Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Synopsis:

Once upon a time, I was a little girl who disappeared.

Once upon a time, my name was not Alice.

Once upon a time, I didn't know how lucky I was.

When Alice was ten, Ray took her away from her family, her friends -- her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure all pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over.

Now Alice is fifteen and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her.

This is Alice's story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.

I found this book pretty hard to read. I'm not easily disturbed, but this one really got to me. It was incredibly written and very moving, but the subject matter was just hard for me to deal with.

I think it's because I read Dark Places by Gillian Flynn and then immediately read this one. They are both very dark novels. Maybe if I had read something cheerful in between, this would have been easier to handle.

I liked the book, don't get me wrong. I can see why people respond so strongly to Scott's writing and I plan to read more of her books. She has an incredible ability to put you into the mind of the main character. Alice's mind was just a tough place to hang out for awhile.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely. The writing is worth the uneasy feeling it gave me. I think it's an important book about a very heartbreaking topic.