Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

75 reviews

joooosneed's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Self harm, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Pedophilia and Adult/minor relationship

stargirlanna's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5 stars

wow. what can i even say? i have to admit i’d heard a lot of people saying how disturbing this book was but even when i was four chapters deep i didn’t think it was that bad. however, the more i read, the more i understood just how unnerving this book was.

everything in it feels wrong. the story is horrifying, all of the characters are fucked up, and it just seems to get worse and worse as the story unfolds.

i did like more about this book than i disliked. the story was interesting, the ending floored me, and the writing was strong throughout. what bothered me were the way some of the topics were addressed.

i do understand that camille is somewhat of an “antihero” or morally grey character. i can’t tell if she is supposed to be likable whatsoever but i found myself so repulsed by her. of course i felt bad for her because of the relationship with her mother and her struggles with self harm, but the way she sexualize children,

has sex with a newly 18 year old

and talks about sexual assault was deeply jarring.

i was definitely intrigued by sharp objects but there’s no doubt that it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth now that i’m done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Addiction, and Child death

bxnnny's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

i knew pretty early on who the culprit was and what was going on, but i enjoyed the pacing, writing style, and theme enough to keep going and not be too bothered by the predictability. i felt sorry for camille and felt her perspective was believable and real and raw. a compelling story regarding generational trauma, depression, grief, and a poisonous mother/daughter relationship. i've not seen the limited series for this, but i'd be curious to see how it holds up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Drug use

munchausen by proxy is the biggest theme in this.

daennamae's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

kaaaaaaaa's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is the first of Flynn's books that I've read, and it's the first of her books to be published. It was good, I just wasn't able to emotionally connect to the characters for some reason. In general, the mystery kept me interested more than the characters. To me, this book reminded me of Stephen King and Shirley Jackson, but it didn't have whatever secret sauce Jackson and King have that pushes the writing and the characters into top-tier. That disconnect makes some of the "disturbing small town details" come off a little forced, despite the fact that I'm well aware of and familiar with disturbing small-town details. I find them believable, but they're missing... something... that integrates them fully into the story; so instead, IMHO, they give a Hostel-style "violence for violence's sake" vibe.

I have a couple more of Flynn's books on hold from the library, so it will be interesting to see how she grows as a writer and if she can clear whatever this je ne sais quoi hurdle is.

Also, this isn't a real make-or-break thing, but how flexible is Camille

that there's only one spot on her back missing the words? How good at writing backwards while looking in a mirror can she be?

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Mental illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Murder, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Child death, Incest, Self harm, Addiction, Death, Classism, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Body horror, Rape, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Vomit and Infidelity

Minor: Eating disorder, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, and Fatphobia

loujanae's review against another edition

1.5

I don't have an issue with dark subject matter. In fact, I tend to be drawn to media with fucked up plots and traumatized characters, but this was just ridiculous. There was such an overwhelming amount of horrible shit occurring on every page... and for what? I truly don't think Flynn has a single idea what the point of it all was. I could have enjoyed myself if I believed Flynn was trying to say literally anything. This felt like a teenage boy attempting to be as edgy as possible to get in with the big boys. It was just gross.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Vomit, Sexual content, Child death, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Murder, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Body shaming

inneraman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book is dark and mysterious. It will make you reflect on the actions of the characters, a lot. I found myself trying to find way to ‘root for’ the main character but through some of their actions, I couldn’t decide. The main character is broken, flawed and emotionally unstable because of her upbringing and her toxic mother/environment. I found the book engaging and well written. I will be reading other books by Gillian Flynn. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a mysterious and dark story with troublesome characters who are beyond help. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Child death, Drug abuse, Murder, Addiction, Body horror, Death, Bullying, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Sexual content, Vomit, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Blood, Eating disorder, Misogyny, and Rape

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Animal cruelty, and Pregnancy

mellowreading's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What an interesting little book. I was intrigued by the mystery, though I thought I’d guessed the killer several pages in. I guess in a way I did, but the last minute twist REALLY got me. The main character was awful, but in a way a human can be, not in a way so extreme that they seem like an unbelievable character or a villain. This made me swing between trying to sympathize with and understand her, and be disgusted by and judgemental of her. There’s also seems to be a strong commentary on women, relationships between women, societal expectations of women, awfulness in women, et cetera. I couldn’t quite get a grasp on what Flynn was intending to say, if anything, but maybe the intent was just to show and not tell. I’m curious what other people think of that aspect of the book. Looking back I think the ending was a bit rushed, but it was shocking enough to distract me from that. Overall an engaging but deeply uncomfortable time. It gets gross. 

big CW obviously for self harm, but also from gross sexualization of minors from a 30 year old woman, one of which is her little sister lmao, and victim blaming + internalized misogyny. The main character is gross. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Self harm, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Vomit, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Incest

daisyrain98's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Damn, started this because I love the show with all my heart and it was so amazing to read the source material, to get behind every scene in the show that I wanted more from. The book gave me all the dialogue I never knew I needed and had me so drawn in every time I sat down to read. Could read this again and again.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Self harm, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Murder, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Body horror, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexism, Suicide, and Vomit

jordhancock99's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Self harm, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Animal death, and Bullying