The horror genre also says so much about the time in which it was written and also about how much we have changed. What I love about horror (books and movies is how relatable the story can be regardless of when it was written. Its a horror story set/written in the 1970s about a little girl with a terrifying psychic potential. Finally picked it up to read for a change of pace. I think my aunt gave it to me when I was 12ish. So I have literally had this book on my shelf for 20 years. This novel was a good read, and it had a nice creepy vibe that I enjoyed, however a more plausible plot and connection between characters and reader would have increased my enjoyment. That was a ludicrous plot line although it did make for a "happy" ending (if the ending could really be described as 'happy'). I am not sure if Wood meant to evoke such reaction from a reader or if the emotional disjointedness was just part of my experience.Īlso, personal experience tells me that when a person "escapes" from a mental institution ("Sane" or not), he cannot show up at a person's home, claiming to be an "uncle" and all of a sudden become responsible for that child. These conflicting emotions leave a bit of an emptiness for me- wondering "what am I missing? Why does everyone hate this child so much?" or at times, yelling "that's not fair!" It is the eldest son Paulie that I detested, and although he received his just desserts, he really seemed to get the sympathy of the writer and her characters. However, the characters in the novel all seem to take heed of Amy and be wary of her, when the reader wants to sympathize with her. As Amy takes constant abuse from the eldest son of her new home, Amy never uses her "powers" against the rest of the Levins, who take her in and care for her, or against the doctors responsible for her care (not in a negative way anyway). But the characters are honest, and the story is interesting in and of itself. This book was written in the late 80s, and it definitely shows its age in a lot of the plotlines. With the sudden ability to control those around her, Amy is also struggling to fit into a new home where the eldest son most certainly is not a welcome host. With her father in jail and she in the care of the Levin's, Amy begins to develop the power that was triggered when she became the unwilling observer to her mother's death. An abused child who watches her father kill her mother, is then taken into the home of the police officer who saved her, as a foster child. "Amy Girl"by Bari Wood has some similarities with "Firestarter" (Stephen King).
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