Review: Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

I first heard about this on BookTube, from a BookTuber named LittleBookOwl. She was talking about it in one of her videos and said that it was absolutely amazing. So, I immediately put this on my wishlist and bought it soon after.

This is also one of the first physical books I've picked up in awhile, not to mention also one of the first books from my own TBR that I've read in the past few months.

Publication Date: September 2, 2008

Synopsis: 
The thing is, you can get used to anything. You think you can't, you want to die, but you don't. You won't. You just are.

This is Alice.

She was taken by Ray five years ago.

She thought she knew how her story would end.

She was wrong.

Thoughts:
It's been quite awhile since I picked up a physical TBR book of my own choice, so when I had the chance, I decided to pick this up. The fact that I've really wanted to read it for quite awhile, combined with it being only 170 pages, I figured that it would be a quick read. It also happened to match the weather when I first started reading, dark and gloomy.

First of all, I really loved the writing style here. It reminded me of Taherah Mafi's writing style, in the sense that the stream of consciousness is very strong. Now, I did like Taherah's format of stream of consciousness in the Shatter Me trilogy, but I feel like the stream of consciousness here is much more...well, likable. I enjoyed it so much and really felt a connection to Alice.

Then came the plot, which...wow, it was so good. I was hooked the entire time and kept wanting to read more to find out what was going to happen next. The suspense and the narration created such a sense of curiosity and kept everything incredibly interesting.

The whole idea behind this plot, everything that happens in this story, it all sounds a little fictionalized when you first hear about it. But then you read it, and you realize that this is something that could actually happen; it could actually be happening to someone right now. And despite the fact that you don't want to admit that Alice has good reasons for some of her actions, you do admit it at some point, and there's a realization that comes over you because you might just do the same thing.

While reading this, I couldn't help but wonder if I could have survived in this situation or what I would've done if I was Alice. Sadly, I don't think I could've done what she did, nor do I think I'd be the kind of person to survive as long as she has.

But what I think we really need to talk about is the ending. Firstly, if you have a habit of flipping through your book and looking at the ads at the end of the book, I would say DO NOT DO THAT WITH THIS BOOK. I did and accidentally spoiled myself for the ending, though admittedly, I still had no idea what was going to happen. However, I do think that this is the kind of ending that deserves its build-up and was resolved in such a wonderful manner. I was actually nervous while reading this in public and had no idea what would happen next. But the ending was just so incredible and I don't think it could have been resolved in a better way. 

Characters:
Alice, oh poor little Alice. Okay, that's a bit of a lie. No, she doesn't want your pity. She doesn't want you too look at her and feel bad, because too many people only look and feel. What she wants, is for you to be different.

Oh yeah, then there's Ray. He's simple, but complicated. You sort of understand him, but you really don't. It's like there's too much to know, but not enough that you care.

I don't know if any of that makes any sense, but it's the only way I can describe the characters without spoiling you.

Overall:
5 stars and very highly recommended. This has definitely made it to my list of favorite stand-alones, and you can be sure that I'll be re-reading this in the future.

Keep in mind that this might be more for mature teenagers, as it does deal with several darker themes and some scenes might not be so much for the squeamish or easily disturbed. But if you're comfortable with all that, go ahead and read it, it really is a great book.