2.5 stars. I rounded up for an ending which was tolerable. This book had the potential to go south quickly but the last couple of chapters were tackled with a fair amount of respect for the subject matter. 
 HIERARCHY OF BIZARRE TOPICS 
 1. Teacher/Student Relationships 
 2. Kidnapping 
 3. Polygamy 
 4. Incest 
 Obviously there are more, but these happen to be the few bizarre subjects which seem to have made their way onto my reading radar over the past year. 
 For whatever reason, number 2 seems to be the subject that has failed the most in books when the author is trying to portray an interesting, yet plausible story. There are only a scant few books which have come close to finding the right balance between creepy and convincing. I wouldn't go so far as to say that The Breakaway completely succeeded, but at least I managed to get through the read without wishing I had my time back. 
 At least this time, I was disturbed for a few of the right reasons. This book made me uncomfortable. I didn't like the budding feelings of attraction that the female lead started to have for the male lead who was "forced" upon us. In fact, I never saw this person as attractive. Not once did I find myself thinking the guy was nice or dreamy or swoon-worthy, even though I was under the impression that maybe this might have been the direction that the readers were supposed to follow. In a way, I'm fine with never attaching to Jesse. I was still able to understand why Naomi did, which was good enough. 
 Did it happen too fast in this book? Yes. And No. Given the unusual circumstances of Naomi's home life, I'm going to excuse some of the feeble attempts to push Naomi and Jesse into each other's emotional space in a manner that didn't feel quite fleshed out. If I was Naomi, I wouldn't have been in such a hurry to go home either. There wasn't exactly anything for her to go back to. 
 What didn't work for me : 
 The backstory of Brad's relationship with Naomi. I got tired of these flashbacks. I didn't have any sympathy for our lead as she was discovering why she allowed herself into an abusive relationship. I didn't appreciate how she used it as justification of why she was okay with staying captive. I'd rather have come to that conclusion myself as a reader. Often, we know more about why the character is acting the way that they are more than the character actually does. I would have preferred to have kept it that way. Her self-reflection felt like she was going through her own personal inner checklist. 
 The side characters. Were we supposed to like Eric or not? Was Evie really good or bad? I honestly didn't care to know one way or the other. 
 What did work for me : 
 Nothing stood out as being overly ridiculous. Even when my thoughts turned sarcastic over a few things seeming too scripted, I wasn't irritated. The story was a bit juvenile, but at least it stuck to a semi-textbook version of Stockholm Syndrome. Even when Naomi started to find herself sucked into the idea of possibly being happy by staying in her situation, she still continued to question her changing thought process. 
 The ending was handled the right way. Much like the taboo book Screaming in the Silence, there was at least some accountability for the main character's wrongdoing. I need this in my books, especially if the kidnapping is going to turn into a situation with any sort of romantic undertones to it. 
 So what's the verdict? 
 The book was okay. It was entertaining enough, although nothing special. I'd recommend this mainly for people who've read the subject matter before and find Stockholm Syndrome interesting. Otherwise, I'd say it's not a big deal if you give this one a pass.