Sharp Objects: A Novel
by Gillian Flynn
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Book Reviews of Sharp Objects: A Novel
Book Review: Dark and disturbing
Summary: 4 Stars
If you ask me which words come into my mind first whenever I think of this book, my answer will be: nasty, dark, twisted, disturbing.
In this rather traumatizing psychological thriller Camille Preaker, a troubled newspaper reporter, is sent to her home town to get the inside scoop on the murders of two preteen girls - both were strangled and had their teeth removed. As we follow Camille on her quest to obtain as much information as possible about the crimes, we learn much more than we bargained for. The small town of Wind Gap, in the fashion of Twin Peaks, is filled to the brim with dark secrets, and not the least of them is the twisted dynamics in Camille's own family...
For me the most remarkable aspect of this book is that Gillian Flynn succeeds in creating a novel main characters of which are nasty women. I am so used to books where women are victims and all evil is committed by bad, bad men. Not so in Sharp Objects. Women of Wind Gap are both victims and perpetrators, they are promiscuous and abusive, self-destructive and violent. Men are only fixtures in their lives and pawns in their sick games. If anything, this is a refreshing twist on the old tired genre of murder mystery.
I liked the psychological aspect of this novel as well. Flynn skillfully portrays how differently people react to the abuse in their lives - some direct the pain onto themselves, some inflict it on others - and both are equally damaging to one's psyche.
I definitely wouldn't recommend Sharp Objects to squeamish. There is a lot of disturbing stuff in this book - promiscuous young girls, self-mutilation, sexual abuse, drugs. This is not a comfort read by any means. However I found it fascinating (in a I-can't-stop-watching-this-train-wreck way) and hard to put down. I will certainly read Flynn's other novel - Dark Places. Well, as soon as I psychologically recover from Sharp Objects.
Book Review: A creepy and haunting read...
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading DARK PLACES by Gillian Flynn, I was very interested in reading her first book.
This one is a raw and strange book that takes the reader on a very bleak journey into the horrible mystery of trying to figure out who killed two little girls. Yet, for Camille Preaker, returning to her hometown becomes a slow descend into its clutches.
It's often chilling to watch as Camille falls deeper into the horrid darkness of her teens. I couldn't help wondering if she'd eventually get lost in it. She's not exactly a sympathetic narrator - her life is plagued with emotional instability, she carries physical scars she can't escape, and doesn't exactly make the best decisions. But that didn't matter because I was completely drawn into her world, wanting to follow her as Wind Gap engulfs her. All the time, shuddering at the strange events that lead her closer to figuring out who killed the girls and why.
So many times I wished she'd just jump into her car and leave that horrid small town and its many secrets behind.
Camille's connection with most of the characters is shallow because she doesn't allow herself to open up to anyone. She feels she's not good enough for anyone's attention. Her mother is beyond creepy, her cruel words and even worse actions sickened me. But helped me understand why Camille was so damaged. And her half-sister, Amma, is spooky.
Sharp Objects is a very creepy, haunting story about a woman with many personal problems - most of them stemming from her bizarre and loveless past. A childhood that still haunts her and sends her spiralling back into all of the painful memories of losing her younger sister. And just when you think the mystery has been solved, but realise it hasn't, the truth will shock you.
I enjoyed this book very much, no matter how uncomfortable it made me.
Book Review: Like watching a wreck you know will occur - you can't close your eyes!
Summary: 4 Stars
SUMMARY: Evil people create an evil town, and a creatively self-destructive reporter returns to the evil family and town (which led her to become who she is), as well as to investigate some particularly evil murders while she faces her own demons.
Oh, sometimes I wish Amazon had a rating system for different aspects of a book. But for this one, I have to create my own:
- Prose/writing style: 4
It's not the writing that makes this like watching a train wreck about to occur - it's the plot that zings along and you just know the worst is coming. Solid, engaging writing.
- Page-turning, Psychological Thriller/Plot and Pace: 4.5 stars
With psychological suspense which continues to build it's a "I can't put this down" type book. It's been one of the few recently where foregoing sleep to keep going with it was the most enjoyable option.
You'll know who did it half way in. That doesn't stop you being caught in the action - or by having a couple of occassional curve balls occassionally thrown at you. And despite knowing where it was going, I was definitely surprised by how some things played out.
- Characters: 3.o stars
Most of the characters are over-the-top in their assigned flawed role (but perhaps that's what makes it such a page-turner): evil mother, obtuse husband, mean high school bullies, depressed 40 year olds...
The main character, Camille, raises the character bar though. She is a horribly flawed, yet creatively self-destructive woman that truly hates herself - and consistently makes stupid choices to prove it. And still somehow - you root for her.
BOTTOM LINE: 4.0
No matter the rating - this book grips you and won't let you go- and that's hard to say about many paychological thrillers.
Book Review: Phenomenal Work with An Amazing Protagonist
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not sure if I'm in love with Gillian Flynn, her protagonist, Camille Preaker or both.
This was an amazingly fast-paced read with exceptional internal/external conflict and tension that never let up. Yes, it's cliché, but this was a real page-turner.
Camille is a smug, overly sarcastic bitch - with a decent heart - and she is completely wounded and damaged. Did I mention that I'm in love with a fictional character? Better still, the first person narration is solid and extremely well written. The work is peppered with phenomenal imagery, metaphors and similes and just wonderful turns of phrase. Furthermore, the dialogue is distinct, purposeful and riveting. In several ways, this reads like a movie script - and it should definitely be made into a film.
I'm truly amazed how Flynn brought the reader such ordinary characters that did not seem ordinary by any means. Each character was well-layered with depth, emotion, strengths and weaknesses - and they were all distinct. There is no chance of reader getting lost in this work or even wondering who is who.
What really got me was that Flynn addressed a pet peeve of mine: Blond is male and blonde is female. I'm sure some readers may have thought they spotted typos, but she's the first author in a long time who has adhered to the French-based masculine and feminine.
What I like the most, however, is that the mystery makes up maybe ten percent of the book, even though it permeates everything. What matters most is Camille, her drive, commitment and her commentary as a reporter going back to her small town to solve a murder.
Without a doubt, this is the best novel I've read in years.
Can you really not go home again? Read this exceptional work to find out.
Book Review: "sick place"
Summary: 4 Stars
The narrator, Camille Preaker, is drinking hard in a bar in her hometown, writing over and over again in her notebook, "sick place, sick place." She'd like to carve the words with a knife on her skin. She's been sent to this town of 2,000 by the Chicago Daily Post to cover the murder of two little girls.
Camille has spent thousands of hours in therapy trying to get over her issues, all of which were born and nurtured in Wind Gap, Missouri. But her insider's knowledge of this unpleasant little town is just what's needed to make for great reporting. Or so her editor thinks.
And so Camille goes back into the bosom of what must be one of the world's most dysfunctional families: A mother who only likes her children when they're sick. A manipulative, drugged-up thirteen-year-old half-sister. Another half-sister whose death no one can get over. And an odd nonentity of a stepfather.
The family is filthy rich from the profits of hog breeding and butchering. The pigs are treated even worse than most of the inhabitants of Wind Gap seem to treat each other.
For all her emotional problems, Camille is a hard-working reporter determined to do a good job. She does, however, get a bit distracted by the good-looking Kansas City detective who's been sent to lead the investigation. It's interesting to watch their relationship heat up as they try to pump each other for information.
This is definitely a compelling debut novel - a tantalizing mystery offering several convincing murder suspects from among a disturbed populace. I find Camille is a little too self-destructive and self-loathing to be a comfortable companion for 252 pages, but I'd recommend the book to readers with a taste for dark psychological thrillers.