Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

12 reviews

denlia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement

Moderate: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Child death, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Torture

allifaro's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

2.25

My word for it is just: gross. I think the story was well written, but not my cup of tea. I say gross because there were just details, I felt unecessary, but maybe they help paint the picture. It has a satisfying ending though! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Murder, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Sexual assault, Addiction, Excrement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Drug use, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Violence, Bullying, Sexual violence, Torture, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Alcohol, Animal death, and Suicide

libby_lectiophile's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Gillian Flynn is truly a master of her craft. Dark Places is engrossing and keeps the reader turning pages. The story and plot are believable, but the pace stalls toward the middle and end of the book. 

I love her use of language in this quote, found in Chapter 11: 

While I stilll had the energy, I knifed bright yellow mustard onto my white bread, stacked thick smushy chunks of Velveeta on top, and swallowed the sandwich while negotiating with three different but equally bored phone operators to reach the Bert Nolan Group Home for Men.

The story is excellent for the first half of the book. The chapters alternate between present day, which is mainly told from Libby’s  point of view  (main character) and Jan 1985, leading up to the day that the murders happen. Libby, Ben (her accused brother) and her mother all have chapters from their first person point of view. This helps the story come together well. 

What I didn’t like is 1) the

unnecessary subplot that involved Ben being accused of molestation after he, at 15, kissed an 11 year old girl

; and 2) the decision to include satanic worship as an actual phenomenon underlying the murders. 
The long scene where

Ben axes a cow to death in graphic detail

is graphic, violent and completely superfluous to the story.  Finally, I hated the inclusion of

a random killer that was hired by Patty to kill her so that the kids would get life insurance

Patty isn’t the type of character that seems to fit with

hiring someone to stab and kill her at night where her children might possibly see her or find her dead

Final thought: 

Engrossing, well written story. Annoying subplot of molestation that doesn’t tie into the overall plot, unbelievable hit man hired by Patty to kill Patty, and most of all, too graphic and too gory with the satanic teenager angle. The scene where he butchers a cow does not tie into the ending nor provide a foundation for the ending. It’s just gory and graphic and makes you want to skip an entire 15 pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Excrement, Blood, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Gore

miggyfool's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Fatphobia, Ableism, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury

uniquelymace's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Gaslighting, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

illgiveyouahint's review against another edition

challenging dark funny medium-paced

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

3.5

First finished vacation read!
I wil lsay I'm not much of a crime thriller reader. It's not really my thing.
However the first 3/4 of the book were great. I enjoyed the switching between now and then. I thought the three narrators had all distinct voices. Ben was so beautifully stupid and teenagery. I occasionally found it funny even.
But I gotta be honest the ending really disappointed me. After all this build up I expected a bit more. It felt like the resolution/reveal came out of nowhere and it was all tied up with a bow all too neatly in my honest opinion. Like it was such a let down after such a build up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Alcohol, Body shaming, Death, Gore, Blood, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Grief, Violence, Vomit, Bullying, and Child abuse

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Homophobia, Cancer, Incest, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Ableism, Abortion, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide

leyendoentremontanias's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Violence, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Animal cruelty, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Animal death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Excrement, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail

alidathealien's review

dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Homophobia, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

This should be called Yucky Places because Gillian Flynn is very talented in the art of describing a scene that makes me want to take a shower. I liked this a lot more than Sharp Objects. The plot was fast paced and engaging and I certainly didn't figure out what happened before it was explained! I loved how little things mentioned at the beginning come back in a significant way just as you were starting to forget about them. The way the different character perspectives tend to refer to the same things but with very different contexts would be very funny if not for how serious the book is. Just that aspect reminded me a lot of Arrested Development humor. Can we get another mini series starring Amy Adams please?

carousel's review against another edition

dark tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Abortion, Bullying, Excrement, and Vomit

anne311's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit