Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

22 reviews

lillyklymiuk's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

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

---

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

christianaskaar's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

ineedrhythm's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Homophobia

lexa's review against another edition

dark mysterious

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

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

---

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

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

---

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

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.

---

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

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.

---

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

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.

---

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