A review by reading_srsly
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

dark slow-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

3.25

* Multi-timeline
* Dark mystery
* Everybody sucks here

Libby Day was only seven when her family was brutally murdered. As the only blameless survivor, she’s thrust into the spotlight as empathetic donors throw money at her in exchange for sharing her story. She’s able to live lavishly, until the donations stop rolling in and she’s forced to take more drastic measures to maintain her job-free lifestyle. Even if it means taking a harder look at what happened twenty-five years ago, and the role she might have unwittingly played in it. 

Originally, I picked up this book for the premise. With social media detectives on the rise, a more modern story on the topic easily rose to the top of my TBR. But there was something about the writing style that made it difficult for me to get into the story at first. The plot itself wasn’t bad, and the unique narrative device of reliving the past from the points of view of the other members of Libby’s family was a refreshing change from the typical mystery narrative. However, there were less clues to ‘solve along’ with Libby as the reader gets concrete insights into the past that are absent from the modern day interrogations.

While the characters felt real in the gritty way that you want to believe and uplift someone who’s been struggling, they were all so unfailingly twisted or self-destructive that after a while it almost felt like a caricature of a town. Nearly every character was unlikeable, with a thin sheen of patheticness and rare moments of humanity to keep the reader from giving up on them entirely. 

Objectively, this was a good dark thriller - the average person who wants to face down the harsh realities of the world and read through gratuitous descriptions of the worst aspects of humanity will love this book. But subjectively, I think it went way over the top in a lot of places, and while I can appreciate that the author accomplished her goal in writing an incredibly dark and twisted mystery, I definitely wish the repulsiveness of the world had come across better in the official description.
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