I’m sorry to inform that I did not finish this, I physically couldn’t.

DNF at 43%

But I am willing to try again with this author and read another one of her books in the future.

DNF @ 20% - I think I’m made for true crime TV rather than reading true crime. I find myself so bored by the narrators in audio and the MC in physical forms. I really wish I could get more into it because any unsolved mystery or forensic files are right up my alley. perhaps it was also due to the fact that I already knew this case backwards and forwards … I would definitely recommend this one for anyone a fan of paul hobbs!!!

This twisty book takes place in 1970s Detroit and is about a serial killer, aptly named the Babysitter, targeting children. The opening descriptions left me chilled and the rest of the book followed suit. A bit confusing to follow at times, but a very engrossing story.

The Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates is a literary thriller about a serial killer targeting children in 1977 Detroit.

The details of the physical violence were a tough go for me, but one of the things I have always admired about Joyce Carol Oates...she is fearless and takes on the human psyche like very few contemporary authors are able or willing to. Her ability to reveal and lay things out for the reader is masterful and sometimes quite brutal.

Hannah the main character wasn't relatable for me, as I felt like she lived in a bubble until she didn't. It's hard for me to empathize with her because I felt like she's the same annoying, and whiny person I rarely speak to at parties or would ever befriend. Again though this immediate dislike was clearly the author's ability to make me feel this way, as ultimately it served the story well.

A truly interesting, contemporary-style novel with a deep look at the ailments that continue to plague society and a glimpse into lives of people we may never know.

Excellent as always, this author is iconic for a reason.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I always want to love Joyce Carol Oates as she is a prolific and legendary author, but unfortunately this one wasn't my cup of tea. Obviously well-written and plotted, but seemed a little repetitive. Someday I'll find my favorite Oates!

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc.

There is no doubt that this is a good book, particularly for those who are interested in very intense literary fiction. This covers, in some detail, different aspects about the serial killer Babysitter's case. Taking place in 1977, following a housewife who is used to the rich side of life and the start of an affair. It's a combination of the two stories, really.

This books says a lot about so many hot topics but while the author is showing and telling the different sides to this story it comes with a lot of triggering details.

I had a really hard time reading this one.

Trigger Warnings for: Racism, Child sexual assault, murder, violence, rape... also I just want to add that there is a lot of disturbing imagery.

This is my first book by this author. I was confused when I started reading this book, so I admit I looked more into the author. She is known for writing unlikable characters and she did a great job of doing that with this book. As soon as I was intrigued, something happens to turn me off. The book has a lot of scenes repeated over and over again. There are also a lot of different characters that didn’t fit organically. The plot was confusing at times and the ending was weird. I always say not every book is for everyone and this book wasn’t for me.

Thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an E-ARC via NetGalley. Publication date is anticipated for 8/23/2022.

I was originally very excited to read this book because of how the synopsis made it seem like a historical true crime story, but after reading the first fifty pages it became apparent that it's not. Instead, the book mostly follows Hannah a housewife who is having an affair, her home life, and her encounters with other people. A very small portion of the book is actually dedicated to the serial killer narrative.

The writing style was very unconventional and I did struggle with it a bit, but admittedly I still enjoyed it. The style of writing is definitely not for everyone as I've seen a lot of critiques of it (a few I agree with). If you can look past the unreliable narrative and the writing be sure to check trigger warnings. Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc!

Rating: 2.5

I can appreciate Oates’s writing, having read her work before, but the style of this novel wasn’t for me. The way it was written kept me at a distance from the story in a way that made it hard for me to get very invested, which was a shame because I was very interested in the subject. I think this style might really work for other readers, just not for me.

I love this author, which is the reason I asked to read Babysitter. I can't say that this was a favourite of mine. To be honest, I had a hard time getting through it. I couldn't believe how naive Hannah was. She knowingly went and met some guy in the penthouse of a hotel. She knew nothing about him. He could have been a serial killer, a rapist, anything really. There was a serial killer called the Babysitter on the loose in Detroit, and yet this seemed to have slipped her mind when she was sneaking off to see this guy. Hannah was married with two kids. Clearly she had way too much time on her hands. Maybe her husband should have paid more attention to her and his kids.
3 out of 5 for me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this title.

A couple of things really took me out of this one…mentions of voicemail, cordless phones, 911…were these all in existence in the 70s? Maybe I’m just dumb. Anyway good story but wow is there a lot of punctuation.

"From one of America’s most renowned storytellers - the best-selling author of Blonde - comes a novel about love and deceit, and lust and redemption, against a backdrop of shocking murders in the affluent suburbs of Detroit.

In the waning days of the turbulent 1970s, in the wake of unsolved child-killings that have shocked Detroit, the lives of several residents are drawn together with tragic consequences.

There is Hannah, wife of a prominent local businessman, who has begun an affair with a darkly charismatic stranger whose identity remains elusive; Mikey, a canny street hustler who finds himself on a chilling mission to rectify injustice; and the serial killer known as Babysitter, an enigmatic and terrifying figure at the periphery of elite Detroit. As Babysitter continues his rampage of abductions and killings, these individuals intersect with one another in startling and unexpected ways.

Suspenseful, brilliantly orchestrated, and engrossing, Babysitter is a starkly narrated exploration of the riskiness of pursuing alternate lives, calling into question how far we are willing to go to protect those whom we cherish most. In its scathing indictment of corrupt politics, unexamined racism, and the enabling of sexual predation in America, Babysitter is a thrilling work of contemporary fiction."

I love crime set in the seventies.

DNF @ 25%-- not going to post elsewhere, as this book was just not for me. The writing style is so choppy and I really struggled to drop into the story because of it.

If you can stand its suspense and building terror, this book will catch you from the start. With Detroit of the 70's as a backdrop, the city is collectively overwhelmed by the crimes of "The Babysitter," who kidnaps and murders children. Meanwhile we are introduced to a wealthy woman who is about to embark on a clandestine affair at a high end hotel, with an inscrutable and charismatic man, risking her comfortable upper class life as wife and mother. Part of the strength of this novel is the insight into the woman's introspection as she makes many choices against her better judgment.

I wanted to read this because it was by Joyce Carol Oates, as I have 'enjoyed' some (but not all!) of her novels. The first chapters I found staggeringly good; she has an amazing ability to put the reader inside the protagonist's head and the slow build of suspense was masterful. The almost total lack of dialogue was also masterful. At first I thought this would be a very short novel about an affair, but how wrong I was. It was one of the most horrific novels I have ever read and I kept reading in spite of feeling sick, to see how it was going to end. Of course there was never going to be a clear ending... I thought for a long time about if I would even review it, as everything about the writing, structure, etc could only be a 5+ rating, yet I wish I'd never read it, and would never recommend it to anyone. So how to rate it? I decided to give it a 3... basically as an average between 5 for the writing and 0 for the story.

I have not read Joyce Carol Oates before, but the name was familiar enough that I wanted to give this story a go. The serial killer times of the 1970s meets potentially lurid housewife seemed like a great combination.

Unfortunately, the stream of consciousness style at the beginning of the novel slowed the pace down considerably and it was a very challenging story to get into. I enjoyed it towards the end but it wasn’t worth the effort required upfront. Hannah is, at best, unaware of the world and at her worst completely one note.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Literary Fiction + Mystery Thriller

This story is set in 1977 Detroit. It is about this serial killer who is known by the media as Babysitter. His victims are white kids between the ages of eleven and fourteen. His goal is to target those children who are not loved and not deserved. All this is actually more like a backdrop of the story, The story’s focus is more on Hannah, a 39-year-old housewife whose relationship with her husband Wes has been deteriorating over time. She has an affair with another man. What she thought would be an innocent flirtation turns into an assault! How will Hannah deal with this situation? And what does all this has to do with Babysitter? You need to read to know.

This is my first book by Joyce Carol Oates. I have another book of hers in my TBR but decided to go for this one first as it is the newest release. Honestly, I’m conflicted about her writing style. In the first couple of chapters, I felt the sentences were not complete. And later chapters got wordy and longer. The direction the plot was taking felt more convoluted to me. I can’t hide my disappointment about the serial killer just being a backdrop in the story. The protagonist is Hannah and through her actions, the story progresses.

Despite expecting more from this book and its author, I still think it was a decent read. However, it has many trigger warnings like kidnap, murder, rape, infidelity, racism, etc so you have to be careful if you decide to pick it up. I doubt the main character would be a favorite character by readers. Relating to her or accepting her actions is hardly possible.

Many thanks to the publisher Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Knopf, and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book.

Plenty of relevant societal messages in this dark tale – racism, women manipulated as stereotypes and a sexual predator/psychopath roaming and killing at will. Multiple threads conjoin in this (surreal) story set in 1970s Detroit, where a bored housewife initially seeks solace in alcohol, then the thrill of an extramarital affair. The question is, who is her beau and who else does he manipulate?

An intriguing tale. It’s only my fourth JCO novel to date; thus, as someone who cannot be labelled an earnest disciple, I feel I can be critical of the format (a little peculiar - it feels like a diary or notebook) as well as the stream-of-consciousness narration. I had to read it twice, which ultimately helped me appreciate its worth a little more. However, this will likely be a ‘love it or hate it’ book. I take umbrage at some critics who unquestionably label it as ‘thrilling’ and ‘engrossing’. Sorry, but that is bordering on over-hype.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for granting this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Babysitter was my first dive into a book by Joyce Carol Oates, and I think that that fact probably was a detriment to my reading experience. Because I wasn’t familiar with her writing style, I found it very difficult to get into the story and get a hang of the flow and the style of the story. I found that I couldn’t even really start to enjoy the book until I was over halfway through.

I also understand that Hannah is supposed to be the slightly ignorant affluent white woman, but I really only needed to be told that once. It felt very monotonous to continue to be beat over the head with her whining about being a rich white woman and how hard her life was because of it. To me, I felt as though her ignorance and position in society was told to me rather than shown, and it was told to me over and over and over and over again.

The story itself seemed interesting enough, but there wasn’t as much of a connection between Hannah and her affair and the Babysitter for me. Sometimes they would be mentioned, but the two ideas of the story felt so disjointed to me that I had some trouble trying to decide why I should care.

The ending of this story was also incredibly abrupt to me. Now, I normally don’t mind a slightly abrupt ending if done correctly, but I didn’t feel like this one was. There was so much build up and then the story just ended.

Overall, a very long book that I did not feel was entirely worth the long time it took me to read it.

Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates is a thriller set in the 70s. It took me a little while to get into this story, but once I did—I couldn't put it down. Hannah is something of an unlikeable narrator, but that didn't keep me from racing through the pages.