I’m late to jump onto the Gillian Flynn train, aren’t I? Okay, maybe not. I don’t really know. Anyways, Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places indeed deals with some dark issues, all centered on a character, Libby, who comes across as abrasive and unlikeable, yet she is still understandable and I was able to develop some empathy for her throughout the novel. I also personally enjoyed how the story was told as a series of present-day versus past event chapters, that alternated with one another to reveal different […]
“A child weaned on poison considers harm a comfort.”
I accidentally ended up reading Gillian Flynn backwards, starting with Gone Girl, moving onto Dark Places, and finishing with Sharp Objects. I can’t help but feel like this reading order taught me a little something about Gillian Flynn, at least as a writer: her most recent (GG) has, to my memory, some of the least graphically disturbing violence compared to the other two, but the most monstrous female protagonist. This book’s protagonist is psychologically damaged, to be sure, but at her heart she yearns to […]
Twisted Soulmates
I feel like I’m the last person on earth to read Gone Girl. I finally got around to seeing what all the fuss was about even though this isn’t the kind of book I usually read. You probably already know the synopsis by now so there will be spoilers. On Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth anniversary, Amy goes missing with signs of a struggle and traces of blood left in their house. At first, Nick has the support of the sympathetic public, but they quickly […]
Lizzie Borden Took an Axe …
Damn. This was a well-written book that I enjoyed reading. I mean, it’s all kinds of messed up, but it’s interesting, and I don’t think the outcome is at all obvious. It all makes sense, when you think about it. Libby Day is the sole surviving daughter of the Day family, three members of which were murdered in early January 1985. Her brother was convicted of the crime based partly on her testimony; she (a seven-year-old) testified that she saw him do it. As essentially […]