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readwithchar's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Alcoholism, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia
geetswrites's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Phenomenal read. Gripping, twisting, piercing. The interweaving of the mystery/thriller elements and Camille's life, family and history was stellar. I've fallen in love with the way Gillian Flynn writes women, their complicated messiness, their individualism, their darknesses. I guessed the ending, or rather the answer to the mystery, fairly early on, but the point of the book was never that in the first place. The way Flynn keeps up the push and pull among the characters, the intrigue and the overwhelming feeling of impending doom throughout was especially masterful. The foreshadowing was just the right amount of eerie, innocuous where it needed to be for revelatory moments to feel especially satisfying, and glaring where the ominous realities needed to be spotlighted.
Camille's relationships— with her mother, with Amma, with side characters like Curry and Richard and John, but most importantly with herself— will stay with me for a long, long time. There are hauntingly relatable moments throughout, and for all its extreme severity, the core of the story is rooted in perfectly believable awfulness. The exploration of motherhood, daughterhood and selfhood as intertwined, bitter experiences supplemented by all the gruesome, unflinching imagery was revolting, painful and positively brilliant.
I can't possibly fit everything I think and feel about this book into this review, so I hope it suffices to say that I'm now completely enamoured by Flynn's writing, characters and thematic choices. Everything else she's ever written is immediately making it to the top of my TBR list. What an author.
Camille's relationships— with her mother, with Amma, with side characters like Curry and Richard and John, but most importantly with herself— will stay with me for a long, long time. There are hauntingly relatable moments throughout, and for all its extreme severity, the core of the story is rooted in perfectly believable awfulness. The exploration of motherhood, daughterhood and selfhood as intertwined, bitter experiences supplemented by all the gruesome, unflinching imagery was revolting, painful and positively brilliant.
I can't possibly fit everything I think and feel about this book into this review, so I hope it suffices to say that I'm now completely enamoured by Flynn's writing, characters and thematic choices. Everything else she's ever written is immediately making it to the top of my TBR list. What an author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Minor: Cancer, Fatphobia, Gore, and Homophobia
kodi_rae's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Not quite as compelling as Gone Girl and Dark Places but still very compelling. I think my main critique is that the ending felt a bit rushed. I’m excited to see what the show adaptation is like!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Blood, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Moderate: Body shaming, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual assault
pamshenanigans's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
These thoughts will also be shared on my Youtube channel! Subscribe to my channel: Pam's Shenanigans!
“A child weaned on poison considers harm a comfort.”
Story revolves around a reporter, Camille Preaker, who was assigned to cover the murder of two preteen girls that takes place in her small hometown. She is plagued by the mystery of the murder and her own destructive family.
This was my first Gillian Flynn book and I was not disappointed at all. The writing was gripping, haunting, and SOOO palpable. Flynn has a way with words that will leave you bothered and squirmish.
I loved how the story was driven by the characters who drove the plot but didn't overpower the extremely disturbing and dark plot.
This is definitely one of those books where you won't like a single character, but they are well-written in all the messed-up ways, that you just can't help but pity how ridiculous and troubled they are.
Random thoughts I cannot put into decent words right now:
- HOW COULD A MOTHER BE SO GODDAMN AWFUL TO HER OWN DAUGHTER WOW
- Imagine hearing the words "I think I finally realize why I don't love you" from your own mother?
- Talks about generational trauma
- The twists were unexpected for me, although I had a hunch on who the child serial killer was!! It still managed to surprise me with HOW WILD the ending was.
- This whole family needs professional help, seriously.
- You know the saying "hurt people hurt people"? this is it. this is the whole book.
Trigger/Content Warnings: self-harm (graphic description), suicide, murder, child abuse (MSBP), death of a loved one, underage drinking, underage drug use, drug addiction, homophobia, sexual assault, rape, misogyny
“A child weaned on poison considers harm a comfort.”
Story revolves around a reporter, Camille Preaker, who was assigned to cover the murder of two preteen girls that takes place in her small hometown. She is plagued by the mystery of the murder and her own destructive family.
This was my first Gillian Flynn book and I was not disappointed at all. The writing was gripping, haunting, and SOOO palpable. Flynn has a way with words that will leave you bothered and squirmish.
I loved how the story was driven by the characters who drove the plot but didn't overpower the extremely disturbing and dark plot.
This is definitely one of those books where you won't like a single character, but they are well-written in all the messed-up ways, that you just can't help but pity how ridiculous and troubled they are.
Random thoughts I cannot put into decent words right now:
- HOW COULD A MOTHER BE SO GODDAMN AWFUL TO HER OWN DAUGHTER WOW
- Imagine hearing the words "I think I finally realize why I don't love you" from your own mother?
- Talks about generational trauma
- The twists were unexpected for me, although I had a hunch on who the child serial killer was!! It still managed to surprise me with HOW WILD the ending was.
- This whole family needs professional help, seriously.
- You know the saying "hurt people hurt people"? this is it. this is the whole book.
Trigger/Content Warnings: self-harm (graphic description), suicide, murder, child abuse (MSBP), death of a loved one, underage drinking, underage drug use, drug addiction, homophobia, sexual assault, rape, misogyny
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Rape
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