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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Although a bit dark at times (as is to be expected of Gillian Flynn's works), Dark Places is a gripping novel. If I had had the time to have finished it in one sitting, I probably would have.
This is my least favorite of Gillian Flynn's three suspense novels, but probably only because my expectations are so high. It's still a very solid story with a complex and engaging main character that kept me moving quickly along with rapt attention while layers peel back to expose long buried secrets and lies. I can't wait to read Flynn's next book - she's on my short list of must-read suspense novelists.
I picked this book up because I am a big fan of Gone Girl, but this book did not measure up. I thought the plot was too slow and nothing really interesting happened until the last 75 pages of the book. I was just reading it to get to the end and it felt like a chore to read just so I could find out what actually happened. It came to a surprising but abrupt end which I did not appreciate. I wanted more closure.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Few mysteries actually keep me guessing, and this one did. I loved the multiple perspectives and the unravelling of the story while still getting great character development. I recently received Gone Girl as a gift and can't wait to start!
This book also made me think a lot about solitude and how we end up nowhere near where we thought we'd be. Good, dark story.
This book also made me think a lot about solitude and how we end up nowhere near where we thought we'd be. Good, dark story.
I was 86 percent through this book and I almost did not finish it, thought it was awful. The last 14 percent was excellent, could not put it down. So I gave it a 3/5 rating.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is my third Gillian Flynn book, and I have to say that I really enjoy her dark and broken characters... :) She does such an excellent job with character development and even if I can't relate to the characters I feel connected to them. The details are excellent and draw you into the twisty story. I have to say that of her books that I've read, I like "Sharp Objects" the most, but this is a close second. The book's central plot point is a horrific murder of a family and the narrative goes back and forth between a near-hourly accounting of the day that everyone was killed (from both the mother and son's perspective) and then a present day account from the young daughter's perspective. Maybe because the book is set on a farm in Kansas, but I had a lot of flash-backs to "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. Definitely recommend this book to Gillian Flynn fans, and people that enjoy this genre.
I was curious to see where Dark Places fell in chronology of Flynn's work and as I suspected, it falls in between Sharp Objects and Gone Girl. I could clearly see in this novel that she had developed as a writer considerably since Sharp Objects, as Dark Places contained none of the clumsy writing and amateur errors that her first novel did.
Dark Places also shows her maturation as a writer in its construction and characterisation - I really enjoyed the switching of POVs and time lines - a technique she takes to dizzying new heights in Gone Girl, which remains one of my absolute favourite novels.
Flynn has never been an author to shy away from shocking or dark material, and just as the title suggests, Dark Places takes the reader on the disturbing and twisted tale of the Kinnakee Satan Sacrifice Murders (or a name to that effect!). Libby Day was seven years old when she testified that she witnessed her brother, Ben Day, murder her mother and two older sisters in her family home. Ben is sentenced to life imprisonment based on her testimony and the lack of a decent alibi, and Libby is passed around various relatives, and later on various foster parents as her behaviour becomes increasingly destructive. The darkness of Dark Places emanates not only from the horrors of Libby's childhood but also from the self-loathing adult she has become. Libby has assaulted her loved ones, set fires and stolen countless possessions from those around her, all of which leads her to being completely alone in her early thirties, living (if it can be called that) on an ever-dwindling good will fund set up after the murders.
In a desperate attempt to avoid having to get a job, Libby responds to an offer to attend a Kill Club meeting, where she is given cash to answer questions from a group who are obsessed with her family's murders and convinced that Ben has been wrongfully convicted. In the company of the rather pathetic Lyle Wirth (the so called "treasurer" of the Kill Club) Libby reluctantly embarks on an investigation into the horrific past that she has spent over two decades trying to repress. Initially only in it for the steady stream of money, Libby soon realises that perhaps she cannot entirely trust her memory of what happened that night.
Dark Places is a well-written, well-paced, twisty-turny thriller which leads you down plenty of wrong turns before its satisfying and surprising conclusion. The POV chapters of Libby, Ben and Patty (their mother) are expertly interspersed so that you are constantly getting closer to the truth in both Libby's investigation and Ben and Patty's reminiscence of that terrible day. A page-turner which will definitely not disappoint lovers of thrillers (or good books in general).
Dark Places also shows her maturation as a writer in its construction and characterisation - I really enjoyed the switching of POVs and time lines - a technique she takes to dizzying new heights in Gone Girl, which remains one of my absolute favourite novels.
Flynn has never been an author to shy away from shocking or dark material, and just as the title suggests, Dark Places takes the reader on the disturbing and twisted tale of the Kinnakee Satan Sacrifice Murders (or a name to that effect!). Libby Day was seven years old when she testified that she witnessed her brother, Ben Day, murder her mother and two older sisters in her family home. Ben is sentenced to life imprisonment based on her testimony and the lack of a decent alibi, and Libby is passed around various relatives, and later on various foster parents as her behaviour becomes increasingly destructive. The darkness of Dark Places emanates not only from the horrors of Libby's childhood but also from the self-loathing adult she has become. Libby has assaulted her loved ones, set fires and stolen countless possessions from those around her, all of which leads her to being completely alone in her early thirties, living (if it can be called that) on an ever-dwindling good will fund set up after the murders.
In a desperate attempt to avoid having to get a job, Libby responds to an offer to attend a Kill Club meeting, where she is given cash to answer questions from a group who are obsessed with her family's murders and convinced that Ben has been wrongfully convicted. In the company of the rather pathetic Lyle Wirth (the so called "treasurer" of the Kill Club) Libby reluctantly embarks on an investigation into the horrific past that she has spent over two decades trying to repress. Initially only in it for the steady stream of money, Libby soon realises that perhaps she cannot entirely trust her memory of what happened that night.
Dark Places is a well-written, well-paced, twisty-turny thriller which leads you down plenty of wrong turns before its satisfying and surprising conclusion. The POV chapters of Libby, Ben and Patty (their mother) are expertly interspersed so that you are constantly getting closer to the truth in both Libby's investigation and Ben and Patty's reminiscence of that terrible day. A page-turner which will definitely not disappoint lovers of thrillers (or good books in general).
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced