Dark Places: A Novel
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Community Reviews
I normally don't take the time to write a review as I'm usually already on to the next book by the time I update my GoodReads bookshelves, but this one is the exception! Awesome writing, great characterizations and terrific storyline. I love books told from the perspectives of several characters--provided it's done right--and it's easy to see why Ms. Flynn is the recipient of book awards. She is the reason readers like me look forward to settling down in the evening or on the weekend with a good book. I'd have to say this was my favorite book for the past 12 months!
SECOND READ: 08/16/2015
I just have to say that I am so relieved that I loved this just as much the second time around. Whipped through it within a day and can now watch the movie with no guilt of not remembering something. Having a movie night!
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b>FIRST READ/REVIEW: 05/29/2013
What...what the hell just happened?!
Gillian Flynn, you blow my mind.
I bet I flipped to the back flap a dozen times and looked at her sweet face and thought, "How the hell does some one so sweet looking think up this kind of crazy, disturbing shit?!" I mean, she looks like she has a grandmother who would wash her mouth out with soap for some of the more "tame" lines in this book.
But, seriously. This is my third Gillian Flynn book, and I think it is my favorite. No, I know it is my favorite. That was just a giant roller coaster ride that I am unable to recover from. The plot. AAAHHH. So good. The characters. AAAHHH. So memorable. Here is my one gripe, though...what is with all the people out there complaining that they didn't like the book because they didn't find the characters likable? I must have missed the class that said that was a requirement of a good book. Did I like any of the characters? Well, maybe Libby a little and Lyle. Oh, and maybe the mom, too, in a weird way. But really I just found them intriguing and flawed. REALLY FLAWED.
There is a lot of "Whodunnit" in this one, even more so than with Gone Girl and Sharp Objects, which I really liked. To say it was a page turner would be an understatement. I felt like with every chapter I had picked up a hint, and then it turned out I still didn't have all the pieces. I loved the break up of the chapters. There really is more than one side to every story, and in this one, there are quite a few. I really liked this format.
I am going to accept right now that I am not going to be able to write a proper review on this one because I just loved it too much, and it is much easier to write a proper review on books that I dislike. But I do want to say that I adore Flynn's writing style. I'm always afraid to skim a line because I don't want to miss the way she worded each individual sentence. I don't want to rush what she has put together.
This was disturbing and amazing. If you have a weak stomach, you may want to skip it. If you don't have a weak stomach, you have no reason to continue to life without reading this at least once.
I just have to say that I am so relieved that I loved this just as much the second time around. Whipped through it within a day and can now watch the movie with no guilt of not remembering something. Having a movie night!
---------------------------------------------------
b>FIRST READ/REVIEW: 05/29/2013
What...what the hell just happened?!
Gillian Flynn, you blow my mind.
I bet I flipped to the back flap a dozen times and looked at her sweet face and thought, "How the hell does some one so sweet looking think up this kind of crazy, disturbing shit?!" I mean, she looks like she has a grandmother who would wash her mouth out with soap for some of the more "tame" lines in this book.
But, seriously. This is my third Gillian Flynn book, and I think it is my favorite. No, I know it is my favorite. That was just a giant roller coaster ride that I am unable to recover from. The plot. AAAHHH. So good. The characters. AAAHHH. So memorable. Here is my one gripe, though...what is with all the people out there complaining that they didn't like the book because they didn't find the characters likable? I must have missed the class that said that was a requirement of a good book. Did I like any of the characters? Well, maybe Libby a little and Lyle. Oh, and maybe the mom, too, in a weird way. But really I just found them intriguing and flawed. REALLY FLAWED.
There is a lot of "Whodunnit" in this one, even more so than with Gone Girl and Sharp Objects, which I really liked. To say it was a page turner would be an understatement. I felt like with every chapter I had picked up a hint, and then it turned out I still didn't have all the pieces. I loved the break up of the chapters. There really is more than one side to every story, and in this one, there are quite a few. I really liked this format.
I am going to accept right now that I am not going to be able to write a proper review on this one because I just loved it too much, and it is much easier to write a proper review on books that I dislike. But I do want to say that I adore Flynn's writing style. I'm always afraid to skim a line because I don't want to miss the way she worded each individual sentence. I don't want to rush what she has put together.
This was disturbing and amazing. If you have a weak stomach, you may want to skip it. If you don't have a weak stomach, you have no reason to continue to life without reading this at least once.
This probably one of the most unsettling book I have ever read! The characters are bizarre and cruel. And the bull thing broke my heart!
I found all of the characters in this book intensely believable. There weren’t really any good or bad characters, just a sliding scale of well-intended-but-incompetent to serious-assholeness. I think what I liked best about this book was the complete and total avoidability of each and every terrible thing - why both Ben and his mother chose that particular day to “do something” after a lifetime of emotional paralysis is so poetically sad… Everyone’s lives were better off when they just resigned themselves to their fate of the day.
Great read. The way Flynn just bares-it-all when it comes to the mortifying and inescapable flaws of her characters is second to none. The mystery itself wasn’t nearly as interesting to me as the snapshots of these peoples’ inner monologues. Seriously twisted stuff - two thumbs way up!
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