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beth_zovko's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very brutal, dark read. "Alice" was kidnapped by Ray when she was 10, and has spent the next 5 years being raped/beaten/tortured by him. The descriptions of her daily life are chillingly passive, as is her total lack of compunction in securing Ray another girl to replace her. Still, at the end, "Alice" seems more human than at any other point in the story, which makes the ending so heartbreaking.
melonfizz's review against another edition
1.0
“ I can’t dream of clouds, but I can see the knife on the kitchen counter. I can dream of it inside me, opening me up and closing me down. “
scott’s prose reads like a shitty YA thriller with quippy one-liners, unrealistic dialogue, and cheesy, unnecessary formatting choices for no other reason than to be dramatic and quirky.
ultimately i see no reason this book should have been written. it was an easy and quick read because of the formatting and oversimplified plot, but to me it has little to no literary merit. it’s a typical predictable kidnap story, but with some graphic sexual violence/pedophilia sprinkled in for shock value. newspapers publish much more vivid descriptions of the same horrible things happening to REAL people, so “showing the ugly reality of the world” does not strike me as a valid reason for this fictional book to be published.
TWs for those planning on reading:
- kidnapping
- semi-graphic CSA, pedophilia, physical abuse
- forced starvation/ED
- addiction
- mentions of suicide/ideation
scott’s prose reads like a shitty YA thriller with quippy one-liners, unrealistic dialogue, and cheesy, unnecessary formatting choices for no other reason than to be dramatic and quirky.
ultimately i see no reason this book should have been written. it was an easy and quick read because of the formatting and oversimplified plot, but to me it has little to no literary merit. it’s a typical predictable kidnap story, but with some graphic sexual violence/pedophilia sprinkled in for shock value. newspapers publish much more vivid descriptions of the same horrible things happening to REAL people, so “showing the ugly reality of the world” does not strike me as a valid reason for this fictional book to be published.
TWs for those planning on reading:
- kidnapping
- semi-graphic CSA, pedophilia, physical abuse
- forced starvation/ED
- addiction
- mentions of suicide/ideation
littlespookysmut's review against another edition
4.0
This is not a feel-good happy book. I love the way it was written and some parts were really hard to read but because of the subject content, it feels weird to say I enjoyed it? I'm glad that fucker died tho.
chelsmichell's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
reeyabeegale's review against another edition
3.0
This is more of a 3.50 stars.
There were times that I was rolling my eyes cause the scenes are quite stupid or too easy to get out of. There were times that it was hard for me to read because I'm cringing from the narration of events.
This was honest and definitely an eye opener.
I wrote a summary of this, capturing the most important events to cover the essence of the entire novel for my College Communications Skills class. It was a challenge portraying Alice, just because I've never experienced what she went through that the emotions I carried throughout the performance included research and acting tips from a theater actor friend of mine.
There were times that I was rolling my eyes cause the scenes are quite stupid or too easy to get out of. There were times that it was hard for me to read because I'm cringing from the narration of events.
This was honest and definitely an eye opener.
I wrote a summary of this, capturing the most important events to cover the essence of the entire novel for my College Communications Skills class. It was a challenge portraying Alice, just because I've never experienced what she went through that the emotions I carried throughout the performance included research and acting tips from a theater actor friend of mine.
brendalovesbooks's review against another edition
I can't finish this book. It's too horrible, and while I understand that bad things happen to people, I don't need to read about it like this. It's just not for me. If ever I were to throw a book in the garbage, it would be this one (and I've never thought that before, no matter how much I hated a book). I could not recommend this to anyone, most especially it's target audience, teens.
witpip's review against another edition
2.0
I read this when I worked at Barnes and Noble and completely forgot about it. It’s not that good. I guess if I were a pre teen it would be interesting.
The book is sad but could have had a better plot.
The book is sad but could have had a better plot.
menastarr's review against another edition
no because i remember my 7th grade english teacher recommending this book to me like??? it was a good book but definitely not suited for middle schoolers in my opinion