Above by Isla Morley

by:  Isla Morley
published by:  Gallery Books
publish date:  March 14, 2014

Blythe Hallowell is sixteen when she is abducted by a survivalist and locked away in an aban­doned missile silo in Eudora, Kansas. At first, she focuses frantically on finding a way out, until the harrowing truth of her new existence settles in—the crushing loneliness, the terrifying madness of a captor who believes he is saving her from the end of the world, and the persistent temptation to give up. But nothing prepares Blythe for the burden of raising a child in confinement. Deter­mined to give the boy everything she has lost, she pushes aside the truth about a world he may never see for a myth that just might give mean­ing to their lives below ground. Years later, their lives are ambushed by an event at once promis­ing and devastating. As Blythe’s dream of going home hangs in the balance, she faces the ultimate choice—between survival and freedom.

This was one of those books I was a little bit confused about.  I wasn't really sure which category this book belonged in.  I wasn't sure if it was a YA book or an adult book with a teenaged main character.  Normally, that sort of thing really wouldn't matter.  However, in this case, I feel like it does.  If this is a YA book than it is really really pushing the boundaries in my opinion.  

Blythe is kidnapped and hidden away in an underground bunker by a survivalist.  She's kept there for like 17 years.  In that time, another child is brought to her, one that ultimately dies.  She is raped repeatedly in an effort to get her pregnant.  She does eventually become pregnant.  She does have a child in this bunker.  Thankfully, this child grows up to be relatively normal, and that plays a pivotal role in the story later on.  

Hopefully, this is an adult novel and considering that it's published by Gallery Books, I'm guessing maybe it is.  Maybe this is one of those "New Adult" middle ground kind of things.  I just felt that the scenes in this book were a little too graphic for younger readers.  Otherwise, it was a really intense story and I was really captivated by Blythe and her will to live and thrive under the circumstances.  It's one of those stories that really sticks with you long after you finish reading it.