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A review by boezaaah
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
5.0
“Safer to be feared than loved.”
This is the second full-length novel I've read of Gillian Flynn's. I didn't really know what to expect going into this because I read Gone Girl quite a few years ago and really enjoyed it but I also heard mixed reviews of this (often stating that this is currently stands as Flynn's least impressive book). But I really, really loved it. I'm not sure whether it was purely based on the plot regarding the murders, or if it was because we followed a journalist closely involved with the police, but something about this book kept me hooked. I really love Flynn's writing style. I think it's super easy to follow, but also complex enough to make it not sound childish or amateur. This pleasantly surprised me. I really look forward to reading Dark Places since it's the last book I have of hers to read, but also because everyone says it blows her other books out of the water.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I really loved these characters... in quite a fucked up kind of way. Each character we met had a personality of their own and even though many of them weren't present for the majority of the novel, I never felt disconnected with them. Curry and Eileen for example, they only appear a few times throughout the entire book, but I felt as though they were both fleshed out extremely well. I felt like I knew them. I think writing characters is one of Gillian Flynn's strongest points. I don't think I've ever felt so connected to characters I've hardly gotten to know by the time the book is over. I really loved the portrayal of each of them.
The plot... was something. Unfortunately, I caught the plot twist/big murderer reveal, but it didn't necessarily lessen my enjoyment of the story.There are two sticky notes in my book where I wrote "either it's Adora or it's Amma and Adora is covering it up. I don't trust either of them" on one of them, and "Adora killed Marian through poisoning in one of those sick cases of needing to care for someone. I won't believe anything else" on the other. To be frank, I wasn't far off. Amma was the killer, in a desperate attempt to keep all eyes on her (although her actions weren't being covered up by Adora) and Adora had killed Marian. At some point I even thought Alan was being quite suspicious, but obviously that led to nothing although I still didn't like him at all.
Something I really enjoyed was the odd relationship between out protagonist, Camille and Richard, our cop. I would have loved to have seen it develop over time, and it would have been nice for them to reunite after everything was over. I always love reading about relationships that probably shouldn't happen for professional purposes (although it takes a lot to execute them in an effective manner).
I enjoyed this. Thoroughly. I think if you're newer to thriller novels you'll enjoy this more than if you've been reading them for years, but I still think there's something in this for everyone to take away. I already can't wait until I reread this one day in the future. But for the meantime, I plan on spending my extremely limited amount of money on purchasing myself a copy of Dark Places. I'm so excited.
This is the second full-length novel I've read of Gillian Flynn's. I didn't really know what to expect going into this because I read Gone Girl quite a few years ago and really enjoyed it but I also heard mixed reviews of this (often stating that this is currently stands as Flynn's least impressive book). But I really, really loved it. I'm not sure whether it was purely based on the plot regarding the murders, or if it was because we followed a journalist closely involved with the police, but something about this book kept me hooked. I really love Flynn's writing style. I think it's super easy to follow, but also complex enough to make it not sound childish or amateur. This pleasantly surprised me. I really look forward to reading Dark Places since it's the last book I have of hers to read, but also because everyone says it blows her other books out of the water.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I really loved these characters... in quite a fucked up kind of way. Each character we met had a personality of their own and even though many of them weren't present for the majority of the novel, I never felt disconnected with them. Curry and Eileen for example, they only appear a few times throughout the entire book, but I felt as though they were both fleshed out extremely well. I felt like I knew them. I think writing characters is one of Gillian Flynn's strongest points. I don't think I've ever felt so connected to characters I've hardly gotten to know by the time the book is over. I really loved the portrayal of each of them.
The plot... was something. Unfortunately, I caught the plot twist/big murderer reveal, but it didn't necessarily lessen my enjoyment of the story.
Something I really enjoyed was the odd relationship between out protagonist, Camille and Richard, our cop. I would have loved to have seen it develop over time, and it would have been nice for them to reunite after everything was over. I always love reading about relationships that probably shouldn't happen for professional purposes (although it takes a lot to execute them in an effective manner).
I enjoyed this. Thoroughly. I think if you're newer to thriller novels you'll enjoy this more than if you've been reading them for years, but I still think there's something in this for everyone to take away. I already can't wait until I reread this one day in the future. But for the meantime, I plan on spending my extremely limited amount of money on purchasing myself a copy of Dark Places. I'm so excited.