Sharp Objects in 2015 Reading Challenge [Closed]

Jan 29, 2015 Vince rated it really liked it · review of another edition

If you’ve read any of Gillian Flynn’s thrillers (and odds are you’ve at least read Gone Girl), you will know what to expect from Sharp Objects. All of Flynn’s tells are there – psychologically twisted characters with an outward veneer of coolness, damaged individuals haunted by dark secrets and murky pasts, chilling violence, a quickly-plotted mystery that reads as if it's been dipped in a rotten sugary concoction that smells putrid and yet is somehow enticing. Flynn makes darkness delicious.

Of If you’ve read any of Gillian Flynn’s thrillers (and odds are you’ve at least read Gone Girl), you will know what to expect from Sharp Objects. All of Flynn’s tells are there – psychologically twisted characters with an outward veneer of coolness, damaged individuals haunted by dark secrets and murky pasts, chilling violence, a quickly-plotted mystery that reads as if it's been dipped in a rotten sugary concoction that smells putrid and yet is somehow enticing. Flynn makes darkness delicious.

Of Flynn’s three novels, Sharp Objects is my favorite. The resolution to the plot is far less surprising then that of her other thrillers. In fact, she almost deliberately only offers up two strong suspects to the central mystery. Much of what is revealed in the last 30 pages is telegraphed clearly in the first 100. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes the monster that’s been staring us in the face since the beginning is the scariest monster of all. A plot doesn’t need to zig and zag through endless sharp turns to be compelling. Going with the obvious answer also makes the story more believable. Flynn doesn’t need to rely on impossible coincidences or reveals that seem to come out of left field in Sharp Objects. It’s all there. She just needs to lead the reader to the answer.

The real reason Sharp Objects works better for me than Dark Places or Gone Girl is the protagonist. Flynn has the tendency to write characters that are just downright unlikable. And while it’s not necessary for characters to be likeable, it is (at least for me) necessary to have a character I can relate to in some way. I need a host into the tale. And with Sharp Objects, Flynn offers that in a way she hasn’t since. Her protagonist is certainly broken. She an alcoholic and a cutter and comes from one hell of a crazy family. But, even in her moments of despair and weakness, she holds on to a determination to see her story through and be better for it.

Sharp Objects was read as part of the 2015 Reading Challenge.
Category: A Popular Author’s First Book
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Mar 26, 2015 Mary Anne rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, kindled, library

After reading Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, I was curious about her other work. I remember my friend Jamie liked either this book or Dark Places.

I will say this: If you read Gone Girl and liked the psychological aspects, I think you'll like this book. It's really out there. I found it creepy and occasionally disconcerting. There were a lot of elements of suspense. I like that the narrator was sort of disconnected from the scene. There wasn't a lot of focus on what she was thinking all the time; it ...more

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