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A review by obsidian_blue
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
4.0
So I read this book as part of the Horror Aficionados book for the January read. I bought this book last winter, but never got around to reading it.
I really really loved Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. I know that a lot of people had issues with it since they felt like the ending ruined the entire book for them. I now know how these people feel since I feel the same about Dark Places.
The movie is broken up by three different character perspectives. We get Libby's mother Patty's point of view from the past, Ben's point of view from the past, and then Libby's present day point of view.
I think it was great to include Patty's point of view since out of everyone I had the most sympathy for her character. Her struggles to provide for her kids and her pain at seeing her son Ben pull away from her was heartbreaking.
You know right from the start that you are not going to like Libby's character and even Libby admits to being a horrible and selfish person. She initially gets involved with the "Kill Club" since they will pay her to talk to people involved with the murder. She does this since being paid to look into the murders is better than her actually working. You have a smidgen of sympathy for her since to be the lone survivor of a killer has and did mess her up a lot. However, all sympathy for Libby becomes completely eroded when you start to read her private thoughts about people, things that happened, and how she can take advantage of people around her.
Ben as a character was an enigma a good 3/4 of the way through the book for me. You feel for Ben because he is in a house of women and doesn't feel like a man. He is struggling to be something and upset that the world is determined to keep him in this little box.
Ms. Flynn does a great job with the writing for all three characters. All of their voices are quite distinct so even if you get to a different chapter and don't realize it, you quickly know you are reading Patty's, Libby's, or Ben's point of view.
The description of people, places, and smells actually at times put me in those scenes.
That said, I still gave this four stars since the ending didn't really make much sense and I didn't find a lot of enjoyment at the end. I know that Flynn likes to write endings that are open-ended and I actually like it when an author leaves it up to the reader to what happens next. However, the ending just kind of happens and some people do a complete 180 that I didn't get at all.
I really did enjoy this book and thought that everything worked very well together.
I really really loved Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. I know that a lot of people had issues with it since they felt like the ending ruined the entire book for them. I now know how these people feel since I feel the same about Dark Places.
The movie is broken up by three different character perspectives. We get Libby's mother Patty's point of view from the past, Ben's point of view from the past, and then Libby's present day point of view.
I think it was great to include Patty's point of view since out of everyone I had the most sympathy for her character. Her struggles to provide for her kids and her pain at seeing her son Ben pull away from her was heartbreaking.
You know right from the start that you are not going to like Libby's character and even Libby admits to being a horrible and selfish person. She initially gets involved with the "Kill Club" since they will pay her to talk to people involved with the murder. She does this since being paid to look into the murders is better than her actually working. You have a smidgen of sympathy for her since to be the lone survivor of a killer has and did mess her up a lot. However, all sympathy for Libby becomes completely eroded when you start to read her private thoughts about people, things that happened, and how she can take advantage of people around her.
Ben as a character was an enigma a good 3/4 of the way through the book for me. You feel for Ben because he is in a house of women and doesn't feel like a man. He is struggling to be something and upset that the world is determined to keep him in this little box.
Ms. Flynn does a great job with the writing for all three characters. All of their voices are quite distinct so even if you get to a different chapter and don't realize it, you quickly know you are reading Patty's, Libby's, or Ben's point of view.
The description of people, places, and smells actually at times put me in those scenes.
That said, I still gave this four stars since the ending didn't really make much sense and I didn't find a lot of enjoyment at the end. I know that Flynn likes to write endings that are open-ended and I actually like it when an author leaves it up to the reader to what happens next. However, the ending just kind of happens and some people do a complete 180 that I didn't get at all.
I really did enjoy this book and thought that everything worked very well together.