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7.25k reviews for:

The Grownup

Gillian Flynn

3.55 AVERAGE


A novella in the style of Flynn's other novels. So I had to read it. Only about an hour's read, but not a disappointment. Pleasantly unpredictable.

Roughly 1 hour audiobook for a quick story about physchopaths. Interesting little story to listen to.

This was an interesting and fun short story.

I want more! I know the point of a short story is the first word, short but I need more! I love the way Gillian Flynn writes and how she can draw you into a story so quickly. I really enjoyed this, I would even be interested in her writing a book of short stories.

4’5/5

Felt like this could have benefited from a cooooouuuuuuple more pages. The whole reveal seemed rushed and weird.

I'm going to preface this by saying that I don't typically read short works. So, my rating may be skewed due to that reason because whenever I do read short stories, I always have the same issue....

What I liked
1. The atmosphere. This story is intense and creepy!

2. The characters. Even though this story is really short, I feel as though Gillian Flynn does a great job at developing the characters. I would say that no character in here is likeable, but they're still interesting.

3. The first 2/3. I would say that this story has three distinct sections within the short amount of pages. The first 2/3 of this book is really twisted!

What I didn't like
1. The ending. This is where I always go wrong with short stories. In all of the short work I read, the last bit always feels wrong to me. The ending was.... really not for me. I was waiting for another twist or for something to wrap everything together. Instead, we got a lot of loose ends. Disappointing.

2. Overall feeling of being underwhelmed. Even though I enjoyed the first 2/3 of this story, I was still waiting for the ending to really take a punch and tie everything together. So, when the ending punch didn't happen- I realized that this affected my feelings towards the rest of the story. It did not have as much as an impact as the author probably intended for the ending. I got her idea- but the execution just didn't do it for me.

I think it is just me at this point. I always am disappointed with the endings of short stories. I would still recommend this to anyone who enjoys short stories or is looking for a quick, creepy read .

A Short Story: Wonderfully twisted just like her novels.

So much happened in this little story, but goodness the ending!!! So twisty and I need to know!!!

While Flynn's prose is captivating, dark and scary close to home, this one is just underdeveloped. You get the feeling you were cheated of a great story which this one could have been if it were longer. I'm still a fan of Flynn's, but will shelve this short story under "Meh".