A review by mirandawood
The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is the story of Sylvia Likens. There’s also a blend of other crimes, some characters added and changed than the true story, but the entire time all I could think about was Sylvia. From the burns, the sexual abuse, the words carved into her torso, the basement imprisonment, the neighborhood kids encouraged to abuse her, that is Sylvia’s tragic story. I’m sad not to see her mentioned in an authors note or anything because this is so heavily based on her. 

There are so many triggers in this if you can’t already tell. Before reading this, I highly recommend researching Sylvia Likens. This book uses a first persons point of view of the abuse which makes it a lot darker than reading a true crime outline. If you can’t get through that, then don’t pick this up. It’s very hard to stomach at points, parts have even been left out intentionally by the author because of he graphic it would be.
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