Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

65 reviews

lunababybat's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is by far one of the most disturbing fiction books I've ever read. Even though I don't believe it's classified as extreme horror or splatterpunk, it should be. But I understand why it maybe doesn't have those labels; because this story is based on real events, events even worse than what happened to Meg in this novel. The real case is the longterm torture and eventual murder of Sylvia Likens. What the real girl, Sylvia, experienced pales in comparison to even what Meg endured. And there was no David for Slyvia. No one had a change of heart or tried to help her in the end, aside from Slyvia's disabled sister.
I think Jack did a good job of trying to understand what would lead relatively normal people to participate in this type of extreme behavior against another human being. The slow dehumanization of someone led by an authority figure, how someone can become a proverbial punchingbag that's a stand in for all of life's failures. It also delves into how misogyny helps in this dehumanizing, letting Meg be seen as a "whore" and nothing but a piece of meat, even though the real issues is everyone else's inappropriate feelings towards her. Ruth is the ultimate villian and honestly got off too easy in the end. She hated herself and sought to find someone to project that hate onto, so she didn't have to face what a true monster she really was inside. 
There are some issues with the writing, and some of the language is definitely outdated, even for a book written in the 80s and set in the 50s. Overall, this is a chance for readers interested in true crime to dip their toes in the water before taking the plunge into the real cases. Because, at least in this instance, there is at least one person who does feel bad about what they did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Excrement, Death of parent, and Alcohol

natashasacks's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

ferrozm's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Very disturbing read. The realism and mundaneness of the characters and their environment makes this sad book feel like this could just as easily be happening in any ordinary neighborhood. The violence deals a lot with issues of femininity and adult authority in relation to children. 

Could be very triggering. Beware.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

bookdeviant86's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

jillian_hope02's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

ewwa18'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

rhysied's review

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This book has left me an empty husk of a human, wondering how the hell someone can do this to another person. Because I know the story is based off a real crime. 
I cry for Meg, I cry for humanity. I cry for me a little bit.
This book made me need a hug.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

kalex_lcpl's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

madelinequinnee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Utterly heartbreaking 

I picked up this book after researching the Sylvia Likens’ case and finding out this was based on it. I think this did a pretty good job fictionalising the case whilst still educating you on what happened. 

Each scene was absolutely gripping and disturbing, but i think the thing that got me the most was that Meg’s younger sister Susan had to witness her sister’s abuse and was physically unable to do anything about it. She was there til the very end, even witnessing her death, and that just really broke my heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

charrock's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail