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A review by spacetravels
The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I don’t even know where to begin. I think that I’m able to stomach writing a review at all is just a way for me to make some sense of this, to put words to what I’m feeling, to regain control over my emotions and reactions to this novel. I want to hate this book with fury. I want to hate Ketchum and condemn him for writing this. I can’t do that, really. But I simply must share my thoughts.
To say GIRL is bleak is frankly an understatement. It was depraved. Horrifying in unspeakable ways. It made me angry. It broke my heart over and over again. I was nauseous. I was ill. There were several points I put down the book and told myself that it was alright to stop. That I had power over my own actions, that I could quit and not read further. But I think there’s a point to be made there— I didn’t stop. I was a bystander and a witness to what happened to Meg in much the same ways David was, and I know that was the point. The degrees of helplessness I felt aren’t exaggerated—this will make you feel hurt and angry and broken, over and over again. You’re a witness to evil, and that helpless feeling of being a bystander carries to the end. There is no kindness, not a moment of hope or reprieve. No salve for any wound here.
I think Ketchum is a brilliant writer. His words are gripping. The story he told was difficult, horrible, something I wished I looked away from. There are scenes in this book that are going to haunt me for the rest of my life. It feels so strange to praise his craft while vehemently condemning the story, frankly, but credit where it’s due.
I thought a lot about if David’s POV was appropriate, if he was a narrator I could have faith in—he’s not unlikeable. But he does unlikeable things and believes unlikeable things. But I’m a young woman in the modern day, and I found myself connecting to Meg more than David, and I think there’s a lot to analyze there too from the lens of perspective & gender. I don’t see a need to get into it here. But that’s on my list of thoughts about this book, alongside the telling through the eyes of a child, to power and control, to girlhood and violence. I digress.
I went into this blind, by the way. A subreddit post said GIRL was disturbing and bleak and I didn’t know there was a true story this pulled from, not until I turned the final page and had to sit in my misery and darkness. They said Ketchum wrote a better ending to the real case. That there was a kindness here that the real world did not afford the victims. That this was the happier ending.
I don’t think I’d choose those words. I don’t think there was kindness or happiness at all. I don’t think there was justice. I think if we, as bystanders, see Ketchum’s fictional end as better than reality, then what can we do for this in the real world? How do we, as bystanders, make sure these cases never happen again?
As Meg herself said, “what you do last— that’s what counts.”
And I fear that now. That I’ll never know what I’ll do last.
To say GIRL is bleak is frankly an understatement. It was depraved. Horrifying in unspeakable ways. It made me angry. It broke my heart over and over again. I was nauseous. I was ill. There were several points I put down the book and told myself that it was alright to stop. That I had power over my own actions, that I could quit and not read further. But I think there’s a point to be made there— I didn’t stop. I was a bystander and a witness to what happened to Meg in much the same ways David was, and I know that was the point. The degrees of helplessness I felt aren’t exaggerated—this will make you feel hurt and angry and broken, over and over again. You’re a witness to evil, and that helpless feeling of being a bystander carries to the end. There is no kindness, not a moment of hope or reprieve. No salve for any wound here.
I think Ketchum is a brilliant writer. His words are gripping. The story he told was difficult, horrible, something I wished I looked away from. There are scenes in this book that are going to haunt me for the rest of my life. It feels so strange to praise his craft while vehemently condemning the story, frankly, but credit where it’s due.
I thought a lot about if David’s POV was appropriate, if he was a narrator I could have faith in—he’s not unlikeable. But he does unlikeable things and believes unlikeable things. But I’m a young woman in the modern day, and I found myself connecting to Meg more than David, and I think there’s a lot to analyze there too from the lens of perspective & gender. I don’t see a need to get into it here. But that’s on my list of thoughts about this book, alongside the telling through the eyes of a child, to power and control, to girlhood and violence. I digress.
I went into this blind, by the way. A subreddit post said GIRL was disturbing and bleak and I didn’t know there was a true story this pulled from, not until I turned the final page and had to sit in my misery and darkness. They said Ketchum wrote a better ending to the real case. That there was a kindness here that the real world did not afford the victims. That this was the happier ending.
I don’t think I’d choose those words. I don’t think there was kindness or happiness at all. I don’t think there was justice. I think if we, as bystanders, see Ketchum’s fictional end as better than reality, then what can we do for this in the real world? How do we, as bystanders, make sure these cases never happen again?
As Meg herself said, “what you do last— that’s what counts.”
And I fear that now. That I’ll never know what I’ll do last.