Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

21 reviews

icedlostea's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer

pagesinthesnow'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death and Sexual content

Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, Excrement, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

sunsetsam723's review against another edition

dark tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.25

Wow, talk about a page-turner. It’s been years since I read Gone Girl but I still remember how blown away I was by that halfway-through plot twist, so I had high hopes for this one and I was not disappointed. I love how fitting the title “Dark Places” is, how we are drawn in and sunken into the pathetic depravity of Libby’s life and the lives of those around her who shaped and were shaped by The Murders. The alternating perspectives each chapter between present and past was expertly done, extending the suspense and deftly revealing details from the right characters at the right times. I’m impressed by how far into this book I STILL could not definitively say I knew who had done it, not until Flynn wants to finally clue you in that the reveal is coming. Wow!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Drug use, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

emmapolkadots's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

danaslitlist's review against another edition

The casual and constant racism in the flashbacks was annoying and gross enough that I actually caved and went looking at spoilers to confirm if my theory of who the killer was. I’m happy to report that no; it wasn’t who I thought it was which is a good thing because that would’ve been even more racist and gross. But I’m not happy to report that finding out what happens at the end made me slow blink before quickly DNF-ing because, hey Gillian Flynn? Are you really that lazy to write an ending and/or plot that makes sense or????

Which is shame because I was about 6 hours in and overall was having a decent time. This book has good bones and was entirely wasted on an author who is clearly more interested in “BOOM GOT YA!” twists than actual sense and emotion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

hsnails's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.0

I should've known from the title that this would be a "dark" book, but I expected darkness like Flynn's other books. The main character, Libby, describes herself in such dark ways it was hard to take her seriously.


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.

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Pregnancy

sydfitz24's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

illgiveyouahint's review against another edition

challenging dark funny medium-paced

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

3.5

First finished vacation read!
I wil lsay I'm not much of a crime thriller reader. It's not really my thing.
However the first 3/4 of the book were great. I enjoyed the switching between now and then. I thought the three narrators had all distinct voices. Ben was so beautifully stupid and teenagery. I occasionally found it funny even.
But I gotta be honest the ending really disappointed me. After all this build up I expected a bit more. It felt like the resolution/reveal came out of nowhere and it was all tied up with a bow all too neatly in my honest opinion. Like it was such a let down after such a build up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Confinement, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Medical trauma, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation

crocodilerocklobster's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, and Abortion

punkrockingnerd's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

There are def some sections crossed out because of trigger stuff, but DAGNABBIT, Ms. Flynn is SUCH a good writer

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Incest, Trafficking, Stalking, Car accident, and Abandonment