Dark Places

this was on all accounts disturbing.


This novel is a fascinating murder mystery, but it is so much more than that. It is a wise, evocative character study – a glimpse into the lives of people who are lost and are struggling to find their way in a dangerous world. Some never find a path, some show others a path, and some find refuge – which can be either heaven or hell. But all of these people – for better or worse – matter, and their intertwined lives are a lesson to the reader that even the tiniest action may have huge unintended consequences.

If you'd like to read this review on my blog.

Rating: 5/5 stars.

Dark Places is the story of a little girl's survival to the brutal murders of her family, by her brother, and whatever happened afterwards with her. Now, an adult, she finally see's back on that day, and starts to question what really happened that day, all those years back...

Man is this shit fucked up. But, it's good as hell.

I absolutely adored and loved this book. It was disgusting, horrifying, scary and absolutely perfect. This books borders on the side of sanity, and you could catch some poison of it, but damn is it worth it.

All of the characters, every single one, are unreliable characters. Each in their own special way. The main character is unbelievable useless and lazy, and with some untreated mental problems, and the rest are a mixture of ignorant people, tired and exhausted people, angry teenagers, and psychopaths. And yet, you root for their well being (most of them) and for their success out of this mess. And for some, you want them to burn in hell. But then, later on, not quite.

My views on this characters changed so much throughout the book that I don't even know anymore. It was like...



Moving on. The mystery in itself was damn well constructed. It was mysterious all over the place, and the various POV where spot on. They actually helped build the book even more. All those things said and misunderstood, all those secrets. They make the book even better. And, of course, extremely well executed.

Of course, I being me, kind of saw where the mystery was going, what tracks it was following. But, even thought that, it still managed to surprise me how and who finally executed the final twist. So yeah, extremely well pieced together.

Lastly, the world building, even thought not necessary to the genre, was well done. I imagined myself being in there, with all the rest of the characters. And even thought I've never been to places remotely like this, I still felt it in me.

And the definition the author gives to what a Dark Place is, loved it, perfect, it's a new quote on my book quote (not that I have one, but you feel me?).

“I can never dwell in these thoughts. I've labeled the memories as if they were a particulary dangerous region: Darkplace”

gasps in the background

Great book with a more satisfying ending than Gone Girl. I'm starting to think I'm going to like anything [a:Gillian Flynn 2383 Gillian Flynn https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1232123231p2/2383.jpg] writes. I will be adding more of her books to my To Read list for 2020.

I can't say I enjoy this book, that would be awkward and wrong. Who enjoys a book so despicable, so gritty, so absolutely horrible in both plot and characters? You can't root for anyone in this book. Everyone has their own bit of ugliness that can't be redeemed. But, nonetheless, I found myself enjoying the mystery and finding out who did it. Quite impressed with Gillian Flynn.

Living in the aftermath of her family's murders, Libby Day is living in dark times and places until one day she is encouraged to challenge her own testimony which led to the conviction of her brother, taking the reader across rural America in the process.

A dark and indeed at times intense novel, the narration is split between 1985 and the present day between multiple characters, protagonist Libby, her mother and aunt including others.

I loved the beginning and the premise of the story from the blurb seemed promising too... and then it droned on and on over 421 pages.

Having built up the suspense over the course of the novel, I wasn't entirely convinced with the ending - the resolving of the whodunnit, to use a phrase. For me personally, it took a long time to get there, with six months between starting and finishing it.

Finishing this has felt like a chore, rather than a pleasurable experience and there's no doubt in my mind that Flynn is a skilled author, who creates atmospheric, mystery novels - I certainly don my hat to her in that sense.

This novel is potentially best read on a sunny beach providing you with a total contrast to the tone of the novel and allows you to consider how blessed your life is in comparison to the Day's in 1985.

It feels like it's taken me forever to read this book! It was just so average compared to her other books - I didn't like the characters, I wasn't rooting for any of them, I didn't care ‘who dunnit'. I like to get a creepy feeling from a thriller but this was just plain grim with no creep. The ending managed to save one star but apart from that it just wasn't something I enjoyed at all.

A Fun Character Read

If you like good characters than this is a must. It doesn't even bother me that the end was pretty clear long before the book started winding down because the characters still resonate with me hours after finishing.

It is a book I borrowed from the library but bought as soon as I was done.

This is easily the darkest of Flynn's first three novels. Despite my self-proclaimed affinity for dark and raw prose, bits of this prompted the occasional cringe. It was a holistic storyline, covering the necessary details and leaving little to truly criticize. Flynn has a knack for taking reality, imposing the fantastic and seemingly improbable, while inspiring a sense of commonplace in the reader. While I read this book, I became entrenched in the life of Libby Day. When I was not reading, I contemplated the absurdity of the world Flynn illustrated. Especially... well, I guess you would have to read it.

Mediocre Thriller

I'm not much of a reviewer so I hope it has just enough.

I picked up this book on recommendation from my boss. She said it was dark and twisted. Well I like some thrill in my life so I was eager to read this.
What I didn't know was that a Satanic theme was going to emerge. I expected some gothy stuff but nope, Flynn went with Satanism. Obviously Ms. Flynn does not understand Satanism or if she did, she did not make it clear that her characters did not understand Satanism. I was immediately dismayed. I am a Satanist so I'm very disappointed with this. The story was different from some thrillers out there but I found myself guessing who the killer was before I even got half way through the book and turns out I was mostly right. Ms. Flynn did deliver a little twist I didn't see coming. Otherwise the characters were predictable and underdeveloped.

I guess that's my cue to stick with true crime?

Please note: these are my opinions based solely on my own personal tastes in literature. And always remember: TRUE Satanism is not the belief or worship in the Christian idea of Satan. We are atheists who do not fear our human nature.

What a great suspense, a tragedy really. This was my first Gillian Flynn and certainly not my last. The characters are really well written and the plot, of corse is great. I really, really felt for Libby, that pore girl, and for all the Day family. With both points of view, present and past, Flynn gives us the depth of the misery that the Day family lived before the murders and the misery that Libby is living now. We get to see the impact of it all outside the Day family as well. The buildup of the suspense is good. The last 150 pages were a big surprise to me. I had my mind set for the ending of the story but found out I way off.

Although this was a good read, I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars because, to me, some reactions and even some decisions were a little farfetch. I don't want to spoil anything, but sometimes I thought, what the... But all in all, it was very good.

This book was so good! I will definitely read more Gillian Flynn. I loved how each chapter changed from present to the day of the murder. And towards the end the chapters were really leaving me on my toes. Her descriptions of people and scenes were amazing and made me feel like I was living the story, which is what a good book should do!

Challenge: Read a mystery or thriller

I tried to read this a few months ago and could not get into it. I think it was partly because I couldn't stand reading from Libby's perspective and I also wasn't really in the mood. The characters are just not likeable at all and it wasn't as fast paced as Gone Girl was.

However, when the mystery aspect was introduced and the flashbacks started, the story started to pick up for me and I needed to know what happened next. I think that's what Gillian Flynn does best. She's able to hook the reader and make them want to read on to see what is in store for the characters.

As I said, the characters are not likeable at all and sometimes it was almost annoying to some extent. No one in this story seemed to have any good qualities, which felt a bit unrealistic and made it hard for me to concentrate in the story completely. I did like Libby's development throughout the story and I was glad the hints of romance were not actually addressed.

All in all, it was a very good mystery/thriller book. I will definitely continue reading Gillian Flynn since I love the way she always accomplished to keep you on your toes.

One of my absolute favorites. This novel reminded me a lot of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. So much so that when recreating the town and setting in my head for this, it shard the same locational setting is developed for Capote's book. I've read a lot of this genre, and this was the one of the first to have truly grabbed me and not let go. I loved the unreliable narrator, whom was very incapable, but in a way I hated her for it. She was actually incapable and capable at the same time (no spoilers). Flynn is known for Gone Girl, but don't sleep on this (and Sharp Objects) for that matter. I really enjoyed the craft here, of composing binding literature that seizes the reader in unsteady suspense as they try to piece together the pieces of a life that deserves justice.

Sucked me in from the very first page and from there on, I couldn't put it down at all. The writing is smooth as butter. 
The cast of characters was small and cozy, there is a small town setting, multiple pov and dual timeline, and it all WORKED. 
Also any time there is an angsty hormonal teenage boy in my thrillers I eat it up, so this was right up my alley.
Gillian Flynn spun such a good tale with this one.

I absolutely loved everything about it.