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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
It’s based on true events, but all the adults in the book are so terrible that it’s just all a bit much. I’m not sure exactly which parts are based on truth, but basically *spoilers* her dad is a sex maniac, the neighbors come over for sex parties, the cop is a creep, there are just no reasonable adults- outside of the band teacher who gets blamed for the string of molestations of boys occurring in town because he’s gay. So.. real uplifting stuff. Idk, feels like the actual truth is probably pretty dark already and the author just went hard af in making it as dark as possible- and I guess the point is supposed to be that that does happen, kids are left voiceless.. but I’m just not sure that comes across here? It’s more a bizarro world of useless and insane adults, and then for the actual bad guy to be the dude who is just creepy- like the whole bad guy reveal was done horribly, Cassie is certain it’s the one creep and nope, it’s the other creep, but they’re all so bad that despite the book being well written I just wanted it to end. Engaging, but just too much.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Damn did this book hit hard. The author did a fantastic job with making me feel this sense of impending doom. It really amped up the creep factor. Being in the head of a young girl like Cassie really took me back. The author really captured the feelings and thoughts so well. This book had a lot of really messed up parts. There are a lot of shitty adults and men being awful. If you're someone who is triggered by things, please look up trigger warnings.
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An interesting and disturbing story of a brave young girl and her severely dysfunctional existence.
Wasn’t aware there was so much child sexual abuse in the book before reading it, but the author didn’t go overboard with the descriptions, so I managed it okay.
I hated that she lived in a household where she was scared of her own father, but I’m so glad she was finally able to tell her story in the end.
Wasn’t aware there was so much child sexual abuse in the book before reading it, but the author didn’t go overboard with the descriptions, so I managed it okay.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My true rating is 4.5 stars - this book was so disturbing, but hard to put down at the same time. It does lowkey mess with me that it's loosely based on true events that the author experienced.. I can't imagine the horror the main character had to go through. Little bits of truth were being revealed left and right. I will say it was a very captivating story no matter how depressing the storyline is. I would recommend to other readers BUT with a caution of warning about the triggers.
An entertaining horror tale that leads you every which way until you conclude that there is no strict line between hero and villain.
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
I enjoyed most of this book, I would say. It was compelling, and it kept me guessing which bad guy was the worst guy.
A few things that I had issues with:
The book prefaces saying how it's based off of true events, and the author hopes she did the victims justice. However, this book, to me, felt more about Cassie and her life than the victims. It felt like the victims were a subplot to her horrible home life. Which, if that was the story, totally cool. I just had expectations that the story would focus more on the crime through this child's perspective.
One of the things that sucks about a child's POV, is either unreliable narration, or we don't get the answers to our questions. Along with having a child POV, it was like "look at all this bad stuff, my friend got abducted, I'm going to go play with dolls in the park."
It was a decent read, I'm not mad I read it.
A few things that I had issues with:
The book prefaces saying how it's based off of true events, and the author hopes she did the victims justice. However, this book, to me, felt more about Cassie and her life than the victims. It felt like the victims were a subplot to her horrible home life. Which, if that was the story, totally cool. I just had expectations that the story would focus more on the crime through this child's perspective.
One of the things that sucks about a child's POV, is either unreliable narration, or we don't get the answers to our questions. Along with having a child POV, it was like "look at all this bad stuff, my friend got abducted, I'm going to go play with dolls in the park."
It was a decent read, I'm not mad I read it.
I wanted to read this book because it was based on true events. "Unspeakable Things" was even better than my expectations. It was so well written. I fell in love with the innocent main character Cassie, a thirteen-year-old girl at the time of the abductions. I couldn’t put the book down. Not only because I was interested in solving the mystery, but because I had so much concern for the main character Cassie. I wanted to hear the end of her story and hoped for a good ending for her.
I look forward to reading more books by Jess Lourey.
If you liked Glass Castles, you will like this book.
I received this galley from NetGalley.
I look forward to reading more books by Jess Lourey.
If you liked Glass Castles, you will like this book.
I received this galley from NetGalley.
I wanted to read this book because it was based on true events. Unspeakable Things were even better than my expectations. It was so well written. I fell in love with the innocent main character Cassie, a thirteen-year-old girl at the time of the abductions. I couldn’t put the book down. Not only because I was interested in solving the mystery, but because I had so much concern for the main character Cassie. I wanted to hear the end of her story and hoped for a good ending for her.
I look forward to reading more books by Jess Lourey.
If you liked Glass Castles, you will like this book.
I received this galley from NetGalley.
I look forward to reading more books by Jess Lourey.
If you liked Glass Castles, you will like this book.
I received this galley from NetGalley.