Excellent! I’ve read over 20 of her books, and this doesn’t disappoint!

Oates is a fantastic storyteller that really knows how to pull at the heartstrings. The book was a little slow to start with, but picked up about halfway through.

This one ended up being kind of a bummer for me. I haven't read this author before but have heard excellent things... And I'm thinking it's just this book? Because I was bored to tears.
I didn't enjoy the plot or characters. At times, I would read and understand why people liked her writing. But all-in-all, this just didn't work for me. I stuck it out to about 50% hoping it would get better. Unfortunately that didn't happen.
Not to say I won't try Oates again... Just not sure this book was written for me.

Macabro, violento, incomodísimo. Me encantó.

This book is a wild ride- one which made me scared, uneasy and disgusted in deep, visceral ways, but was incredible.

The title belies the cruelty at the heart of the book- a slew of children go missing, with the perpetrator being nicknamed, with horrible irony, the 'Babysitter'. In the midst of this, we get several plotlines of people who are caught up and complicit in what is happening, and others just trying to survive and make sense of something that seems vastly unknowable.

The opening scene feels like it almost resists the urge of a standard book covering these themes, with almost all the action taking place inside a character's head as she heads towards a hotel room, but in many ways it sets up the ghastly horror within so many of the characters.

The writing is unflinching, raw, and incredibly deft, often navigating especially tricky descriptions with exquisite mastery. Oates will often describe a character in one or two withering sentences, and then quickly move on to the action (a particular favourite was this description: "Upright rodent. Halfway metamorphosed into a man.")

This is a deeply uncomfortable read in many ways, and pretty much every content warning applies for this book, but this book held me in its deathly grip, and made me almost miss several train stations.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

my first joyce carol oates book! it was… kinda a wild ride but also not? like the potential was there for a lot of twists and turns and something horrifying but it felt like the delivery was subdued.

not a big fan of any of the characters truly & the writing style wasn’t my favorite but the subject matter was right up my alley.

Not a fan of this book. Chaotic timeline, slow pace, graphic scenes, and little to do with the actual serial killer. Almost DNF which I never do.