Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

44 reviews

oktrouble1401213's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

It feels horrific to give a book like this 5 stars. This book made me feel sick multiple times. But it’s a story that deserves to be told and I don’t think the writing could have been any more perfect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Murder, Body horror, Vomit, Rape, and Confinement

miss_choon's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Violence, Physical abuse, Child death, Confinement, Torture, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia and Incest

Minor: Death of parent

hailey_horror's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Car accident, Child death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Grief

mydistortedparadise's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

Check trigger warnings. I went into this book blind - I knew it was a horror book but didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into. It feels wrong to rate this book because of the content - I can’t bring myself to comment on anything else. Despite making my stomach turn, regularly, it felt like a car crash that I couldnt look away from and had to see through the end.  
At which point. - per the authors note - I realized this was based on a true story. Which is apparently even worse, and more sickening. I cant comment on how well this book stuck to the facts as I am unfamiliar, and quite frankly I do not want to know the reality. This book was horrifying as fiction, and it feels exploitative knowing it isn’t entirely fiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Blood, Torture, Sexism, Excrement, Murder, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Bullying, Confinement, Child death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Cursing, and Body shaming

Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, Car accident, and Alcoholism

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 against another edition

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

laniemax's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Bullying, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child death, Excrement, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

devinjai6655's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is DARK. I was prepared going into it but please be aware of how absolutely gut wrenching this book is. Do not read this without checking trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Rape, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Torture, Confinement, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Child death

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, and Gaslighting

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, and Excrement

rojo25's review against another edition

dark sad slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Rape, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Torture

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

4.25

god, this is probably the most horrific book i've ever read. i spent most of the book alternating between rage and being sick to my stomach. while this book is fictional, it's based on the true story of sylvia likens, and the events depicted are very close to what happened in real life. just an absolutely sickening story that will definitely leave you feeling less optimistic about humanity.

i actually went back and forth about this book for a while before deciding how i wanted to handle this review. i don't feel good about rating on the basis of content because this is basically a true story, so i've decided to rate based purely on the writing itself. i think the author did an amazing job with telling the story. he was able to capture the terrifying events without allowing it to creep into exploitation. it felt like he was very respectful of the source, and i liked that in the acknowledgements at the end, he seemed as infuriated about it as i did.

additionally, i really enjoyed his style. he writes in a very straight forward + to-the-point manner that reminded me a lot of stephen king. this was my first read by the author, but i'll definitely be checking out more of his work in the future!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Torture, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Child abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Cursing, Child death, Murder, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Death, and Confinement