A review by anakaur
The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

dark 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

 This book was so... frustrating. 

There were many points where I did want to DNF. I'm okay with reading triggering descriptions but I don't think I've read anything this heavy and relentless. There wasn't a single breather. As a reader I felt trapped , watching something I shouldn't be, and there wasn't anyone I could go to. 

But then why did I give this a high of a rating?... 

Well I left the book feeling like: "I know I can't recommend this to anyone, and I know that I don't want to be reading anything like this again. But I feel like I had to read something like this a least once". I know it sounds ridiculous, but I truly feel that this book scared the by stander effect out of me. 

A lot of people ask what the point of writing something that's essentially torture p*rn, could be? And that was the point of the book for me. The point was that yes this is hard to watch, but there are many people, like our main character, that just watch. 

I left this book with so much anger. And I still don't know where to place that anger yet, I just know that it is righteous and I can do some good things with it. 

It broke me and angered me further to learn that this story was based on a real case, and the real case was more horrific than the book. So I do ask for those that DNF-ed the Girl Next Door to spare a thought for Sylvia. For those like her that could have been saved if only someone that was just watching, actually said something, or done something. 
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