Reviews - The Grownup | The StoryGraph

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7.23k reviews for:

The unnamed narrator is leaving her old job of pro hand job giver and moving on to fortune teller. As a fortune teller she meets a mousy woman named Susan Burke. Susan hires the unnamed narrator to cleanse her old house of evil. But she may be in over her head.

I liked the main character; actually I liked all of the characters. I loved the creepy old house and all that went with it. The story kept me guessing. But the ending didn't work for me. It was weak and disappointing and left just a few too many questions unanswered.

iieom30's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

allegedlysarah's review against another edition

3.0

dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

When people ask me that question that everyone asks: "What do you do?" I’d say, "..."

Guess it wasn’t the smartest move to start with this as my very first Gillian Flynn book. The Grown Up is about our smart, aspiring nerd narrator who begins the story working in customer service and has recently been promoted to work as a vision specialist at Spiritual Palms, at least that’s what she tells people when asked. One day in April, a client named Susane Burke enters and declares that her life is falling apart.

The book sets up a very clever and cunning narrator and follows her story as it unfolds with Susane Burke, her family, and their house. I especially enjoyed the first two-thirds of the book; it kept me intrigued and completely engaged. However, I started to lose some interest after the major plot twist, and when the subsequent twist began to unfold, certain parts didn’t make much sense. I understand that the book is designed to leave space for the reader’s imagination, but I still wanted more. The last third felt a bit rushed to me.

Despite that, I’ll definitely be picking up something else by Gillian Flynn!

amysofta's review against another edition

3.0

I must confess this is my very first read by this author. Shocking I know with the popularity of Gone Girl. I can not tell you how many people have told me I MUST read that book… Okay maybe I just didn’t count, but I would say it is at least half a dozen including one of my friends that knows my reading taste pretty well. I knew Flynn is a dark suspenseful author and I have to be in the right mood for a book where I know I might not like the characters and there is little possibility for a happy ending. I read to escape and her books just never seemed the right fit for me regardless of how often it is recommended to me.

That’s why when I saw this book up for review I decided that a short story would be an excellent way to try out this wildly popular author. I have to say it wasn’t bad, I think I might give Gone Girl or one of the other titles a try now. I liked the darker lead character, she wasn’t a saint by any means, but still likable. The humor was very dry, not laugh out loud funny (for me), but more of a make you smirk while reading. The story grabbed you with a great opening line and sucked you right in with just enough back ground information without bogging things down. This short story has tons of twists and turns in its mere 62 pages. Some I saw coming, some I didn’t. Readers that need closure at the end of a story might be frustrated with this one, but I kind of liked how the author left it with the reader getting to draw their own conclusions as to what happens next.

Over all it is a quick fun read that can fit in your purse or coat pocket to take and read when waiting for an appointment somewhere. It isn’t gory or really that scary, but it quite clever and I think fans of Flynn will really like it. If you are like me and haven’t read this author before this is a great way to give her a try to see if she is a good match for you. The retail price for the print version is a bit much in my opinion for such a short story, but it probably won’t stop fans from picking this one up to have in their collection. Personally would go with the e-version that is much more reasonably priced…

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through the Blogging for Books program for an honest review.

particledamage's review against another edition

2.5

funny lighthearted 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

Frankly, this entire thing is a mess. It’s too derivative to be enjoyable and flat out having a character name the book you’re modernizing and spinning off of right before the climax feels a bit gauche.

It just felt smarmy, not scary or psychological. A lot can be done with a short story to evoke emotions but all I got here is annoyance. I’m down to root for a scammer, I adored Parasite, but here I was just team finishing the book and getting out of here. Felt like I was in a room filled with the author’s farts and the entire time I was just watching her deeply inhale them. Not for me.