Book Review: Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn

Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn

WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heart 

Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker’s troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille’s first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls.

NASTY on her kneecap, BABYDOLL on her leg 
Since she left town eight years ago, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed again in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille is haunted by the childhood tragedy she has spent her whole life trying to cut from her memory.

HARMFUL on her wrist, WHORE on her ankle As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming.

With its taut, crafted writing, Sharp Objects is addictive, haunting, and unforgettable. 

2/5 stars (it was ok)
Not one of my favorite Gillian Flynn books.  This book is full of unlikable characters with severe mental problems.  This includes everyone in the town, the cops and the kids.  I did not care for Camille.  Also I felt the book dragged a little and then it gets to the end and things are just rushed.

Book Review: Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

Libby Day was just seven years old when her older brother massacred her family while she hid in the cupboard.  Her evidence helped put him away.  Ever since then she has been drifting, surviving for over 20 years on the proceeds of the 'Libby Day Fund'.  But now the money is running out and Libby is desperate.  When she is offered $500 to do a guest appearance, she feels she has to accept.  But this is no ordinary gathering.  The Kill Club is a group of true-crime obsessives who share information on notorious murders, and they think her brother Ben is innocent.

Ben was a social misfit, ground down by the small-town farming community in which he lived.  But he did have a girlfriend - a brooding heavy metal fan called Diondra.  Through her, Ben became involved with drugs and the dark arts.  When the town suddenly turned against him, his thoughts turned black.  But was he capable of murder?  Libby must delve into her family's past to uncover the truth - no matter how painful...

3/5 stars (liked it)

This book has a lot of people that are not totally innocent.  The books goes back and forth between characters (mostly Libby, Ben and Patty) and time (the day of the murders and present day).  We learn things about Libby and what her life is like now.  She basically has never learned to take care of herself and was not grateful to those who did take care of her.  Also we see what Ben was like as a kid and what he is like now.  I did not see how the events would unfold and I like how all the pieces fell into place.

Book Review: The Grownup - Gillian Flynn

The Grownup - Gillian Flynn

A canny young woman is struggling to survive by perpetrating various levels of mostly harmless fraud.  On a rainy April morning, she is reading auras at Spiritual Palms when Susan Burke walks in.  A keen observer of human behavior, our unnamed narrator immediately diagnoses beautiful, rich Susan as an unhappy woman eager to give her lovely life a drama injection.  However, when the "psychic" visits the eerie Victorian home that has been the source of Susan's terror and grief, she realizes she may not have to pretend to believe in ghosts anymore.  Miles, Susan's teenage stepson, doesn't help matters with his disturbing manner and grisly imagination.  The three are soon locked in a chilling battle to discover where the evil truly lurks and what, if anything, can be done to escape it.

3/5 stars (liked it)

This is so much more than a ghost story.  Its creepy and even though it was a short story I feel like I got a whole story.  I felt like I knew the main character so well and we don't even learn her name.  I thought the Victorian house was creepy.  The ending was so unexpected, either scenario presented at the end was believable.