Scan barcode
aandriot's review against another edition
5.0
In perusing the Goodreads reviews for this, I see I'm not alone. Like others, I read this in seventh grade and was haunted by it. Still think about this book on occassion. So when I was talking about it to a friend and she found it, I immediately purchased and re-read.
It is as haunting as I remember. Wow.
It is as haunting as I remember. Wow.
paperbacksandpines's review against another edition
3.0
What a disappointing ending! Why did I waste my time on this book?!
rdyourbookcase's review against another edition
2.0
I love scary books, especially if there's some kind of mystery involved. When I read about The Girl in the Box by Ouida Sebestyen in Paperback Crush by Gabrielle Moss, I immediately Interlibrary Loaned it. Moss reported that a majority of the reviews on Goodreads stated how traumatizing the novel was to young readers. I needed to see it for myself.
As an adult, I have read things far more traumatizing than The Girl in the Box. However, I can imagine how much it would've scared me if I had read it as a young teen. (Honestly, I got bored at the story-within-a-story sections and skimmed them.) The premise is odd, and a bit thin if you think about it too much. A kidnapper lets her keep a typewriter??? Why? Sebestyen addressed why the character had the typewriter in the first place, which helped. Overall, I doubt that young minds will question it like adults will. For all readers, the most terrifying part is that there is no epilogue saying that Jackie died. There's also no journal entry saying that she lived, either. It's up to the reader to decide her fate, which is always frustrating - especially to young readers.
Overall, I'm glad that I read it but I wasn't super impressed.
As an adult, I have read things far more traumatizing than The Girl in the Box. However, I can imagine how much it would've scared me if I had read it as a young teen. (Honestly, I got bored at the story-within-a-story sections and skimmed them.) The premise is odd, and a bit thin if you think about it too much. A kidnapper lets her keep a typewriter??? Why? Sebestyen addressed why the character had the typewriter in the first place, which helped. Overall, I doubt that young minds will question it like adults will. For all readers, the most terrifying part is that there is no epilogue saying that Jackie died. There's also no journal entry saying that she lived, either. It's up to the reader to decide her fate, which is always frustrating - especially to young readers.
Overall, I'm glad that I read it but I wasn't super impressed.
booksnorkel's review against another edition
1.0
Stupid Dumb Hated it.
A girl is kiddnapped, luckily she had a typewriter and a whole reem of paper. Luckily she just took a typing class. WOW really??? Lame. So while sitting in a room where you never meet her captors or know why, or what happens after she writes a story of her life.
She has two friends a boy and a girl they hook up she is sad. THE END
seriously it's the end of the book.
A girl is kiddnapped, luckily she had a typewriter and a whole reem of paper. Luckily she just took a typing class. WOW really??? Lame. So while sitting in a room where you never meet her captors or know why, or what happens after she writes a story of her life.
She has two friends a boy and a girl they hook up she is sad. THE END
seriously it's the end of the book.
goodmorningidea's review against another edition
4.0
This book haunted me as a child - one of the first books that truly creeped me out.
ktcoop24's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
happytoes10's review against another edition
1.0
No book has pissed me off more than this one! It is the only book I have ever read that made me chuck it across a room and into a wall. It is also the only book I have ever thrown away to save someone else from having to read it!
The character has paper, typewriter, a jar of water and a box of donuts. Why would anyone be carrying around this combination of things? Why is she kidnapped? Why is she here and why does no one seem to care she is there? The story line has no purpose and is not believable.
On top of that this book literally ends. No conclusion, not even a cliff hanger. The writing just stops. Its as if the author got bored or more likely as this book was started as a short story a decade and a half before the author tried to take a short story and make it a whole novel.
The character has paper, typewriter, a jar of water and a box of donuts. Why would anyone be carrying around this combination of things? Why is she kidnapped? Why is she here and why does no one seem to care she is there? The story line has no purpose and is not believable.
On top of that this book literally ends. No conclusion, not even a cliff hanger. The writing just stops. Its as if the author got bored or more likely as this book was started as a short story a decade and a half before the author tried to take a short story and make it a whole novel.
tobibi's review against another edition
5.0
I first read this book over a decade ago, and don't want to reread in fear of my rose-tinted lenses coming off. While I may not have loved it during the reading, I was definitely immersed. It's the kind of story that stays with you, which makes it special to me.
elenajohansen's review against another edition
I couldn't remember the name of this book for the longest time. I know I read it in elementary school, I know it was seriously effed up and I thought about it a lot at the time, then managed to forget about it for many, many years. When I made my Goodreads account and was trying to remember the books I read as a kid so I could add them, this title eluded me, until just now, when it popped up in a Reddit thread about books that seemed amazing the first time you read them but were horrible when re-read later.
I came here to register my thoughts. I remember really liking it as a kid, in that this-is-too-creepy way, I had a serious horror phase when I was about eight, so this was right up my alley. But I haven't read it since (obviously, since I couldn't even remember the title) so I have no idea what I would rate it now. I'm almost curious enough to read it again...
I came here to register my thoughts. I remember really liking it as a kid, in that this-is-too-creepy way, I had a serious horror phase when I was about eight, so this was right up my alley. But I haven't read it since (obviously, since I couldn't even remember the title) so I have no idea what I would rate it now. I'm almost curious enough to read it again...