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A review by rubybooks
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
2.0
Last month I read Gone Girl and Sharp Objects and I had mixed opinions, but I still wanted to try Dark Places. Like the other two, I listened to the audiobook, which isn't that long, and I liked hearing the multiple narrators for different timelines. I read it fairly quickly, but I also wasn't that motivated to keep picking up the book, and unfortunately I didn't really enjoy it.
As you can probably guess from the title, the book has dark themes. The protagonist, Libby, is a woman whose mother and sisters were murdered when she was a child, and her testimony put her brother in prison. In the present day, Libby is contacted by a group of people who are convinced that her brother Ben is innocent, and she gets drawn in to finding out who the real killer was. There are also a couple of other narratives from the past, Libby's mother and brother, which rounded out the story and made it seem more complete.
Like Gillian Flynn's other books, Dark Places has dark themes and flawed, often unlikeable characters. I liked how distinct all the characters felt, even if I didn't necessarily like them. Likeable characters really wouldn't work in a book like this! The different narrators felt distinct, and after hearing what happened with the murders, I was interested to see what Libby would find out about what actually happened. However, I do like having a character to root for, and I really didn't care about what happened to any of them. I just wanted to feel a bit of sympathy for someone!
For me, the synopsis was much more intriguing than the actual plot of the book. I have a problem where I always expect crime/mystery/thriller books to be much more shocking than they actually are, so I get disappointed with the plot twists. The middle of this book seemed to go on forever, and it was only right at the end when I really started to be interested in who committed the murders. The synopsis also says that Libby is on the run from a killer, which I found a bit misleading because I was expecting that to be a major driving part of the plot. Once that part happened, it got much more fast-paced and I was into the story a lot more, but it came a bit too late. Even then, it felt like the book went from 0 to 100 and I was disappointed with one of the resolutions - it felt so ridiculous.
I rarely read mysteries or crime fiction, so bear that in mind, but I just didn't enjoy this and I wasn't as invested as I hoped I would be. I can see why some people might enjoy it, but it just wasn't for me. I'd give content warnings for descriptions of murder, animal death, alcohol and drug use.
As you can probably guess from the title, the book has dark themes. The protagonist, Libby, is a woman whose mother and sisters were murdered when she was a child, and her testimony put her brother in prison. In the present day, Libby is contacted by a group of people who are convinced that her brother Ben is innocent, and she gets drawn in to finding out who the real killer was. There are also a couple of other narratives from the past, Libby's mother and brother, which rounded out the story and made it seem more complete.
Like Gillian Flynn's other books, Dark Places has dark themes and flawed, often unlikeable characters. I liked how distinct all the characters felt, even if I didn't necessarily like them. Likeable characters really wouldn't work in a book like this! The different narrators felt distinct, and after hearing what happened with the murders, I was interested to see what Libby would find out about what actually happened. However, I do like having a character to root for, and I really didn't care about what happened to any of them. I just wanted to feel a bit of sympathy for someone!
For me, the synopsis was much more intriguing than the actual plot of the book. I have a problem where I always expect crime/mystery/thriller books to be much more shocking than they actually are, so I get disappointed with the plot twists. The middle of this book seemed to go on forever, and it was only right at the end when I really started to be interested in who committed the murders. The synopsis also says that Libby is on the run from a killer, which I found a bit misleading because I was expecting that to be a major driving part of the plot. Once that part happened, it got much more fast-paced and I was into the story a lot more, but it came a bit too late. Even then, it felt like the book went from 0 to 100 and I was disappointed with one of the resolutions - it felt so ridiculous.
I rarely read mysteries or crime fiction, so bear that in mind, but I just didn't enjoy this and I wasn't as invested as I hoped I would be. I can see why some people might enjoy it, but it just wasn't for me. I'd give content warnings for descriptions of murder, animal death, alcohol and drug use.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Murder, and Alcohol