Lotus

4.5 starsThere is something about Jennifer Hartmann's writing that just engrosses you into the story! It is captivating, beautifully written, and thought out.This book tells the story of Oliver, who was abducted 22 years ago on the 4th of July when he was a little boy. While in captivity, Oliver was told the world outside didn't survive. However, in reality, Oliver's family and friends never stopped looking for him. Particularly, Sydney, Oliver's best friend. 22 years later, Oliver escapes and has to adapt back into normal society.This book has a dual POV of both Oliver and Sydney, which was fascinating to read. We got to see Sydney's thoughts and feelings as well as Olivers' flashbacks and recovery.The first 60% of this book is based on Oliver and his interactions with other people, and the bonds/friendships he makes. His feelings towards Sydney are also explored.The last 40% is primarily based on what happened to lead up to the kidnapping. What happened in the basement, etc.Oliver and Sydney are both such nice characters that I enjoyed getting to know them both separately and together.Overall, I loved this book, and I would highly recommend it. I would definitely read still beating first because we do see a few characters from that book. However, both books can be read as a standalone.

I am enjoying this book but I am thinking the story is going to be a bit predictable?Couple of wee twists I was expecting, good so far.

Jennifer Hartmann can do no wrong! This woman writes works of art! This books is the follow on to Still Beating and this was just beautiful, the story of Oliver and Sydney. Oliver has been in captivity for 22 years and has now got to live in a world that he hasn’t been a part of for so long, the way this story unravels in just beautiful and heart wrenching.

Please check trigger warnings just in case before reading❤️I LOVED THIS, i love oliver lynch🥹😭oliver was held captive for 22 YEARS beneath the floor of his kidnapper’s house and brainwashed into believing an atomic bomb had poisoned the air and the only way for him to be safe is to stay underground.the chapters flip between sydney and oliver’s pov in the present day after he escaped, but also in the past while oliver was held in captivity🥺 i read still beating first and LOVED IT (saying i love it is an understatement!) and oliver was briefly mentioned in that book, i was so intrigued i knew i had to push lotus up on my reading and find out his story!my heart ached all the way through this, but it was so warming seeing oliver adjust back to normal life and taking everything so literally🤣. jennifer did dark and angsty with a bit of humour so well🥹 sydney and oliver just completely melt my heart, they’re just the SWEETEST🥹oliver is so sweet, charming and funny without even trying to be🥹 he is too good for this world, oliver is just the best and i fell for him completely in this book — i want to just hug him forever, he’s a fighter and despite everything he’s been through he’s so resilient and a lot stronger than what everyone gives him credit for. i swooned over oliver, the way he speaks😭🥰OMG THE PLOT TWISTS! i should have realised by now that in jennifer hartmann books things are never as they seem, honestly she never fails to absolutely BLOW. MY. MIND🤯 i legit had goosebumps while reading! her writing is incredible, one of my FAVOURITE authors❤️at the end you’ll find the meaning and importance of the word lotus, and it’s just everything!!🥲😭 the ending, omg i criedddd — tears of happiness but still, jennifer stop making cry so much🥹🤣!

Sydney and Oliver were best friends until Oliver was kidnapped when he was four. Sydney never forgot him and when 20 odd years later he was found she wasnt sure what to expect from the boy she loved. Oliver stayed with his step brother once he was cleared by the doctors and he couldnt help but be drawn Sydney who lived next door. Thought parts of the story dragged a bit, lots of filling in. For me Oliver just seemed too normal after being trapped underground all those years so I couldnt quite gel with the story. I did enjoy the ending were there was a big twist.

Fantastic read - really enjoyable! Struggled to put it down - I loved all the twists and turns! Loved how quirky the characters were!

I would give this 4.5 stars.Loved it, felt it was a little slow a third through but because I was so utterly in love with Oliver I carried on and glad I did because a big twist came (one I half predicted but not the other half!)Definitely read.

I will be honest; I was unsure about this book due to the blurb for it. It didn’t really appeal to me yet something inside of me was telling me to give this book a chance. And I am so glad I did. This story is heart wrenching in all the best possible ways. It is beautifully written and tells the story of two childhood friends separated by tragedy and betrayal only to be reunited 22 years later and fall in love. But even falling in love when you’re 30 comes with obstacles. Oliver has returned from years in captive but doesn’t seem to have ever been physically harmed. However he doesn’t have his memories. So has no idea why he was kidnapped or what happened the day he went missing or why he’s been kept hostage for so long. And then there is Sydney. Who has closed off her heart to any relationships or commitment because her heart left her the day her childhood friend went missing. So when he returns, her walls are up and made of steel. And she’s too busy stressing over the fraigility of Oliver to see she is the one hurting him now. This book had me entranced and unable to put it down. I had to know everything. I didn’t figure out the meaning of lotus but I did like the clever way it was done. However, I did figure out what truly had happened to Oliver and who the bad person was as soon as they were introduced. Points for me. Woo!

∞ stars!Oliver Lynch must be protected at all costs 🥹---“I’m right here, with you, and I’m still holding onto your heart. Please don’t ask me to give it back.”Lotus is the story of Oliver Lynch, a little boy who was kidnapped on the Fourth of July and held captive for over two decades. Sydney Neville, his childhood best friend and next-door neighbor, never gave up hope of losing him. The news of his abduction left her traumatized and since then, continues living her life with a guarded heart. Twenty-two years later, Oliver is found alive. He's coming home.This heartwarming story was filled with friendship, love, compassion, trauma, and so many swoon-worthy moments. There is so much to learn about Oliver's past and your eagerness to learn will hold you captive (no pun intended) throughout the story. Jennifer Hartmann has an amazing ability to create such a beautiful story and her characters blew me away.I absolutely adored Oliver. He's the sweetest and purest cinnamon roll to fall in love with. What an amazingly brave and strong man to have survived living in a basement with no human contact (other than his captor) and still be so gentle, kind, and caring. His innocence and the way he took things literal was hilarious and adorable. Sydney is fun, quirky, and her love for 90's nostalgia never cease to make me smile. She helps him acclimate back into today's society, a world he thought was wiped out of humanity. Oliver, in turn, helps her liberate herself from the fears that made her afraid to lose him all over again.These two are wonderfully crafted characters who endured traumatic experiences when they were younger. We're able to see the growth and development as individuals and as a couple. Their relationship doesn't feel rushed or forced, allowing them to rebuild a foundation of their friendship before love begins to set in. While these two may have physically been separated for twenty-two years, they were both very much in each other's hearts.Once you know the meaning behind lotus, you will ugly cry.Childhood friends to lovers will remain superior in my eyes.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬.Sydney Neville and Oliver Lynch are the best of friends until one day on July the 4th that Oliver goes missing. And 22 years later, he’s back.This is childhood friends to lovers / Second chance - but not just at romance; at life. At living.𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦.𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸'𝘴...𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳.I knew I was in for more heartbreak because, HELLO - Jennifer Hartmann! But this one broke me in a whole different way. Lotus was about tragedy, loss, learning and living. About letting go of your demons and fighting for yourself and what/who you love.It was so full of angst. You could feel these two just BLONGED together. Even though Syd fought against it so hard (for good reason) she just knew that her heart was no one else’s.There is no Oliver without Syd. There is so Sid without Oliver.𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘺, 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩... 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩.𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦.𝘔𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵.I’m realizing it doesn’t matter what Jennifer Hartmann writes, I’m going to read it. It’s going to either rip my heart out, make me cry my face off – or both. But it is so worth all the emotions she pulls from you. She is an incredible author.I love this book so very much – I love Syd and Oliver and I highly recommend grabbing ALL of JH’s books.𝙨𝙣+𝙤𝙡

A história da Syd e do Oliver ganhou meu coração, minhas lágrimas e muitas risadas. A escrita da autora é fluída e muito prazerosa. Tem trigger warning então é melhor dar uma olhada ⚠️ Os hots são bons, mas poderiam ser melhores. E o plot é um dos melhores que li esse ano

5🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭This book… wow. Such strong topics and the main feeling I got was love.Love being bien in diversity between friends, brothers, even kidnappers that after all, were capable of loving.Oliver is an amazing creature. And Sydney is the perfect match.Every single character was endearing and I loved the book. 💜My advice? Jump straight into it. And enjoy!

I was not prepared for Jennifer Hartmann!If you're a fan of dark romances this is for you!The dark romance aspect of most of Jennifer Hartmann's novels are the traumas that the protagonists go through. She has an incredible, sometimes lyrical, way with words.Lotus is no different. All the characters have a complexity to them and are not just side notes, which I appreciate immensely!Wonderful writing, extremely traumatic story lines. So check the trigger warnings!