Living Dead Girl

Elizabeth Scott is a genius. A literary genius. I’ve read some of Elizabeth’s other titles, and I find myself wondering, how can these be written by the same person. And I don’t mean that in a Stephenie Meyer/[b:Breaking Dawn|1162543|Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)|Stephenie Meyer|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/416pfGGLM0L._SL75_.jpg|2960529] way. To have that kind of diverse talent, it is simply effing amazing. I read this book in one setting. It is truly powerful. The emotion– sadness, despair it’s so apparent it’s freaky. How can I say that I loved a book about abduction, sexual abuse, and suffering? Why do you look out your car window when you drive by the scene of an accident, do you want to see a dead, show more possibly mutilated body? But I did, I loved it. It was a masterpiece. And not because of what it was about, but because of how it made me feel. It’s gripping, enthralling and completely horrifying. The most disturbing parts aren’t even written, but left to the reader to fill in the sickening details. I’ve read suggestions that this book shouldn’t be targeted to a teen audience. Why? Because ignorance is bliss? Because we don’t need to add to the things that teenagers are desensitized from? Don’t worry if you ignore the situation it will go away. That’s how our society deals with those things, right? Just sweep it under the rug. No one will have to know that the world is a dirty place. Do you ever have one of those moments where you want to let out a good frustrated scream... yeah, this is one of those times.... Elizabeth Scott you’re my hero. show less

UGH. I never had any intention of reading this book until Bitch Magazine posted a list of Feminist YA books on their website this weekend and, much to my surprise, this was on it. I questioned its place on the list, a staffer said they'd look into it, and I second guessed myself. Turns out I was right the first time: this isn't feminist at all. What's more, I'd say that this is the literary equivalent of torture porn, except worse than anything you'll actually ever see on the big screen; this book has no redeeming social value whatsoever.

(Edited a week later to add some thoughts I've better developed since discussing with librarian buddies who both love and hate this book.)

I can't deny that this book will appeal to horror-hungry teens, show more and as a librarian I have to give it credit for that. But frankly, it is ONLY as a genre horror novel that I can give it credit. Same way I don't want to watch Hostel, I don't want to read books like this. Clearly some people do, so however much I personally might have hated the experience of reading it, I can accept that this is a different strokes kind of thing. But I have a real problem with this book being marketed as anything other than horror. It SHOCKS me that anyone could call this a feminist work.

Does it make sense to say that the bleakness of this book makes it pointless? I just wonder, what does a teen reader, or any reader, have to hold onto at the end? Kyla is already apparently damaged beyond repair when the book begins, completely broken and tragic, but well on her way to monstrous, too: using her own sexuality to control others who she perceives as being weak; viciously mean when she has the opportunity to be; positively gleeful over the thought of freeing herself at the cost of another girl's freedom. It seems to me that with the ending she gives us, Scott lazily skirts around the possibility of recovery, of any possible empowerment or justice. And I'm not someone who thinks every book should have a happy (or even optimistic) ending, I just think that THIS book becomes pointless without one. There's no story here -- this is a completely bleak and voyeuristic snapshot of horrific abuse and NOTHING ELSE, merely something you tell little girls to scare them into submission. I think, in the end, a reader has nothing to gain from this book except for a good scare (which it certainly delivers), and I think that does discredit it, pretty much entirely, as a piece of serious literary fiction.

I will say that I thought Scott's writing was much, much better here than in the very boring and awkward Perfect You (except for the dialog, which this author cannot write at all).

But all in all I was happier person before I read this, and the world was probably a better place before it was written. Yuck. A million yucks. I want a shower.

For a better, smarter captor/captive book, try Room. For a better, smarter abuse book, try Push. show less

I listened to this on audio.
This audiobook was hauntingly as told by narrator, Kate Reinders. She was lovely as she portrayed young Alice, a girl abducted by the perverted Ray. In his clutches for five years she wants nothing more to escape. With eloquence of voice, each character is distinctively narrated and the listener can distinguish easily between personalities. My favorite character, of course, is Alice, abused sexually, physically, and emotionally. The listener will fight for Alice and won’t even blame her when she willingly goes along with Ray to abduct another girl. She is fighting for her life and the listener fights along with her. Is it a book for every teen? No, but for any teen struggling with abuse or for those show more empathetic enough to listen to it, it is an important book. It could easily be introduced into a select audience as a booktalk, it is graphic, emotional, and raw. It is a book that will move the listener, it is overly compelling, and it will provoke much thought. It was an audiobook so poignant and emotional, as much as I didn’t want to listen to it I had to know that our protagonist, Alice, would survive. show less

“I have been smashed and put back together so many times nothing works right. Nothing is where it should be, heavy thumping in my shoulder where my heart now beats.”

I had heard Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott described as disturbing but I really didn’t think it would bother me but, people, believe me when I say this book is very disturbing. A stark look at a young girl’s life after she has been abducted by a pedophile. She lives a life of terror and abuse that is very hard to read about. I think the author deserves kudos for delivering such a honest look at this brutal subject but the fact that this book is published as a YA is astonishing. I am not convinced that this is a YA book, at the very least I believe that a young show more girl would need a fair amount of discussion to understand what is going on here. I would definitely say this this is a book for the upper reaches of the YA audience.

The author pulls no punches as she tells Alice’s story in a unique style that is both riveting and effective. We are drawn into the mind of this young girl who has suffered not only physical and sexual abuse, but also has been physically forced to maintain a child’s body. Alice knows that there was a previous girl before her, and she knows that when that girl got too old she was murdered. Instead of scaring her, Alice longs for her time of release. When her abductor comes up with a plan for the two of them to kidnap another child, she is willing to go along with it in order to see the end of her suffering. It is chilling to read of how she helps to set up a young girl that she meets playing in a park, but at the same time, one can understand how she has been conditioned to help this monster.

I did not find that the author crossed any boundaries of taste, this is a difficult subject but one that we all know does happen. This is a short book but Living Dead Girl will be a book that I will not easily forget, and as a mother and grandmother I can only say that we can’t be vigilant enough with our young. show less

A frightening, disturbing, and gripping read. The author gets right inside character's head and the stark way the book is written offers just enough explanation as well as leaving just enough horror to the imagination. I like that Ray's background is explored a bit, showing the reader how he became the way he is. I find the ending a bit too dramatic and a bit predictable but it is fitting.

Besides a peek inside the mind of a kidnapped and abused girl, I'm not sure what this book offers to young readers, since there's no real lesson here (not that there needs to be) and it seems more to be about shock value. Still, this was an addictive read, the kind of book that you can't put down (and it certainly is slim enough to finish in one show more sitting), and the story haunts you long after you've finished it. show less

Gripping, tragic and haunting, this book will send chills down your spine and make you think. "Alice," kidnapped when she was 10 from a school trip, is now 15 and forced into sexual submission by a madman named Ray. Because Alice has gotten older and bigger, she is forced to find her replacement, after which time she will be killed by Ray. A taut storyline told in the trance-like voice of Alice, this book is not to be missed.

I was sitting here, a moment ago, just trying to figure out how to rate this book. I finished it in an hour. It was impossible for me to put down. I really just couldn't stop. It was very well written, it was engaging, and it stole a little piece of me that I can never get back. I knew going in that it wouldn't be an easy read, emotionally that is. I knew that it would be a hard topic to handle. I have a young daughter and I knew... but I couldn't stop myself.
I can't say that I 'liked' it, really. I can't figure out how I can rate a book like this. I hated it, but that is not the fault of the author, really. I hated that there are people like Ray out there. I hated that while this story is not 'true' it IS, in fact, true in the greater show more sense, in that there are young women who feel like 'Alice'. There are people out there who feel like nothing more than walking shells because some terribly damaged person was able, for some reason or another, to damage them as well.
This is one of those books that will leave me hurting for a long time. Could I recommend this book? I don't think so. I can say, however, that is likely a book that should exist and the message at its core is something that we should all take a look at. We may condemn those people who do the things that Ray does, but what are we doing to help the people that are hurt by the Rays of the world? show less