Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

26 reviews

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

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

Moderate: Body shaming, Blood, and Gaslighting

Minor: Excrement, Car accident, and Death of parent

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

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

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

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

sargasso_c's review against another edition

Wonderfully written and absolutely horrific.

Inspired by the true torture and murder of Sylvia Likens

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Excrement, Grief, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Dysphoria

stardustdreamer's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, and Alcohol

katyannreads'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

This book actually ruined my day. Read it in one sitting. Completely captivating story, devastating. 5 stars because I was so engrossed in the story.

ananamauvais's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pedophilia and Car accident

andrea_95's review against another edition

dark 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? N/A

4.5

Please be aware that this book is a lot to handle. It is not only scary, it is terrifying, and will leave you completely speechless by what is happening. It is based on the true murder of Sylvia Likens which makes the reading experience even more uncomfortable and tense. It is a book that will stay with you and make you question whether humanity is inherently good when stuff like this actually happened.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Blood, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Car accident and Death of parent