Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

18 reviews

lunahbee's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Listen. This book is a tough read. Not because of the writing but because of the subject matter. That said, I did enjoy this book because of how many emotions it brought up in me. Most of them not pleasant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Blood, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Self harm, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Pedophilia

Listen to the warnings (Dead Dove Do Not Eat)

subkafereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Emotional abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexism, Alcohol, Gore, and Torture

aryanjarl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Emotional abuse, Torture, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Bullying, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Child death, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Rape, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Self harm

Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Death, and Car accident

killmoore_'s review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I was very familiar with the Sylvia Likens case going in to the girl next door, and honestly, I was grateful that Ketchum took it upon himself to narrate the novel in a way that left the most gruesome details to the imagination - what happened to Sylvia was truly terrible, and to describe in detail what happened through a work of fiction would, in a way, be disrespectful.

However, despite being well written and truly gut wrenching, I feel that Ketchum missed the mark on painting a true monster in Ruth. I understand that this is written through the eyes of a child, but it really just skims the surface on what motivates a person to commit these atrocities, let alone the impact a trusted adults actions have on the children in their care. 

Girl Next Door is awful. It is a gruesome depiction of child abuse, grief and depravity, written in a way that is still palatable for the general public. Check your trigger warnings and prepare to have your heart broken. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Torture, Child abuse, Cursing, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Rape, Child death, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Excrement, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

priscillarobock's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Child abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Excrement

archaicrobin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Honestly this was a hard one to rate. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed this, it’s not really a book you enjoy, but it was well written and truly disturbing. Especially if you’re familiar with the true crime case this book is based on, the torture and murder of Sylvia Likens.

From the perspective of one of the teen bystanders who is not necessarily completely innocent, the reader has an interesting perspective as the narrator explains why and how he was able to standby without intervening when such horrific things were being done. 

This is not for the faint of heart, or for anyone that’s looking for a happy ending. The Girl Next Door is very bleak, and exposes the horrors that are present in our neighborhoods which should be safe.  Definitely recommend this to horror fans or those interested in true crime, not for your everyday best seller reader!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Child death, Cursing, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship

mindysbookjourney's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcohol

stefanie_duncan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This Audiobook was narrated by Jack Ketchum himself. Excellent. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Child abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Child death, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Rape, and Blood

jadecorissamartin's review against another edition

It was just far too awful & graphic. Amazingly written and I already knew the story of Sylvia Likens but this was just too much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Body shaming, Bullying, Sexual assault, Car accident, Child death, Gore, Torture, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Sexual violence

inertia_ash's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

You are going to want to check the trigger warnings on this one.

I can normally plow through dark books but this one… this one took some time. Knowing this is inspired by the true story of Sylvia Likens made it really hard to push through. 

This was incredibly well written. It was dark, heartbreaking, stomach churning, disturbing, and felt very close to what actually happened to Sylvia. 

Proceed with caution though. This was… a tough one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Murder, Child death, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Death, Bullying, Body shaming, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Body horror, Violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Rape, and Physical abuse