Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

179 reviews

korrianderrr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Self harm, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Death, Child abuse, and Child death

moh_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Very dark. Left me a little messed up after. The weirdest part is that there is a lot of sexualization of the teenage girl in this, largely from her sister's POV. That left a bad taste in my mouth more than anything else in the novel. 

Non optimistic ending. Felt very true to Flynn form. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Vomit

Moderate: Blood and Body shaming

hannavos18's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual violence

townmarshboy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

The whole time I was reading this book, I was thinking, how did this even get published? 2.5 stars because the plot was interesting (until the end, when

everything was ruined by the twist

) and i felt that Flynn strongly developed an atmosphere in this novel so it was very immersive. This is my first Gillian Flynn read and I’m not sure if I’ll read anything else after this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Drug abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Murder, Gaslighting, Child death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Rape, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence

Minor: Medical content

aprilrosek's review

dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Self harm, Physical abuse, Child death, Violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug abuse and Alcohol

Minor: Toxic friendship

jessicagustafson's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Violence, and Self harm

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

Minor: Eating disorder

bohemianzoe's review against another edition

4.0

heavy read. disturbing a lot of the times. still, couldn’t put it down. read trigger warnings before reading 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Vomit, Medical content, Sexual assault, Murder, Self harm, Addiction, Cursing, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Drug use

abbeyroad1410's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

I should say that I actually really liked this book (and I am flabbergasted by the ending), but I had to take a lot of breaks from it because the content was a lot to take in. As a (former) English major, I could write a dissertation on the major themes of gender roles and the messages on parent-child relationships which made it interesting. 
The main characters of this book, Camille and Amma, are super intriguing, and their relationship with each other makes you all the more fascinated to see what will happen. The book forces you to consider how the parenting impacts them individually and their distant relationship with each other. The girls almost act as mirror images of each other, with Camille drawing away from her mother's abuse and Amma accepting it as fact. 
However, the plot is very, very slow and difficult to get through. Dark and disturbing things are described in drawn-out detail. At times, I had to convince myself to put the book down so that I wouldn't feel so mentally exhausted. That being said, the book's plot is important and compelling, propelling readers to keep reading even if the novel emotionally drains them.
If I had one flat-out critique of the book, it is the scene in which the main character (a thirty year old woman) sleeps with an eighteen year old boy. Something about it just made me feel slimy; however, I don't think it was meant to be portrayed as a fantastic situation. 
Overall, I enjoyed this book...I just preferred Gone Girl.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Child abuse, Self harm, Violence, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Child death, Death, and Mental illness

voxlunae's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

God, this book is just so oppressively dark. I'd seen the show, so I knew what to expect, but there is scarcely a glimmer of light in the whole thing. It's a good, taut mystery, though, focusing on a truly troubled and damaged protagonist. I think the

cutting, especially the words, is a bit heavy-handed and needless

, but maybe that's just because it's triggering for me. It's a hard book to read and to recommend, but it's written well! Ha ha. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Violence, Medical content, Child abuse, Confinement, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, and Rape

Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Incest

__eliizabethh_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I lovedddd this book. If you’re into reading a mystery/ dark book this book is definitely for you. For me, it was a bit hard to get into at first but once you continue reading it gets reallyyy interesting. Plot twist makes it super interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Addiction, Murder, and Self harm