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A review by d1shax
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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? Yes
3.5
the entire book is so creepy, horrifying and nightmarish. i have seen some people having issues with the fact that this book has three different povs, but it worked really well for me and i genuinely enjoyed reading the past povs, especially patty's.
ben's pov was the worst for me. while they were extremely well written and flynn did a wonderful showing his violent thoughts increase as he's pushed to his limits, trey and diondra made it impossible for me to enjoy them. i dont need characters to be likeable to enjoy a novel, but trey and diondra were too fucking annoying. im sure that if there was a book with their pov, I would treat them with the same complexity I treated libby with, but in the book , these two characters come off as one dimensional.
patty is someone i rooted for through out the novel. the more I read her chapters, the more I felt for her and the impossible situation she was in. her povs were so miserable and sad that it makes sense to me why she did what she did. i realized she had something to do with the murders (even thought I didn't know what) after i read a few of her chapters, so for me, it was like witnessing her reaching her breaking point and how this would lead to a tragedy.
the main character, libby was really unlikeable at the start (just like the author intended) but she grew on me extremely fast. her povs were the most entertaining. idk what to think about ben and his gf tho. while i was feeling really sad for him at the beginning, finding out that he just stood by while his weird satanic gf murdered his baby sister (the little menace) just rubbed me the wrong way.
the ending was low-key annoying. while it makes sense, the impact would have been more if it was someone we knew (like trey or krissi's dad or runner). even ben and his satanic baby mama being the killers of all the family members would have had a larger impact than the actual ending.
I know two-three people who think the ending was really great and I understand their perspective , but a random man we only heard of once in the entire novel being the killer just made me go "uh... okay. maybe Len could have been the killer instead?"
over all, I really enjoyed reading this book, and im planning on reading sharp objects next. gillian flynn is a wonderful author.
ben's pov was the worst for me. while they were extremely well written and flynn did a wonderful showing his violent thoughts increase as he's pushed to his limits, trey and diondra made it impossible for me to enjoy them. i dont need characters to be likeable to enjoy a novel, but trey and diondra were too fucking annoying. im sure that if there was a book with their pov, I would treat them with the same complexity I treated libby with, but in the book , these two characters come off as one dimensional.
patty is someone i rooted for through out the novel. the more I read her chapters, the more I felt for her and the impossible situation she was in. her povs were so miserable and sad that it makes sense to me why she did what she did. i realized she had something to do with the murders (even thought I didn't know what) after i read a few of her chapters, so for me, it was like witnessing her reaching her breaking point and how this would lead to a tragedy.
the main character, libby was really unlikeable at the start (just like the author intended) but she grew on me extremely fast. her povs were the most entertaining. idk what to think about ben and his gf tho. while i was feeling really sad for him at the beginning, finding out that he just stood by while his weird satanic gf murdered his baby sister (the little menace) just rubbed me the wrong way.
the ending was low-key annoying. while it makes sense, the impact would have been more if it was someone we knew (like trey or krissi's dad or runner). even ben and his satanic baby mama being the killers of all the family members would have had a larger impact than the actual ending.
I know two-three people who think the ending was really great and I understand their perspective , but a random man we only heard of once in the entire novel being the killer just made me go "uh... okay. maybe Len could have been the killer instead?"
over all, I really enjoyed reading this book, and im planning on reading sharp objects next. gillian flynn is a wonderful author.