Reviews with content warning for Vomit - The Grown Up

“I lack formal education. So I'm left with the feeling that I'm smarter than everyone around me but that if I ever got around really smart people—people who went to universities and drank wine and spoke Latin—that they’d be bored as hell by me. It’s a lonely way to go through life.”

For years, she’s been working as a phony medium as a front for her sex work. She doesn’t believe in what she’s doing, but she’s mastered the art of being observant and vague enough to trick clients into believing that her medium skills are real. When a client named Susan offers her money to come cleanse her house of the evil spirits she fears are possessing her stepson, the woman cannot turn down the opportunity. After all, spirits aren’t real…but perhaps evil is.

Gillian Flynn is one of my favorite authors; during my decade long reading slump, her books were some of the only ones to really grab my interest. This was the only book of hers that I had not read, so when I decide to read only horror/thriller books this October, I was excited to finally give it a read.

I was truly impressed by how much this novella accomplished in such a short amount of pages. As with all Gillian Flynn books, the characters are morally complex and the story is twisted enough to keep you guessing until the last page. Because the book is so short, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it tackled issues of social class. I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you’re looking for a short but twisted read.

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annagerman's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-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

2.0

A nice idea, but would have worked better as an actual book or at least a longer novella, felt too short and rushed. The characters were interesting but under-developed.

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gummifrog's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

I listened to this audio on a long drive and it definitely killed time! (No pun intended, nobody actually dies in this book haha). The narrator was great, and the buildup had strong Turning of the Screw vibes. But the ending fell reaaaally flat.

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leandrathetbrzero's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

This story was recommended to me by my friend, Moriah. Funnily enough, this is the only book (I believe) that she had read by Flynn and I had read her other three longer form works. There are definitely elements that I enjoyed and due to it being a short story, it’s worth the read. I found the story to begin quite slowly. My investment didn’t begin until the narrator made her way to the house and started experiencing the dysfunction within it. When Flynn personified the house, as if it were watching and reacting to the narrator, that reminded me of The Haunting of Hill House. I loved that parallel. The ending did feel a bit thrown together and too absurd in places for the genre, and the teenaged character’s dialogue did not feel realistic, but I found the last few actions and thoughts of the narrator on the final page to be quite satisfying. Overall a solid read, and it was interesting to return to an author I hadn’t read in many years.

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nehanaomi's review against another edition

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dark funny 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? Yes

4.25

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kristalsty119's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative mysterious relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

Flynn is one of my fave authors and

I’ve officially read all her work now!

A short and creepy horror novella making for a quick read. Interesting characters and great writing; Flynn is an expert at writing disturbing stories that make me uncomfortable. The last 5-10 pages gave me whiplash with all the plot twists!

I don’t always enjoy open endings but in the case of The Grown-Up, it works. And although I did thoroughly enjoy this one short story, I prefer Flynn’s novels (and novels in general) for more developed characters and plot. But for a 67 page story, it’s definitely one of my favorite novellas!

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