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hsnails's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Despite this, I was enthralled with the plot. I enjoyed jumping through time, getting pieces of the puzzle along the way, gaining the dramatic irony as we learn things before Libby.
A portion of it did get too gory for me and I had to skip forward. But it didn't ruin the book.
Overall, I give it a 3/5. I felt that the middle dragged on a bit in an attempt to build the suspense, and by that point I couldn't help but laugh how "dark" it was, but I enjoyed the mystery and writing enough to stick through to the end.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Murder, Animal death, and Violence
Minor: Vomit, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Racism
reading_srsly's review
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Pedophilia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Drug use, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Pregnancy
allisonnd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Bullying, Alcoholism, Addiction, Suicide, Pedophilia, Child death, Blood, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Child abuse, Violence, Gore, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Murder, Vomit, Sexual content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Death, and Cursing
renbaybee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Pedophilia
Moderate: Violence and Sexual violence
adeliiasocks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Pedophilia and Child death
rachels_lit_reviews's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Violence and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Pedophilia
stellahadz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
In an interestingly self-aware way, Dark Places addresses the morbid curiosity of true crime "fans," which sometimes spirals into boundary-crossing if not downright creepy and borderline abusive behavior towards survivors like Libby (although she cleverly spins that behavior to her own advantage). It would be interesting to see how different the story would be if it had been published in the era of social media and true-crime podcasts. Despite Libby describing herself as mean and unlikable, I couldn't help but feel for her and I enjoyed the dynamic of her friendship(?) with Lyle.
I would recommend this book to anyone who's interested in "whodunnit" type stories and the theme of true crime (despite this story not being based on actual events), or anyone who enjoys Flynn's other work. Definitely check out the content warnings before reading, though, because certain plot points might be disturbing and distressing for some readers, even beyond what can normally be expected of a thriller novel.
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Pregnancy and Sexual content
b00kishnurse's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gore, Blood, Gun violence, Body horror, Vomit, Murder, Animal death, Grief, Pregnancy, Violence, Death, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
mgrs43's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Grief, Pedophilia, Blood, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Violence, Sexual content, Gore, Child death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization
amandab0514's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Death, Pedophilia, Suicide, Violence, and Gore