!
Chloe, Jon’s childhood girl has moved away and has become a successful artist, with Jon being her silent absent muse.
Will Jon and Chloe be able to be together? Will Eggs find out what’s killing seemingly fit and healthy people? Will Jon find out how and why he was changed?
Personally I hope there us another book, because I still need answers!
A story of love, from childhood, through adulthood for Jon, who was missing for several years and Chloe, the girl that loved him, even if she did not really know it at the time. I enjoyed and and was instantly hooked by the story, you were drawn in, but fearful of what would happen. The story begins to make you think it will have a conventional plot, but far from it the strange powers that are conferred make you wonder-what is going on. Also once Eggs comes on the scene you can see the other side to the story and begin to be hooked into his story too. An exciting read, but I cannot say I enjoyed it, rather I wanted to know what was going to happen and then was glad it was all over! I would recommend for something different. I give it 3/5 and thanks the publisher and Beauty and Lace for challenging read.
I loved this book.
I loved Jon, Chloe and Egg. I loved the unique relationships in the story. I loved the intrigue behind what was done to Jon during the time he was missing. I loved the personal journey each takes, and the limited interaction between the characters which is so unusual to see. It’s a tragic and yet hopeful story that kept me deeply involved the whole way through. Thank you Beauty and Lace for the chance to read this treasure.
Providence is a unique novel and one that is definitely out of my usual genre. I found it intriguing, disturbing, fascinating and frustrating in different parts! I loved Eggs and his side of the story. I certainly felt for Chloe and how confused she was once Jon returned but left again. And of course Jon whose existence was near empty and so lonely. Although the ending was certainly not nice, neat and happily-ever-after I guess life isn’t either. The relationships are really what makes this book.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read this intriguing book.
Providence by Caroline Kepnes….thank you Simon and Schuster and Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read this novel
A story of two best friends, Jon and Chloe, in a normal small town in New Hampshire. A story that could have evolved from best friends to a romantic pairing given time and circumstance. However, Jon is kidnapped and disappears for several years. Chloe is devastated and, in her grief and efforts to find Jon, develops a latent artistic streak. Jon returns after 4 years, a bigger, stronger version of the geeky kid who disappeared. Every boys dream, right? No, not so easy. Jon thinks now he can declare his feelings for Chloe but something had happened to him while he was away that he knows nothing about as he has no memory of his ‘lost’ time. This ‘something’ causes people around him to die so Jon goes into seclusion and attempts to reconstruct his missing years in an attempt to reverse whatever is affecting him.
The story revolves around the attraction between the two friends and the hurdles and blocks to any possible relationship, there is another lover for Chloe and several deaths throughout. I found the story captivating and plausible (when the science is at least partially explained) and I identified strongly with the two main characters and their idiosyncrasies. I was a little disappointed with the end…unless it is going to continue into another book, but life is never perfect, I guess.
Providence is a very different novel than I would normally read it has a mixture of genres from Romance to supernatural thriller and much much more!
Jon and Chloe are best friends, but when Jon is kidnapped he disappears for several years.
Jon is an induced coma and wakes up with no memory and powers that he does not understand.
I loved the mystery of finding out what is coming next.
A unique book with great base characters worth the read! 3/5
Jon & Chloe are best friends with a weird relationship as Jon wants to be friends all the time but Chloe is friends with Jon but doesn’t let her feelings for him show. She meets him after school by herself her closest friends know of there friendship but not openly to everyone.
One day Jon disappears and ends up beings gone 4yrs and Chloe slowly gets on with her life. Then Jon reappears and his body has changed he learns a teacher he knew did this to him. Jon learns its not safe for people to be around him and leaves town.
I enjoyed bits and pieces of this book but not all. It left a lot of information out as to what happened with Jon when he got taken.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read this book
This is not a book that I would have picked up. I tried to read it for several weeks and then decided to put it down for a while. I did try again and got almost half way …. but nope not my cup of tea.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to try something out of my norm
Thanks again Beauty and Lace
Not really the book I was thinking it was going to be. I think my review is on par with everyone else’s, It was poorly written, and nothing like as sharp as You was, Caroline’s first novel. It was haphazard, convoluted and a bit all over the place and I just didn’t really enjoy it.