Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Dark Places

Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

59 reviews

georman's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark 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

2.0

Content Warnings

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Fantastic read! I adore Gillian Flynn's writing. Her characters are just next level assholes, but I really love to read about them. The characters in this book were no exception. Could not get enough of the story either! Stayed up late night after night just devouring it.

Content Warnings

morganegrant's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

Content Warnings

the_one_krissy's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

2.75

This was my second thriller in a row that had nothing but despicable, mean and creepy people in it. Oh, and weak and pathetic losers. And also a total psychopath I was immediately convinced had something to do with the murders, and sure enough, that turned out to be true.

I guess this book was entertaining enough, but I hate it when there's nobody I can root for or even mildly like in the cast. Not a fan of this type of tales.

Content Warnings

zakcebulski's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Mannnnn. After reading two of my least enjoyed books of 2021 this was such a breath of fresh air.
I previously read Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects- a book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I honestly had no idea what to expect from this book, but, boy oh boy did Flynn do her thing, again.

The plot of this book was engrossing from the jump. I loved how typically there is a guilty character who is played to be innocent of a crime or action. Flynn flipped this script and instead has it a character who is innocent (at least of the crime which they are convicted of) sitting in prison. I thought that this was such a nice way to have a plot be set up as it is immediately interesting. As a reader and consumer of true crime media, I am painfully aware of false testimonies and lying to courts, but, this was something that I had yet to have encountered in a book.
I appreciated the way the story was told wherein it switched from the main protagonist- Libby day in the present, one of two survivors of the annihilation of her family or other characters in the past. I thought that this was an exceptionally clever way of writing this mystery. There are other books who have attempted this, but, I feel gave too much away to the point where the mystery was immediately shattered. In this case, Flynn does a great job of upholding the mystery throughout, which is hard to do, but she does it well.

I feel that, having read two of Flynn's works, now, that she shines in making characters feel real. However, they are not all likable. Many of her characters are terrible people. And the ones that aren't have suffered a tremendous amount of tragedy and trauma. I think that Flynn writes complex characters so fucking well that it feels like real people. Real people would act in a way that would behoove themselves, not so much the story, and that is what happens in this story. I felt so many times like I was hoping that Libby would do something- but, she didn't- but that is how traumatized people act in my experience. I appreciated how Libby's PTSD is part of her character rather than being a plot convenience to get her to act in one way or another. Flynn absolutely writes characters consistently which is very nice.
And, when she wants you to dislike someone she actively makes you dislike them- fuck Diondra and Trey.
I have to say that Ben's character, while on the surface is frustratingly stagnant, is one of the characters that I was s most interested in.
He is shown to be a non-entity, but, his indecisiveness was directly responsible for the death of his younger sister. I think that he is a great depiction of what it looks like for an adolescent person to be swept up by means of peer pressure, and the hope and cancerous desire to fit in- by whatever means necessary.

I found this book sad. Not only sad but truly gut-wrenchingly sad. The depiction of poverty, generational and otherwise, as well as trauma and how people deal with it, it is so sad.
Libby's mother was driven to assisted suicide that led to the death of herself and her daughter in an absolutely horrendous way.
I found the final chapters to be utterly terrifying. I didn't know whether Libby was going to pull through or not- a symbolic sacrifice for aiding her brother's incarceration? And, reading the actual firsthand account of the massacre was stomach churchingly terrifying.
I think that Flynn writes violence so well because she writes it for what it is- violence. It already is scary. It already is upsetting and horrifying, and she doesn't romanticize it.

I thought that the ending of the book was a pretty good twist- I was constantly curious who was going to be the real killer- and for a while I thought Ben was going to come out to be the real killer but would have been freed akin to Primal Fear, but that is not how it played out.
I thought that the inclusion of 2 separate and unrelated killers was a great twist, though I do wish that the second killer was someone who we had come to know a little longer.
Though, Peggy's death was absolutely soul shattering as it inadvertently led to the death of her daughter.

Overall, I can safely say that I am a fan of Gillian Flynn. Her characters are always interesting to read, and the stories are such a great ride- emotional, dark, and ultimately the progenitor of a proud, albeit dirty and stained grief.

Sincerely,

Anxiously excited for your next work!

Content Warnings

machuvicchu's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

Holy shit. I'm definitely going to have to go back on this because I will likely have residual thoughts on this book 48 hours from now.

This book was loaded. Every second spent reading this book my hairs were standing straight up.

I liked the ambiguity. A lot of true crime narratives are very black and white. Killer - bad, cops - good. But there's two conflicting aspects of Libby Day. As a victim, she's been touted as this poor angel and she willingly capitalizes off of it with her bs book with a ghostwriter. So she's also idle and apathetic. She's disappointed that the money she made off of people's pity for her is drying out, and turns to true crime fanatics paying money for her to get the answers she never wanted to face. Even when I'm typing this out I feel like a piece of shit because duh, her whole family was murdered when she was 7, she's been through a lot. There's times where you're frustrated with Libby and then there's times where you're rooting for her.

I think Flynn did that with Ben as well. Through Ben's perspective on the day of the murder, we feel a lot of sympathy for him. We read Ben's 15-year-old perspective as he tries to make sense of the world between the poverty he and his family experiences and his insecurities and manhood. These scenes between his classmates, these people he's hanging out with, his girlfriend - you feel for him because he just wishes he had a normal life where he can fit in. But he has also done some gross, disgusting things that you can't just dismiss as teenager things, as well as his penchant for violence or "Annihilation".

Whether I actually liked the characters or not, I really felt how well-thought out they were. Having different narrators/perspectives can be difficult but I appreciate that Flynn gave all characters a very distinctive voice. The kind of tension and angst we get from present-day Libby, the immature and insecure voice of Ben, as well as the sheer despair from Patty (Oh, Patty. You really feel for her by the end. I know she's just a fictional character but I wish life was a little easier on her she's been through a lot).

I really liked the alternating perspectives between present day versus the day of the murder. They start kind of awkward but as you progress into the novel the more these alternating narrators makes sense and adds to the suspense.

I really appreciated the little Easter eggs that came in handy as you, the reader, are asking the same questions as Libby, the "whodunnit".

Ben's notebook with the girls' names, Michelle was choked which was more personal than Patty and Debby's murders, Ben's -olly tattoo, etc. etc.

I feel sinister for calling it "fun" but for the characters in present-day to mention these Easter eggs again in present day really had my mind reeling.

Overall, I really like how all these loose ends tied up really nicely. Is it realistic how easily all this fell into place

(Libby visits Diondra and Crystal lets it slips and Libby actually doesn't die that day and Calvin Diehl confess around the same time)

, probably not, but it's good enough for me to end on.

Content Warnings

bek_parsons's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad medium-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

This keeps you guessing and slowly matching the puzzle pieces together - all of them are there, some you get and some you miss but they’re all as satisfying to watch clink into place. Keys into the satanic panic well as well as showing the pure horror of a mother on the brink of losing everything.

Content Warnings