Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

75 reviews

absolutechaos's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Wow this book hits you in the kneecaps. It leaves you feeling slimy and wrong on the inside, which is what a lot of people want from the genre and almost certainly what Flynn wanted to achieve, so she nailed it there. The atmosphere is unsettling, upsetting, and sickening. I mean it as a compliment. 
The synopsis of the book made me think it would be a mystery, but it’s more focused on our protagonist, Camille. It’s an examination of her childhood, patterns of self harm, and her fractured family dynamics. As a sucker for stories about generational trauma, I loved this aspect. Camille’s mother is a striking character and I enjoyed her presence in the book. 
Honestly the reason this has three stars is that it personally isn’t for me. I didn’t enjoy the repeated descriptions of sexual assault of children. It had its place in the book, but wasn’t part of its core and so at times, it felt like the author was aiming for shock value more than anything. I personally would have preferred the book have a bit more restraint, as it’s throughout the whole book repeatedly and I think less could have been more here.  But this isn’t my genre of choice and I get that a lot of people find this element compelling and raw. 
Don’t read this book if you’re squeamish and if you have any major triggers, please check if the book has them. It does not hold back. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Addiction, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Murder, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Drug use, Grief, and Sexism

isabellelle_11's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Alcohol, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Sexual content, Self harm, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Cursing, Classism, Lesbophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Animal death, and Drug use

Minor: Suicide, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Body shaming, and Infertility

caitlin1066's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Drug use, Death, Murder, and Self harm

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal cruelty

gwynnfox's review against another edition

Absolutely disgusted with how sexualized the 13 year old girls are. It's not like the narrator consistently speaks against this sexualization, she even takes part in it, when she speaks of her 13 year old sister's body, calling it perfect. There are times this is basically child porn. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Torture, Incest, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Homophobia, Infertility, Kidnapping, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

lenadesouza's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

22 content warnings.
I've read it all in three days. 
I love my existence!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Death, Sexual violence, Child death, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual assault

ljtademy3's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, Rape, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Incest

anushka_17's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Alcoholism, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Torture, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, and Child death

wkh's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Warning: This book is dark. Very very dark. There are themes of murder, dysfunctional families, drugs, violence, sex, constant mentions of rape and self-harm.

With that being said, I did start reading this book knowing full well what I was getting into. However, I was a little perturbed by how dark the book seemed. I would have appreciated more emphasis on creating a better plot or more memorable characters. Instead, the macabre seemed to be the focus of the author.

I liked the plot and the story. I did not enjoy the writing style too much either - the writing seemed overly descriptive and there wasn't much of a plot besides the main character bouncing around town and having random conversations which might or might not yield any useful information. I can see why this book is hyped, but it just did not do it for me. Decent book, but I am not sure if I will be reading any more from Gillian Flynn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Addiction, Violence, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Self harm

aexileigh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Murder, Self harm, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Rape, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Incest, Grief, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Drug use, Death, Child death, Addiction, and Adult/minor relationship

whimsicalish's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.0

Unfortunately, I watched the HBO show before I read this book. I did enjoy reading it, even though I knew the big twists. The book does have the better ending (imho).

This book deals with many major dark themes, namely: child death, child abuse, mental illnesses, self-harm, violence towards girls, and sexualizing of young girls. We have situations where young girls and tweens are preyed upon. That is fine to discuss; this sadly happens in real life. Nothing wrong having conversations about that.

But I do not like the constant sexual descriptions of these young girls. The main character is the sister of one of those girls. She describes her sister (and other young tweens) in detail about their bodies. It's disgusting and wholly unnecessary. Multiple times this grown woman is pointing out how attractive these girls look and bringing up sex. It's awful!

Here's examples of some descriptions:
 

 

Her flushed face had the roundness of a girl barely in her teen and her hair was parted in ribbons, but her breasts, which she aimed proudly outward, were those of a  grown woman. A lucky grown woman.

But the piggy middle child, who now waddled dazedly into the room, was destined for needy sex and snack-cake bingeing.

All those milk-fed, hog-fed, beef-fed early years. All those extra hormones we put into our livestock. We'll be seeing toddlers with tits before long.

I pulled her nightgown over her head. Her nakedness was stunning... the slightest down in a wilted thatch between her legs. Full voluptuous breasts. Thirteen.
 

This could have been written better, but the over-sexualization of girls is too much to overlook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Body shaming, Bullying, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders