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A review by anotherbooklady
A Child Alone with Strangers: A Novel by Philip Fracassi
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
📚87 /100 (2024 Reading Goal)
📖 𝘼 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝘼𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨
✍️ 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶
🎧 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗼𝘆𝗻𝘀
⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗱:
Supernatural elements, descriptive writing, a cabin in the woods, clairvoyant child, 1990’s setting
𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀:
child abuse, sexual assault, bullying, racial slurs, animal harm, misogyny
𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄:
This book left me feeling conflicted. I really liked the story of Henry-a young boy who is kidnapped for ransom and held captive in a cabin deep in the woods in Southern California. Henry is a bright, intelligent, and gifted child. I found him to be very well developed and beautifully written.
Unfortunately this book overall was just a miss for me. I’m a fan of horror novels-I like creepy houses, paranormal happenings, clairvoyant children, and monsters-but maybe not 𝘢𝘭𝘭 of those things happening in one story. For me, it felt like there were just too many characters and too much happening at once that slackened the pace of the story.
At times the novel read like a police procedural, or a ghost story, or a monster tale and it left me feeling impatient. This book is a long, slow burn and at 575 pages, I felt more exhausted and relieved to be finished instead of being satisfied by the end.
Fracassi is a fantastic, descriptive writer (𝘽𝙤𝙮𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 is one of my favorite horror reads), so I’m saddened that this book just wasn’t for me.
Narrator Sterling Boyns has a wonderful, rich voice and differentiated characters wonderfully. Unfortunately, the narrator would repeatedly mispronounce wording throughout, and the audiobook itself had some weird editing issues that kept taking me out of the story.
📖 𝘼 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝘼𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨
✍️ 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶
🎧 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗼𝘆𝗻𝘀
⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗱:
Supernatural elements, descriptive writing, a cabin in the woods, clairvoyant child, 1990’s setting
𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀:
child abuse, sexual assault, bullying, racial slurs, animal harm, misogyny
𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄:
This book left me feeling conflicted. I really liked the story of Henry-a young boy who is kidnapped for ransom and held captive in a cabin deep in the woods in Southern California. Henry is a bright, intelligent, and gifted child. I found him to be very well developed and beautifully written.
Unfortunately this book overall was just a miss for me. I’m a fan of horror novels-I like creepy houses, paranormal happenings, clairvoyant children, and monsters-but maybe not 𝘢𝘭𝘭 of those things happening in one story. For me, it felt like there were just too many characters and too much happening at once that slackened the pace of the story.
At times the novel read like a police procedural, or a ghost story, or a monster tale and it left me feeling impatient. This book is a long, slow burn and at 575 pages, I felt more exhausted and relieved to be finished instead of being satisfied by the end.
Fracassi is a fantastic, descriptive writer (𝘽𝙤𝙮𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 is one of my favorite horror reads), so I’m saddened that this book just wasn’t for me.
Narrator Sterling Boyns has a wonderful, rich voice and differentiated characters wonderfully. Unfortunately, the narrator would repeatedly mispronounce wording throughout, and the audiobook itself had some weird editing issues that kept taking me out of the story.