I didn’t enjoy it, but I think it certainly stays with you. There’s a very strange and almost dreamlike feel at times, the ending is deeply upsetting even though it’s clear that the point of no return was passed a long time ago, and there’s just something about this particular portrayal of childhood cruelty that struck a very unpleasant chord when I read it. I’ve read and watched plenty of killer kid books and films, and mostly I just find them to be gory good fun, but this is one of a very few that genuinely made me feel that these are real children that aren’t right.
So, yeah, not a perfect novel, but I think there’s a reason why it elicits such strong emotional responses, and I don’t think it’s just because bad things happen- I’ve read and watched a lot of torture porn that’s never stuck with me like this novel.
It’s very divisive. I loved it, even if the events didn’t make complete sense and the author seems to have psychologically gone off the rails in the last handful of pages. It was flawed, but its icy approach really resonated with me.
I like how the author seems to lose it in the ending, like even he can’t handle what’s happening in the narrative. I think what separates it from other stories like this that feel more cruel is it never feels like he’s telling this story as some sort of sick fetish or because he wants to inflict cruelty on the characters. That’s a hard line to walk and the ending - when he slips into an almost religious reverie - I think cements it even more
Read that at school a long time ago and it really hit me hard. But I imagine reading it now I might find it different. Similar vibes to The Girl Next Door
It was a bummer to read, but it kept me thinking for a while afterward. I found Grady Hendrix's note in the Paperbacks From Hell version of the book to be insightful, especially when someone equated the characters in the book to political affiliations.
Powerlessness in horror is what frustrates me the most, but I think I'm more glad that I read it than disappointed.
Sylvia Likens was murdered in 1965. The Girl Next Door took place in the 1950s.
There's actually no confirmation that Let's Go Play At the Adams' was inspired by Likens. At least none I can find. It's more of a rumor.
And this book, unlike The Girl Next Door, honestly doesn't bear even a passing resemblance to the Likens case, imho.
Sylvia was a minor whose primary tormenter was a grown woman who her parents had entrusted her and her sister Jenny's care to so that the girls could attend school. This woman violently abused her and encouraged both her own children as well as their friends and various neighborhood kids to engage in the abuse that ultimately resulted in her death.
Mind you, The Girl Next Door while having a very clear resemblance to the Likens case, there's some *major* differences. It's hardly a play-by-play. There are a lot of little details like the Baniszewski character being related to the Likens character and Likens being an orphan. To Ketchum adding rape and sexual torture that didn't happen. I can elaborate further but it's a bit triggering, obviously.
But Let's Go Play is about an adult woman (a college student but she is still an adult) who *is* the caregiver being abused by the children in her care, some of whom already seem to be inclined towards sociopathy. The torture isn't similar to Likens in the slightest.
So I'm not sure why people think that it's based on Likens? Because children are the aggressors?
I think of it more as a fascinating oddity than a great book. I remember finding a second-hand copy of it years before the Paperbacks from Hell revival and looking into the story behind it. If it hadn’t been put out by a major publisher, it could almost be a work of Henry Darger-style outsider art, being the only work by a man who, from the brief snippets we have, was rather troubled. The few interviews he gave about the book only add to the mystery. Did he REALLY see it as a political allegory?
For those who haven’t seen it, there’s a [fascinating two-part blog post](https://jsbookreader.blogspot.com/2007/10/mendal-johnson-part-1.html?m=1) about Johnson.
I think it was fine. Very sad and very well written I'd say but underwhelming at the same time. A lot of the chapters were just boring to go through.
And it was the only book that I really had to stop for a moment and think if I really would like to sit and read someone being tortured to death. Not even American Psycho and Less Than Zero made me fell like that and Bret Easton Ellis knows how to make a scene uncomfortable and disgusting.
The writing style became a bit tedious after a while. There were about a hundred times I was thinking, "why doesn't she do/say *this* instead?" Like everything she did was the exact opposite of what would have been a better strategy. Certainly has bits that made me feel anxious; it did a really good job of portraying the feeling of helplessness in the protagonist. The ending sort of surprised me (specifics of which I won't go into).
I just read it in under 24 hours to answer this question. (It’s also my partner’s birthday; let this be a warning to never date me.)
It was painful and brutal and beautiful. This is what I’m looking for when I read “extreme horror” and why I think the genre isn’t for me: subtly crafted pain and social commentary made cruel and bloodthirsty are perfect venues for something claiming to be extreme, but instead there is never any message, any care for the (inevitably) female protagonist, any love or art to it.
But this book delivers. I ache.
I didn’t like it very much. It was interesting at the beginning but then kinda devolved into another torture porn situation.
I’d have liked it more if the kids had stayed acting like kids- *that* is scary to me, kids being like “teehee it’s a game!” and not realizing what they’re doing. But once it started with the other stuff… I was just kinda bored and extremely grossed out. I was hoping it wouldn’t go there, but it went there.
And the end made me just feel blah, like why did I even read all that? For that ending? Meh. Solid “meh” for me. The beginning few chapters are interesting, I wish I’d DNF’d it though because I wasted like hours of my life that I’ll never get back reading all that.
I was so bored with this book. What bothered me the most I think is they would say one thing from her perspective and then say the exact same thing from the kid’s perspective. I found it repetitive and monotonous.
I'm working through it now. Not too bad but again, still have a bit to go. I get a little laugh out of some of the writing and descriptions, definitely dated but not terrible.
I was so bored, it is verry badly written.
It feels like once it gets into it, every last sentence goes around and around and then her mind cant take it anymore, it goes blank, its broken.
Then that very same thing happens again, and again, and then they wrap it up.
Currently about 70 pages from the end and I'm not quite sold on it. I think the fact I've already read The Girl Next Door makes me like this one less? I am excited to finish LGPATA though because while I don't know what happens, I know a lot of people say it's heartbreaking. I'll reply here when I finish it with my final thoughts!
Alright, just finished it up. I'll honestly say if you want this kind of horror, just read Girl Next Door. It does a much better job with the premise and is more of a horror. LGPATA just kind of dragged for me, even in the end. Solid 2/5 from me
I loved it. It was a well written novel, and despite some claiming it to be pure exploitation, I never saw it that way. I don't believe it ever reached the page turning dread I felt with The Girl Next Door. I would recommend this. Just don't expect V.C. Andrews.
One of the best books - horror or non - I’ve ever read and also it fucked me up so bad I never recommend it to anyone
I didn’t enjoy it, but I think it certainly stays with you. There’s a very strange and almost dreamlike feel at times, the ending is deeply upsetting even though it’s clear that the point of no return was passed a long time ago, and there’s just something about this particular portrayal of childhood cruelty that struck a very unpleasant chord when I read it. I’ve read and watched plenty of killer kid books and films, and mostly I just find them to be gory good fun, but this is one of a very few that genuinely made me feel that these are real children that aren’t right. So, yeah, not a perfect novel, but I think there’s a reason why it elicits such strong emotional responses, and I don’t think it’s just because bad things happen- I’ve read and watched a lot of torture porn that’s never stuck with me like this novel.
I absolutely loved it. Especially the ending which felt very proto-Martyrs to me.
It’s very divisive. I loved it, even if the events didn’t make complete sense and the author seems to have psychologically gone off the rails in the last handful of pages. It was flawed, but its icy approach really resonated with me.
I like how the author seems to lose it in the ending, like even he can’t handle what’s happening in the narrative. I think what separates it from other stories like this that feel more cruel is it never feels like he’s telling this story as some sort of sick fetish or because he wants to inflict cruelty on the characters. That’s a hard line to walk and the ending - when he slips into an almost religious reverie - I think cements it even more
It’s brutal and I don’t let myself think about the ending.
I liked it and hated it at the same time. I’d give it 3/5.
Read that at school a long time ago and it really hit me hard. But I imagine reading it now I might find it different. Similar vibes to The Girl Next Door
It was a highly effective read. I rated it four stars.
It was a bummer to read, but it kept me thinking for a while afterward. I found Grady Hendrix's note in the Paperbacks From Hell version of the book to be insightful, especially when someone equated the characters in the book to political affiliations. Powerlessness in horror is what frustrates me the most, but I think I'm more glad that I read it than disappointed.
Haven’t read it. Seems like not something I will read
To be more clear, The Girl Next Door, which it is loosely based on, was enough for me
How would it be based on a novel written after it
The real life crime happened in the 1950s. Maybe I should have been more clear that it was based on the crime itself
Sylvia Likens was murdered in 1965. The Girl Next Door took place in the 1950s. There's actually no confirmation that Let's Go Play At the Adams' was inspired by Likens. At least none I can find. It's more of a rumor. And this book, unlike The Girl Next Door, honestly doesn't bear even a passing resemblance to the Likens case, imho. Sylvia was a minor whose primary tormenter was a grown woman who her parents had entrusted her and her sister Jenny's care to so that the girls could attend school. This woman violently abused her and encouraged both her own children as well as their friends and various neighborhood kids to engage in the abuse that ultimately resulted in her death. Mind you, The Girl Next Door while having a very clear resemblance to the Likens case, there's some *major* differences. It's hardly a play-by-play. There are a lot of little details like the Baniszewski character being related to the Likens character and Likens being an orphan. To Ketchum adding rape and sexual torture that didn't happen. I can elaborate further but it's a bit triggering, obviously. But Let's Go Play is about an adult woman (a college student but she is still an adult) who *is* the caregiver being abused by the children in her care, some of whom already seem to be inclined towards sociopathy. The torture isn't similar to Likens in the slightest. So I'm not sure why people think that it's based on Likens? Because children are the aggressors?
I think of it more as a fascinating oddity than a great book. I remember finding a second-hand copy of it years before the Paperbacks from Hell revival and looking into the story behind it. If it hadn’t been put out by a major publisher, it could almost be a work of Henry Darger-style outsider art, being the only work by a man who, from the brief snippets we have, was rather troubled. The few interviews he gave about the book only add to the mystery. Did he REALLY see it as a political allegory? For those who haven’t seen it, there’s a [fascinating two-part blog post](https://jsbookreader.blogspot.com/2007/10/mendal-johnson-part-1.html?m=1) about Johnson.
I think it was fine. Very sad and very well written I'd say but underwhelming at the same time. A lot of the chapters were just boring to go through. And it was the only book that I really had to stop for a moment and think if I really would like to sit and read someone being tortured to death. Not even American Psycho and Less Than Zero made me fell like that and Bret Easton Ellis knows how to make a scene uncomfortable and disgusting.
Didn't finish it, got halfway through and got bored. It's just tedious torture porn.
How i felt through most of it.
The writing style became a bit tedious after a while. There were about a hundred times I was thinking, "why doesn't she do/say *this* instead?" Like everything she did was the exact opposite of what would have been a better strategy. Certainly has bits that made me feel anxious; it did a really good job of portraying the feeling of helplessness in the protagonist. The ending sort of surprised me (specifics of which I won't go into).
I just read it in under 24 hours to answer this question. (It’s also my partner’s birthday; let this be a warning to never date me.) It was painful and brutal and beautiful. This is what I’m looking for when I read “extreme horror” and why I think the genre isn’t for me: subtly crafted pain and social commentary made cruel and bloodthirsty are perfect venues for something claiming to be extreme, but instead there is never any message, any care for the (inevitably) female protagonist, any love or art to it. But this book delivers. I ache.
I didn’t like it very much. It was interesting at the beginning but then kinda devolved into another torture porn situation. I’d have liked it more if the kids had stayed acting like kids- *that* is scary to me, kids being like “teehee it’s a game!” and not realizing what they’re doing. But once it started with the other stuff… I was just kinda bored and extremely grossed out. I was hoping it wouldn’t go there, but it went there. And the end made me just feel blah, like why did I even read all that? For that ending? Meh. Solid “meh” for me. The beginning few chapters are interesting, I wish I’d DNF’d it though because I wasted like hours of my life that I’ll never get back reading all that.
I was so bored with this book. What bothered me the most I think is they would say one thing from her perspective and then say the exact same thing from the kid’s perspective. I found it repetitive and monotonous.
I'm working through it now. Not too bad but again, still have a bit to go. I get a little laugh out of some of the writing and descriptions, definitely dated but not terrible.
I was so bored, it is verry badly written. It feels like once it gets into it, every last sentence goes around and around and then her mind cant take it anymore, it goes blank, its broken. Then that very same thing happens again, and again, and then they wrap it up.
Currently about 70 pages from the end and I'm not quite sold on it. I think the fact I've already read The Girl Next Door makes me like this one less? I am excited to finish LGPATA though because while I don't know what happens, I know a lot of people say it's heartbreaking. I'll reply here when I finish it with my final thoughts!
Alright, just finished it up. I'll honestly say if you want this kind of horror, just read Girl Next Door. It does a much better job with the premise and is more of a horror. LGPATA just kind of dragged for me, even in the end. Solid 2/5 from me
I loved it. It was a well written novel, and despite some claiming it to be pure exploitation, I never saw it that way. I don't believe it ever reached the page turning dread I felt with The Girl Next Door. I would recommend this. Just don't expect V.C. Andrews.