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A review by carolinemeow
The Complete Gillian Flynn: Gone Girl, Dark Places, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
3.0
Rating: 3.5 stars
I am speechless.
So, I expected a lot out of this book. Like, a lot. This has been recommended about five thousand times on Tumblr to me (the life of a YA lit blogger - a lot of book recs). So when I started the book, I was disappointed. Just so you know, my copy had 400 pages (Goodreads says it has 560, and GR is typically very close to my page count, but not today). By the time I was 100 pages in, I was bored to death. I didn't care about the characters at all, and the only thing that was at all interesting was the plot, but not very much.
Then part two happened, and things got a lot more interesting.
I adore unreliable narrators. I've never truly been able to pin down why, but it's probably because I love dark characters, and I can tell you any unreliable narrators I've come across are hiding something that isn't all sunshine and rainbows, unintentionally or intentionally. Amy Dunne, my precious, precious antagonist. I love you a lot.
And wow, the Nick/Amy ship is screwed up. I'd never thought I'd admit this, but I ship it. It's probably one of my few OTPs by now. For about 80% of the book, I hated it, but the ending convinced me. I have a thing for messy, unhealthy ships, and the way it fell apart in such a typical, eyeroll-worthy, "Oh my God, just get divorced you're such a boring couple and such boring people" way and then fell back together made me realize it was, well, not a boring couple. Not a good one, but I wouldn't say boring.
On the ending: I loved it. It seems that people either hate or love the ending, but the ending was pretty much the only part of the book I full out adored.Part two's reveal was interesting, sure, but by that point I was so bored little could reclaim my excitement in the space of a few pages. I would have given up by page 100 if I hadn't heard so many good things about this book. The first hundred pages were so, so uninteresting. It was like some unoriginal television sitcom. Marriage falls apart. Nothing new there - it sucks, it hurts, but I expected it, I wasn't surprised, and I've seen it with my own eyes in real life. It's happened many times before, and usually in more interesting ways.
When the plot started to kick up,with the treasure hunt and all of Amy's double meanings and her stalkers and everything I cared a lot more. It was so. . .I love plot twists, but only if they're actually surprising, and my favorite kinds are the ones that happen one after another, as if they're choreographed, leaving me breathless and trying to guess what's happening next but never getting it quite right. (Which was basically Gone Girl.) Mind you, I am an awful guesser, probably because I don't pay attention to the plot as much as I should.
The characters Nick and Amy weren't even really likable from start to finish, but they were fascinating. I prefer dark characters, sure, but ones who I like, who will charm me and leave me enthralled with their wit and brilliance.Amy did that, with her own brilliance, but that was about it, and I honestly spent the last fifty pages absolutely terrified of her and what she was going to do. The way Amy danced back and forth and played games with everyone? I loved it. The only moment that actually disappointed me was with Greta and Jeff, for letting her guard down, because that's not the Amy I expect. I do not doubt there was some deep meaning in it and it contributed to the book somehow, but I'll figure that out later.
This book was very dark, very mysterious, and very psychological. So yeah, I found the style dull and the characters dull more often than not and I'm not even entirely sure if I regret reading it or not, but to say it didn't leave an impact on me would be inaccurate, and in the end, the books that leave an impact on me are some of the most important.
Edit: I should note there was a lot of sexism within the book. From what I've seen on Tumblr, it's supposed to have a lot of feminist themes, and I can see how they're in there. But seriously. So much sexism. It annoyed me from start to finish.
I am speechless.
So, I expected a lot out of this book. Like, a lot. This has been recommended about five thousand times on Tumblr to me (the life of a YA lit blogger - a lot of book recs). So when I started the book, I was disappointed. Just so you know, my copy had 400 pages (Goodreads says it has 560, and GR is typically very close to my page count, but not today). By the time I was 100 pages in, I was bored to death. I didn't care about the characters at all, and the only thing that was at all interesting was the plot, but not very much.
I adore unreliable narrators. I've never truly been able to pin down why, but it's probably because I love dark characters, and I can tell you any unreliable narrators I've come across are hiding something that isn't all sunshine and rainbows, unintentionally or intentionally. Amy Dunne, my precious, precious antagonist. I love you a lot.
And wow, the Nick/Amy ship is screwed up. I'd never thought I'd admit this, but I ship it. It's probably one of my few OTPs by now. For about 80% of the book, I hated it, but the ending convinced me. I have a thing for messy, unhealthy ships, and the way it fell apart in such a typical, eyeroll-worthy, "Oh my God, just get divorced you're such a boring couple and such boring people" way and then fell back together made me realize it was, well, not a boring couple. Not a good one, but I wouldn't say boring.
On the ending: I loved it. It seems that people either hate or love the ending, but the ending was pretty much the only part of the book I full out adored.
When the plot started to kick up,
The characters Nick and Amy weren't even really likable from start to finish, but they were fascinating. I prefer dark characters, sure, but ones who I like, who will charm me and leave me enthralled with their wit and brilliance.
This book was very dark, very mysterious, and very psychological. So yeah, I found the style dull and the characters dull more often than not and I'm not even entirely sure if I regret reading it or not, but to say it didn't leave an impact on me would be inaccurate, and in the end, the books that leave an impact on me are some of the most important.
Edit: I should note there was a lot of sexism within the book. From what I've seen on Tumblr, it's supposed to have a lot of feminist themes, and I can see how they're in there. But seriously. So much sexism. It annoyed me from start to finish.