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lauraborkpower's review against another edition
2.0
Although I liked this book, I think there are problems. Pedophilia, rape, and incest are weighty topics, but Abbott glosses over them in favor of writing the story in a thriller-esque style. Don't get me wrong: I like this style and I like Abbott's writing; but I wanted this story told with more significance, more thought.
It might be a problem with the narrator, who is a child herself (an adolescent, 13/14 year old), but it's still a problem.
It might be a problem with the narrator, who is a child herself (an adolescent, 13/14 year old), but it's still a problem.
halfcactus's review against another edition
dark
2.5
Grooming and sexual harassment/assault framed in a missing persons case and told in the PoV of teenage girls who have daddy issues and are navigating school and sexual experiences. It' more interested in the psychology and the emotions than the crime and mystery, except the psychology and feelings aren't very interesting and the final twist is quite standard. The prose is attractive and the scenes of girlhood would be nice in a coming-of-age novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Rape
cthompson00297's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
protoman21's review against another edition
5.0
This book is packed full of raw emotion just dripping from every page. The story is compelling by itself, but Abbott is a master of using the minimum amount of words to perfectly capture feelings that are so deep inside and forbidden, but true and wonderful to experience through the heart of another. Each scene felt critical because the subtext that peeked out from every phrase. A very well executed novel about a sensitive and difficult topic. Bravo!
goodem9199's review against another edition
4.0
This was headed for a five-star...now I desperately need a friend to read it, too so we can chat....Heather? Heather???
alexrobinsonsupergenius's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol and Death
deshanejt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Wow.
Definitely dark, and borders on disturbing and troubling... Yet, I couldn't put it down.
I saw a review that said, "the thing I fear most, is being a teenage girl in a Megan Abbott novel..."
Definitely dark, and borders on disturbing and troubling... Yet, I couldn't put it down.
I saw a review that said, "the thing I fear most, is being a teenage girl in a Megan Abbott novel..."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Death, Gun violence, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Rape, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Incest, Sexual assault, and Medical content
mbkarapcik's review against another edition
4.0
A coming of age tale in which school girl imaginings become twisted into stark realities after a teen girl disappears. I found the depictions of summer in the 1980s and teen best friends not completely privy to the dangers of adulthood pretty realistic. The secrets bared in the book are plenty disturbing and challenge how certain situations may be viewed by the people involved and the outsiders who witness them, especially those way too young and naive to understand or handle them without consequences. It shows how a perfect family may appear perfect on the surface but buries ugly secrets consciously or subconsciously deep into the family dynamic.
Having my own teen daughter, I was wondering if the story, once the main character plunges into determining what happened to her friend, which brings her to some perilous discoveries, would disturb me as a parent. The way it's written, though, made me consider my memories of being a teen just as much as being the parent of one. Still, in many ways, the outcome is more chillingly tragic and unexpected than you would think. Disturbing fits as a description as repetitive as it seems.
Two books kept creeping into my subconscious while reading this -- Lolita and The Virgin Suicides. And, of course, The Police song, Don't Stand So Close to Me.
Aside: One of my favorite Doors' songs, Moonlight Drive, is described in the book without divulging the title or band name.
Having my own teen daughter, I was wondering if the story, once the main character plunges into determining what happened to her friend, which brings her to some perilous discoveries, would disturb me as a parent. The way it's written, though, made me consider my memories of being a teen just as much as being the parent of one. Still, in many ways, the outcome is more chillingly tragic and unexpected than you would think. Disturbing fits as a description as repetitive as it seems.
Two books kept creeping into my subconscious while reading this -- Lolita and The Virgin Suicides. And, of course, The Police song, Don't Stand So Close to Me.
Aside: One of my favorite Doors' songs, Moonlight Drive, is described in the book without divulging the title or band name.
angelamichelle's review against another edition
3.0
In some ways, such a sad, horrible view of tween girls as objects of desire, as implicitly sexual actors. Not how I view childhood. At all. Or how I felt, really, as a teenager.
But there is something to the emerging power a girl realizes she has as she becomes a woman. But a power that really leads to giving away power.
[BFFs. One suddenly disappears, is kidnapped, and the other tries to figure out what’s going on. The friends father.]
But there is something to the emerging power a girl realizes she has as she becomes a woman. But a power that really leads to giving away power.
[BFFs. One suddenly disappears, is kidnapped, and the other tries to figure out what’s going on. The friends father.]
aberdeenwaters's review against another edition
4.0
I really like the way Abbott takes a lot of old tropes and conventions of older mystery and suspense fiction, and transports them to a different time and circle (teenage girls). She's all about exploring the seedy underbelly that surrounds suburbia. Good stuff.