Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Synopsis:

Libby Day was just seven years old when her evidence put her fifteen-year-old brother behind bars.

Since then, she had been drifting. But when she is contacted by a group who are convinced of Ben's innocence, Libby starts to ask questions she never dared to before. Was the voice she heard her brother's? Ben was a misfit in their small town, but was he capable of murder? Are there secrets to uncover at the family farm or is Libby deluding herself because she wants her brother back?

She begins to realize that everyone in her family had something to hide that day... especially Ben. Now, twenty-four years later, the truth is going to be even harder to find.

Who did massacre the Day family?

With how much I loved Gillian Flynn’s other two novels, I expected to love this one right away. I think that is where I went wrong. To me, the first chapter just did not make me all that interested. I knew what the book was about, so it didn’t really introduce anything new.

I also didn’t really like Libby as a character.

Once she met the Kill Club and Lyle it started to move along at a nice pace. At least that happened at the beginning.

This one really kept me guessing until the end. Her books have a good way of doing that, and I think that is why I love them so much.  I kept changing my theories throughout the book, but I never guessed the ending. Maybe it was obvious to other people, but it wasn’t to me.

The way it was written made the build up even better as well. It reminded me of Gone Girl in a way. You are getting the back-story as you are getting the current timeline as well. It switches from chapter to chapter.

The more I read, the more I didn’t want to put the book down. Once I got into the story and into the characters, I was hooked. Libby still wasn’t a great character, and I never really liked her, but it wasn’t enough to make me dislike the book.

The storyline was just creepy with all of the talk about Satanism and devil worship. Ben as a child was also a disturbing character which made his arrest seem so obvious. It was the most interesting to read the chapters that were written from his point of view.

4/5 Stars

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Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Synopsis:

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

I am just going to start by saying I loved this book. I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK.

I would go as far as to say this is now my favorite book. 

It took me awhile to publish this review because I didn’t think that any thing I wrote would do it justice.

Gone Girl is like two complete novels all in one. It starts out going one way and midway through turns completely around. I am going to write this review spoiler-free and put some spoilers under the cut. It was too great I do not want to spoil anything if you have not read it.

Gone Girl takes you through a spiral into insanity. How a person can go from seeming so normal to turning into a dark sociopath. It takes you down this journey through a series a journal entries written by both Amy and her husband Nick. You get to hear both of their points of view which makes the story-telling and flow of the novel really interesting.

It is an interesting story about how a relationship can go from perfect to dark and gloomy. From loving someone to wanting to destroy them.

Gillian’s writing is completely addicting. I didn’t want to put the book down, and when I did put it down I was always thinking about it. Trying to guess what was going on and what would happen next.

Reading Gone Girl is a full on experience. It isn’t just another book to read through quickly and then let it collect dust. I actually read it slower than most other books just because I was soaking in everything.

If you like mystery/suspense books, do not hesitate to read this.

5/5

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Spoiler Review -->

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Camille’s skin tells the story of her troubled past.

Riddled with words that she carved into her skin, they tell the story of a girl trying to get through the pain of her teenage years in the only way she knew how.

After a stay in the hospital, Camille became a reporter for a paper in Chicago.

When a story about a child murderer calls her back to her home in Wind Gap, she doesn’t know how she will be able to face going back there.

Wind Gap houses her past, her dead sister, and her addiction to carving words into her skin using knives from the kitchen. Everywhere she turns, there is a memory; whether it be an old face or an old hangout. Nothing has changed.

What has changed is the fact that there are innocent girls being murdered in their town, and nobody knows who is behind it.

As Camille tries to get her story and figure out what is going on in Wind Gap, she has to face all of her old demons . . . and her new ones. Her mother is as shut off and disapproving as ever. Her sister tries to be the golden child, but has a wild side that ends up with a night of drinking and doing drugs with Camille. Being attracted to a cop and playing a game of cat and mouse trying to get information and a statement from him.

Nothing is easy down in Wind Gap. There are too many secrets.

This was a really deep and dark book. Between dealing with mental illnesses and murder, there was no room for any bright storyline, and that it what makes it stand out to me. Gillian Flynn didn’t try to fluff up the story at all because these are very real problems that people face. It made the book very real and more interesting.

The twist at the end was really interesting to me. I am not sure if figuring out who the murderer is was supposed to be a twist, or a confirmation of readers’ beliefs. I had it narrowed down to two people mid-way through the novel, and both of them ended up being caught and prosecuted for different crimes. So, it wasn’t really a twist to me, but it didn’t have to be. It was good to finally know what happened and who did it.

That being said, the reveal of the murderer was really creepy. The explanation of where the teeth went and how the crimes went down was really disturbing.

I was sort of disappointed with how Camille ended up at the end of the book. I was hoping that she would come out of Wind Gap stronger than ever and leave her past behind. She couldn’t do that and ended up reverting back to her old ways. I don’t necessarily always want books to have a happy ending, but I was really rooting for her.

5/5 Beautifully written. Really intriguing story.

I haven’t been able to get the image of a crazy lady in all white taking a girl into the woods since I read that section in the book. That will probably be the thing that sticks with me the most. It gave me chills.

Memorable Quote: “Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom.”

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