Reviews

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

sglaser's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

2.5

Not a terrible book - just not for me. 

saigecm's review against another edition

4.0

While it took me a while to connect with the main Character, Libby, and feel like I could understand her motivations, by the time I did I was so sucked in by Flynn’s pacing and descriptive writing style that I knew I would finish the story, and I knew I would love it. The resolution is incredible, with no detail missed even circling back to the first few chapters.

hazyhall's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

4.0

janel1994's review against another edition

4.0

IF I didn't like Gillian Flynn writing style so much, I would not like this book. The topic is so disturbing and indeed took me to "dark places and left me uncomfortable but kept me coming back for more. I read Sharp Objects first. Then her very successful Gone Girl. I do like Gone Girl best. Looking forward to whatever she does next.

bea_123's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

bbsaw's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

mattknight's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Spooky, medium pace page turner. 

I loved the way the author wove together the various character perspectives throughout the course of the book. Flynn is also exceptionally talented in the art of cliffhangers, and is solely responsible for me staying up till 2 am to finish this book

The characters themselves are intricate and instigate natural empathy, yet not likeable. I think readers will find a rough respect for Patty, Libby, and even Ben, for the unfair cards they got dealt. However, I think there are several questions left to the reader to answer ~ why does Ben cover for Diondra all these years, when he was so obviously unhappy in their relationship? Why does Kristy not recant her testimony against Ben, when all the other wonen had? I think this reflects the role of shame, peer pressure, and individual notions of honor that we all individually conceptualize differently.

The satantic theme reminded me of the antagonists in Columbine.Regardless of the true influence of these worshipping practices, it reminds me of how media cycles can quickly catch on fire to portray misinformation, and the role of societal fears which perpetuate this misinformation even when evidence to the contrary is found. I didn’t love the devil workship theme, and was hoping that the author would spin away from it. 
 

Decent plot twist at the end too. And Diondra sucks. 

l_bookss's review against another edition

3.5

I listened to the audiobook of Dark Places, so I will first comment on the narration. Each character had their own narrator, and I thought they all did fantastic job! They had good inflection in their voices, and the different voices really helped draw me into the story. On to the actual book - I liked it! it was a slow starter, but once you got about halfway through it really picked up. The main character, Libby, gave me “A Girl on the Train” vibes. She started out the book in this really dark place (hence the name). Her mother and three sisters were murdered 24 years prior, allegedly by her brother, and she was the only one to escape. In the present day she starts to question her testimony, realizing she was coached to say things that made her brother look guilty, and decides she owes it to him to find out what really happened that night. This leads us to the bulk of the story jumping back and fourth between the present and the past. We see the real story unfold in the past as we watch Libby search for the truth in the present. Overall this was a pretty intriguing story, and the mystery aspect was really good. I listened to this with a few people in the car on a road trip, and it was fun to pause and come up with different theories about what really went down. I took off a few stars because 1. It was really difficult for me to get into, and 2. the author had an extremely detailed writing style with lots of unnecessary details which, at times, I found kind of exhausting. I would probably recommend this book to the right person, but its definitely not for everyone. It has some pretty dark themes/violence, so definitely check trigger warnings!

ahappycamper2's review against another edition

3.0

What can I say. It’s probably a 3.5.I would have given it a 4but I felt the ending was just not up to the rest of the book in my humble opinion.

curiouser_and_curiouser's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

 I found it frustrating that we never got an explanation for why

Ben just stood by and didn't do anything. Like his emotions don't show up even once in the text the entire time his family is being murdered! Why did he simply rest his hands on Diondra's shoulders as she was strangling Michelle? Why aren't his damn emotions mentioned in the text when he was hearing Patty and Debby getting axed and shot outside his damn door?! It was clearly mentioned in previous chapters that he's capable of feeling embarassment, shame, frustration, anger, pleasure, etc. And now he's suddenly an emotionless zombie? Ughhhh the inconsistencyyyyy!