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daner's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
millen13's review against another edition
4.0
The backdrop maybe Babysitter, a real serial killer who has never been caught, however, the protagonist is almost as hair-raising. A white, entitled, rich woman who enters into an affair. This book comes with so many trigger-warnings. To mention them would give away too many spoilers, but think rape and racism.
Oates' writing is brilliant. I love her ways of storytelling. I didn't really like the ending, but thinking about it, it is so typical for entitled white people.
Oates' writing is brilliant. I love her ways of storytelling. I didn't really like the ending, but thinking about it, it is so typical for entitled white people.
brimccain's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bobthebookerer's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a wild ride- one which made me scared, uneasy and disgusted in deep, visceral ways, but was incredible.
The title belies the cruelty at the heart of the book- a slew of children go missing, with the perpetrator being nicknamed, with horrible irony, the 'Babysitter'. In the midst of this, we get several plotlines of people who are caught up and complicit in what is happening, and others just trying to survive and make sense of something that seems vastly unknowable.
The opening scene feels like it almost resists the urge of a standard book covering these themes, with almost all the action taking place inside a character's head as she heads towards a hotel room, but in many ways it sets up the ghastly horror within so many of the characters.
The writing is unflinching, raw, and incredibly deft, often navigating especially tricky descriptions with exquisite mastery. Oates will often describe a character in one or two withering sentences, and then quickly move on to the action (a particular favourite was this description: "Upright rodent. Halfway metamorphosed into a man.")
This is a deeply uncomfortable read in many ways, and pretty much every content warning applies for this book, but this book held me in its deathly grip, and made me almost miss several train stations.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.
The title belies the cruelty at the heart of the book- a slew of children go missing, with the perpetrator being nicknamed, with horrible irony, the 'Babysitter'. In the midst of this, we get several plotlines of people who are caught up and complicit in what is happening, and others just trying to survive and make sense of something that seems vastly unknowable.
The opening scene feels like it almost resists the urge of a standard book covering these themes, with almost all the action taking place inside a character's head as she heads towards a hotel room, but in many ways it sets up the ghastly horror within so many of the characters.
The writing is unflinching, raw, and incredibly deft, often navigating especially tricky descriptions with exquisite mastery. Oates will often describe a character in one or two withering sentences, and then quickly move on to the action (a particular favourite was this description: "Upright rodent. Halfway metamorphosed into a man.")
This is a deeply uncomfortable read in many ways, and pretty much every content warning applies for this book, but this book held me in its deathly grip, and made me almost miss several train stations.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.
desterman's review against another edition
3.0
The novel is set in Detroit in 1977, where there is a child serial killer on the loose that the media have dubbed 'Babysitter'. The killer abducts white children left alone by their parents, eventually killing them and leaving their bodies in public spaces, freshly washed, with their laundered clothing folded carefully beside them. Alongside this is affluent housewife and mother of two, Hannah Jarrett. Bored with her domestic life and her disinterested, patronising businessman husband, Hannah is looking for something else. After a chance encounter with a mysterious man at a charity event, when we meet Hannah she is walking down the corridor of a fancy hotel, about to embark on an affair.
These two storylines become intricately intertwined as the plot continues and leads to some nasty places. The violence in this novel really shocked me, particularly considering that Oates is in her nineties and has written over fifty novels. It left me feeling angry and agitated at times. The novel moves into territories of depravity and abuse - everything from sexual assault to child abuse to gun violence. These scenes are written in a visceral, but not gratuitous way. She manages to effectively convey the brutality and inhumanity shown by the characters without desensitising it for the reader. The novel is pacey and thrilling and Oates maintains an uneasy sense of foreboding throughout, especially with chapters that take a variety of forms and lengths. The style of writing is abstract at times and switches narrative perspectives and time frames without any obvious pattern, connecting to the unpredictable nature of much of the violence.
The novel tackles a huge range of themes, including motherhood, religion, race, and class. At the heart of the novel is the cycle of violence and abuse - that damaged children become damaged adults. Oates also comments on the illusion of those who claim to be civilised when, in reality, they could not be further from it. This could be read as a harsh commentary on the gradual disintegration of American society - where all the positive foundations and edicts of a nation are gradually being stripped away. With the polarisation of the population, the eradication of Roe v Wade, the continued persecution of the African American population, and the emergence of the #MeToo movement, it is a dark time in American society. Oates offers a sad contemplation on whether the darkness has been lying in wait all along.
These two storylines become intricately intertwined as the plot continues and leads to some nasty places. The violence in this novel really shocked me, particularly considering that Oates is in her nineties and has written over fifty novels. It left me feeling angry and agitated at times. The novel moves into territories of depravity and abuse - everything from sexual assault to child abuse to gun violence. These scenes are written in a visceral, but not gratuitous way. She manages to effectively convey the brutality and inhumanity shown by the characters without desensitising it for the reader. The novel is pacey and thrilling and Oates maintains an uneasy sense of foreboding throughout, especially with chapters that take a variety of forms and lengths. The style of writing is abstract at times and switches narrative perspectives and time frames without any obvious pattern, connecting to the unpredictable nature of much of the violence.
The novel tackles a huge range of themes, including motherhood, religion, race, and class. At the heart of the novel is the cycle of violence and abuse - that damaged children become damaged adults. Oates also comments on the illusion of those who claim to be civilised when, in reality, they could not be further from it. This could be read as a harsh commentary on the gradual disintegration of American society - where all the positive foundations and edicts of a nation are gradually being stripped away. With the polarisation of the population, the eradication of Roe v Wade, the continued persecution of the African American population, and the emergence of the #MeToo movement, it is a dark time in American society. Oates offers a sad contemplation on whether the darkness has been lying in wait all along.
myriamdaguzanbernier's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
1.0
I've tried this book as an e-book and I've now tried it (and finished it) as an audiobook.
And this one was just not my cup of tea.
I found the MC frustrating. It's stream of consciousness writing (my least favorite) and she just rambles on and on about an affair she having and how she's going to be punished for it through her children and that she'a bad mother and bad wife and everyone hates her and no one is nice. . .etc. She even flashes back to daddy issues about how he didn't love her and smoked cigars and her mother was just submisitive to him (like she needs to be both to this person she's having an affair with and her husband).
There were flashes (and a male author) about the serial killer and these kids disappearing but it all seemed like a side plot. The MC could barely see past herself to the mysteries around her and once she finally starting putting the pieces together, I just didn't care anymore.
I wish I'd liked it more but this one was just a miss for me.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
And this one was just not my cup of tea.
I found the MC frustrating. It's stream of consciousness writing (my least favorite) and she just rambles on and on about an affair she having and how she's going to be punished for it through her children and that she'a bad mother and bad wife and everyone hates her and no one is nice. . .etc. She even flashes back to daddy issues about how he didn't love her and smoked cigars and her mother was just submisitive to him (like she needs to be both to this person she's having an affair with and her husband).
There were flashes (and a male author) about the serial killer and these kids disappearing but it all seemed like a side plot. The MC could barely see past herself to the mysteries around her and once she finally starting putting the pieces together, I just didn't care anymore.
I wish I'd liked it more but this one was just a miss for me.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
hatseflats's review against another edition
4.0
This impossible to categorize novel is just one more example of the brilliance of Joyce Carol Oates. Feminist treatise on American womanhood in the transitory 1970s? Psychological suspense? Commentary on the misogyny of privileged white men? An anonymous murderous pedophile associated with a club of similar minded monsters enabled and hosted by a local priest? You name it, you got it in Babysitter. Another Goodreader described this novel as a literary migraine. At the time, I didn't understand, but now I do. Nonetheless, I'm still glad I got to experience it.