Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

16 reviews

peachsori's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.25

It's one hell of a thing to make it through a book containing twisted secrets, murder plots, and satanic rituals, only to read the acknowledgements section and see just how well-adjusted the author is. Writing is a lovely thing.

The ending definitely felt a bit rushed (which I feel is a general problem faced by books in the genre) and the descriptions of violence and blood felt a bit much and unnecessary at times. I was more engrossed than entertained but I don't regret reading it! 

Would I recommend it? Probably not. Maybe if you're bored and looking to scratch a true crime itch without platforming exploitative and insensitive content creators. 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Excrement, and Pregnancy

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

alainaaraee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Excrement, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Toxic relationship

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

denlia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, 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

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

miggyfool's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

uniquelymace'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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, 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