Scan barcode
aeoliandeductress's review against another edition
4.0
I actually read this as part of The Complete Works of Gillian Flynn and therefore have been keeping my progress over there, but feel it is only right to rate each book separately.
Dark, clever, and creative but not quite up to Gone Girl's craftmanship. Dark Places is a well woven story with almost no pure characters, each tainted with significant and generally criminal flaws. The story was well researched, drawing on the time period of the Satanic Panic and reminding me of the real-life criminal case of those 3 boys in Arkansas who were only recently released. It's just the writing itself did not flow quite as smooth as Gone Girl- there were extraneous lines and redundancies that even in a first person story were just unneeded.
I am curious where the story goes from here- how each character will turn out, whether Ben will actually be released or not, and so forth. I guessed a portion of the ending but not all of it. I admit, I did try to look up the ending about halfway through, simply for the fact that not knowing was keeping my brain humming rather than sleeping- a regular problem for this reader. This book is worth the time, but not worth the purchase for me.
Dark, clever, and creative but not quite up to Gone Girl's craftmanship. Dark Places is a well woven story with almost no pure characters, each tainted with significant and generally criminal flaws. The story was well researched, drawing on the time period of the Satanic Panic and reminding me of the real-life criminal case of those 3 boys in Arkansas who were only recently released. It's just the writing itself did not flow quite as smooth as Gone Girl- there were extraneous lines and redundancies that even in a first person story were just unneeded.
I am curious where the story goes from here- how each character will turn out, whether Ben will actually be released or not, and so forth. I guessed a portion of the ending but not all of it. I admit, I did try to look up the ending about halfway through, simply for the fact that not knowing was keeping my brain humming rather than sleeping- a regular problem for this reader. This book is worth the time, but not worth the purchase for me.
ahujaaa's review against another edition
3.0
If I hadn't figured out the plot before the author revealed it, I would have given it more stars. Besides that, still not as good as Gone Girl.
schmids24's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
4.25
valj's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
The characters were complex, which I appreciate. They were not likeable, but they were complex, and I feel like the author did a good job peeling back the layers of the characters as the book went on.
The author does a good job trying to get you to like Ben, but I knew he wasn't misunderstood; just genuinely a bad person. Even at the end, she tries to absolve Ben because he did his time, but why cover for Diondra? I know he was trying to save his unborn child, but his daughter also ended up a bad person because Diondra was such a horrible mother, which he should have known would happen. I feel more sympathy for Libby even though she is also a bad person. At least she tried, even if it was delayed.
Patty was my favourite character and her chapters were my favourite. She was dealt a lot of bad cards and did the best she could with them. I don't think her ending was cowardly, I think what she did was admirable.
My only complaint is all the devil stuff. I feel like I could have done without that and it got to be a little much at times. Maybe I had to live in the 80s to understand the devil hysteria but to me it seems very silly.
Overall: kept me guessing, hate Diondra, good twist with her mother at the end
itravelalittleireadalot's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
pratiksha95's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
4.25
This is the third book of hers that I've read, after Gone Girl (loved it) and Sharp Objects (read like a 1st book but still good- I did not see the ending coming). The narrator is Libby Day, whose big brother Ben is in jail for murdering her family when she was very young. He is convicted basis her testimony, and years later in her 30s, circumstances lead her to start investigating what really happened that night. Maybe Ben wasn't the real killer?
I found it quite gripping throughout; the chapters are narrated by Libby in the present, interspersed by some from the perspective of different characters like her mom Patty- so the narrative goes back and forth between the present and the past, around the incident. The characters were miserable and flawed but I found them sufficiently developed for the purpose of the story. The ending was slightly disappointing and seemed a bit unbelievable. It seemed as if Flynn wanted it to be so unpredictable that she fit in too many events. Unfortunately, I could see through at least a part of it (the more believable one) because of the golden rule that it's never the person who everyone suspects, and the book makes it clear who everyone suspects. I might have preferred an ending that was more meaningful than crammed with action but I guess that's a personal choice for the author to make.
Overall, good, gripping read and I wouldn't not recommend to others.
I found it quite gripping throughout; the chapters are narrated by Libby in the present, interspersed by some from the perspective of different characters like her mom Patty- so the narrative goes back and forth between the present and the past, around the incident. The characters were miserable and flawed but I found them sufficiently developed for the purpose of the story. The ending was slightly disappointing and seemed a bit unbelievable. It seemed as if Flynn wanted it to be so unpredictable that she fit in too many events. Unfortunately, I could see through at least a part of it (the more believable one) because of the golden rule that it's never the person who everyone suspects, and the book makes it clear who everyone suspects. I might have preferred an ending that was more meaningful than crammed with action but I guess that's a personal choice for the author to make.
Overall, good, gripping read and I wouldn't not recommend to others.
kbeye's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
rskey's review against another edition
2.0
I appreciated the slight twist ending. I didn’t really understand why there was so much *super dark and gory* happening, because it somehow didn’t land as scary or thrilling but more as Libby-doesn’t-see-reality. I guess that contributes to the whole psychological part of it all, though? It was meh. Not the best thriller I’ve ever read but not awful.
chiwire420's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tontu00's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0