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findingmontauk1 's review for:
The Girl Next Door
by Jack Ketchum
I originally gave this 3.5 stars but after thinking about it I have marked it down to 2.5.
Like most reviews of this book, I will just start out by saying this is graphic and there are trigger warnings for abuse, rape, etc. But I really think it will be rare that anyone goes into this completely blind without any sort of insight as to what the book is about. I know there have been some and will continue to be, but I believe the majority of readers WILL know what they are getting themselves into.
There's no point to rehash the plot- you can read the back of the book or multiple synopses online. Any summary I provide will just be regurgitation and the real reason I am even writing this review is to explain why I gave it 2.5 stars.
First and foremost, half of the book was just boring to me. I kept waiting on the "shocking, horrifying" things to happen. Yes, the monstrous actions of evil people eventually make their way into the plot, but it just seems to take forever in this average sized book for any action to happen. I did not find the buildup to have much of a purpose as to what the author's intent seemed to be. Sure, people can be and are evil. This poor girl did nothing to deserve this. Neither did her sister. Got it. Check. It started out with some great writing and I enjoyed the style. But then it just got repetitive and what began as original morphed into something simplistic to me. The pacing was just off. And by the time I finished the book not even the writing style could not save me from just shrugging this off as just some other re-telling of a horrific true crime or police report write-up of what happened. (In fact, Ashley Flowers did a fantastic job on Episode 29 of CrimeJunkie Podcast in just THIRTY minutes.)
Honestly, I have heard dozens and dozens of better well-told podcasts about true crime and murder and abuse. Were the stories JUST as shocking and haunting and horrifying leaving me disgusted and hating the perpetrator(s)? Absolutely. But did I get bored throughout them? Nope. That was the biggest issue for me. I KNOW the story of this crime can be told in a way that doesn't leave me yawning. In the end, my biggest feeling of The Girl Next Door is just feeling annoyed. I am annoyed at all the characters and hated most of them.
The Girl Next Door has received just about every rating there is from DNFs to glowing 5 star reviews. This book just was not for me. And it's not because of the graphic content OR the lack of expected/hyped-up graphic content. When I closed the book my final thoughts were, "What am I supposed to even think about this? What was the point?" I would have preferred to read a factual non-fiction book of the real crimes. I left the book hating the insane adult "ringleader" and these bratty, whiny, entitled, criminal children more than wanting justice for the victims. And I think there was no honoring or justice served by this dramatized re-telling of the cruel acts that befell Sylvia Likens in 1965.
Like most reviews of this book, I will just start out by saying this is graphic and there are trigger warnings for abuse, rape, etc. But I really think it will be rare that anyone goes into this completely blind without any sort of insight as to what the book is about. I know there have been some and will continue to be, but I believe the majority of readers WILL know what they are getting themselves into.
There's no point to rehash the plot- you can read the back of the book or multiple synopses online. Any summary I provide will just be regurgitation and the real reason I am even writing this review is to explain why I gave it 2.5 stars.
First and foremost, half of the book was just boring to me. I kept waiting on the "shocking, horrifying" things to happen. Yes, the monstrous actions of evil people eventually make their way into the plot, but it just seems to take forever in this average sized book for any action to happen. I did not find the buildup to have much of a purpose as to what the author's intent seemed to be. Sure, people can be and are evil. This poor girl did nothing to deserve this. Neither did her sister. Got it. Check. It started out with some great writing and I enjoyed the style. But then it just got repetitive and what began as original morphed into something simplistic to me. The pacing was just off. And by the time I finished the book not even the writing style could not save me from just shrugging this off as just some other re-telling of a horrific true crime or police report write-up of what happened. (In fact, Ashley Flowers did a fantastic job on Episode 29 of CrimeJunkie Podcast in just THIRTY minutes.)
Honestly, I have heard dozens and dozens of better well-told podcasts about true crime and murder and abuse. Were the stories JUST as shocking and haunting and horrifying leaving me disgusted and hating the perpetrator(s)? Absolutely. But did I get bored throughout them? Nope. That was the biggest issue for me. I KNOW the story of this crime can be told in a way that doesn't leave me yawning. In the end, my biggest feeling of The Girl Next Door is just feeling annoyed. I am annoyed at all the characters and hated most of them.
The Girl Next Door has received just about every rating there is from DNFs to glowing 5 star reviews. This book just was not for me. And it's not because of the graphic content OR the lack of expected/hyped-up graphic content. When I closed the book my final thoughts were, "What am I supposed to even think about this? What was the point?" I would have preferred to read a factual non-fiction book of the real crimes. I left the book hating the insane adult "ringleader" and these bratty, whiny, entitled, criminal children more than wanting justice for the victims. And I think there was no honoring or justice served by this dramatized re-telling of the cruel acts that befell Sylvia Likens in 1965.