Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

47 reviews

claireltravers's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Pedophilia, and Grief

Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Religious bigotry

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

judyegallagher's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

clarklyn's review

dark sad 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

2.75

Gyllian Flynn knows how to write grimy, gross characters and environments. So many moments in this book made my stomach turn and my skin crawl. Not my favorite read to be honest- Sharp Objects was less grimey in my opinion. However, the story kept me interested enough to tolerate the disgusting descriptions but just barely. There were 2-3 spots that genuinely almost made me DNF. Lots of animal cruelty/killing/abuse and the MC even kills a pet dog at one point. Lots of other horrid descriptions throughout that made me queasy. 

I hated Ben…but it almost seems like the author doesn’t want us to hate Ben? His girlfriend/baby mamma/emotional abuser killed his sister and he let her get away with it for 2 decades? Huh?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

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

snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

lwrn2's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Definitely hooked me in; was not sure I liked the main character until more than halfway through the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

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

libby_lectiophile's review against another edition

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

allisonnd's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

Slow start but good ramp up. Really dark 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail