A review by caidyn
The Girl Next Door, by Jack Ketchum
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book was one of those Halloween books that you crave during the fall season. And it met more expectations than I expected it to.
It begins with a man, David, looking back on his life and on one particular summer that changed his whole life. I didn't like the way it was done; I felt that the beginning portion was unneeded and that the author should have just jumped head first into the story. Yes, it was nice to be able to draw parallels from the present to make the past, where the story lies, more deep.
David is one of those easy manipulated people, really just goes along with the crowd. And he remains that way, with the help of Ruth, for most of the story. Ruth is the true antagonist, the one driving David's conflict of either telling about what is happening to this poor girl, Meg, or forget about it and just watch. He's not active in any of the torture but I do think that he would have been if he hadn't had created a bond with Meg in the beginning.
One thing I loved about this book was how real it felt. The torture displayed in this book has happened before and will happen again. Fear can force people down and lift people up, as seen with the boys and Ruth, the overwhelming evil of the story. She seems normal, drawing the boys in and showing that she can be their friend. Then she flips the tables, still showing how friendly she can be with them but warping it with the treatment she shows to be okay towards one person.
Ruth really reminded me of Hitler. I'm reading Elie Wiesel's Night in school currently so I guess I'm drawing from that. But going on. Hitler showed that it was alright to treat the Jews the way that he did and then, when his little servants had seen that it was okay and taken notes on what to do, he turned them loose, and they committed the true atrocities while he just sat back and let it happen.
The ending was great. With David killing Ruth, the unwilling accomplice turning against the leader, it marked a huge change for his character that had been starting since he tried to help Meg escape. And the part I liked the most of the ending was with Woofer and how he had been impacted, drawing in David's life experiences with what we were given of that summer and with his wives, and how someone else took what happened and what he had seen made the book really remarkable and well rounded.
It begins with a man, David, looking back on his life and on one particular summer that changed his whole life. I didn't like the way it was done; I felt that the beginning portion was unneeded and that the author should have just jumped head first into the story. Yes, it was nice to be able to draw parallels from the present to make the past, where the story lies, more deep.
David is one of those easy manipulated people, really just goes along with the crowd. And he remains that way, with the help of Ruth, for most of the story. Ruth is the true antagonist, the one driving David's conflict of either telling about what is happening to this poor girl, Meg, or forget about it and just watch. He's not active in any of the torture but I do think that he would have been if he hadn't had created a bond with Meg in the beginning.
One thing I loved about this book was how real it felt. The torture displayed in this book has happened before and will happen again. Fear can force people down and lift people up, as seen with the boys and Ruth, the overwhelming evil of the story. She seems normal, drawing the boys in and showing that she can be their friend. Then she flips the tables, still showing how friendly she can be with them but warping it with the treatment she shows to be okay towards one person.
Ruth really reminded me of Hitler. I'm reading Elie Wiesel's Night in school currently so I guess I'm drawing from that. But going on. Hitler showed that it was alright to treat the Jews the way that he did and then, when his little servants had seen that it was okay and taken notes on what to do, he turned them loose, and they committed the true atrocities while he just sat back and let it happen.
The ending was great. With David killing Ruth, the unwilling accomplice turning against the leader, it marked a huge change for his character that had been starting since he tried to help Meg escape. And the part I liked the most of the ending was with Woofer and how he had been impacted, drawing in David's life experiences with what we were given of that summer and with his wives, and how someone else took what happened and what he had seen made the book really remarkable and well rounded.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Rape, Physical abuse, and Torture