Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

42 reviews

umafagafo's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

phantomgecko's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.5

If your family was murdered, would you want to know all the details? Impossible to know without being in the situation but...I feel like I would want to know. That Libby only sort of knows what happened vis a vis the case, the trial, the controversy, is wild, but I get it. 

Solid plot, solid characterization, solid novel. 

A tragic look into what getting involved with the wrong crowd can do to a teenager. I didn't really like the Satanic panic angle in the story, but it was implemented well enough. And like, obvs Ben was responsible for his actions, but his "friends" sucked so bad.

This novel had a lot of facets to make you think. The strands of plot worked into a nice braid by the end of it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

abigailrosalynn's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

atalea's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Grief and Abortion

mediocrebest's review against another edition

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Ms. Flynn is just such a specific but descriptive writer. It's a rough, bloody story, but it does keep you guessing until the end, and the format of slowly revealing the past story in real time makes you want to keep pushing through the story. It may have felt a bit on the slow side, but I didn't mind it. It is really interesting to think about who "owns" your story once something so big happens that it can't stay in just your life anymore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Mental illness, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Grief, and Suicide attempt

nahal3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

sarahmaxwell's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I really liked it, I think I was just expecting…. more. Sharp Objects worked so well for me in a way that this book just couldn’t. But Gillian Flynn’s prose and her ability to keep you enraptured will always be impressive to me. In this novel, she can keep you hooked until you actually begin to uncover the truth, and it all sort of… falls apart. The ending is what we are all searching for, the climax, the answers to all of our questions. But she doesn’t give us a chance to absorb it, let it linger, or consider all of the consequences of this deep string of lies.

It’s immediately resolved—Ben is freed, and Aunt Diane forgives her.

I want to soak in the moment we are able to piece everything together. I want to feel the moment deeply, but we aren’t given the chance.

But while the ending may have felt rushed, the journey there was anything but. Every little clue means something, and every page points to something deeper. Flynn gives us the information little by little; she doles it out in tiny doses, dangling the answers in front of us like a seasoned expert. She knows where to push, and where to pull back. I find myself impressed by this at the end of every chapter, and I think I’ll keep this awe throughout the rest of her novels.

I may need to sit with this novel a bit longer. I don’t know how much i skimmed over or haven’t absorbed fully, but I trust that there’s more to this novel than its initial read-through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

chelsealeem's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

allifaro's review against another edition

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