Dark Places in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Apr 06, 2015 Ashley rated it really liked it

I am not sure I love how this ended. Obviously I won't give it away. There is definitely substantial suspense I felt compelled to keep going and didn't want to stop reading. It felt like the ending took quite some time to get to and then was rushed to conclusion all at once. Still I would recommend it to anyone that likes a dark story that unfolds in pieces as you hear the stories of different players in the drama. ...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was amazing

Shelves: f-ed-up, mystery, darkntwisty-badass-women, psych-psych-psych, broken, oh-unlikeable-you, grit-lit

I was not prepared for how completely dark and twisted this story would be. (And yes, I've read Sharp Objects and Gone Girl and The Grown Up.). Almost everyone in this story, including the MC, is thoroughly unlikeable. Everyone one of them makes a series of awful decisions. It's rare for me to enjoy a story when I don't like the protagonist, but Ms Flynn is a master at this sort of thing. I didn't like Libby, but i empathized. I had a distinct "there but for the grace of God" take on Libby's dis I was not prepared for how completely dark and twisted this story would be. (And yes, I've read Sharp Objects and Gone Girl and The Grown Up.). Almost everyone in this story, including the MC, is thoroughly unlikeable. Everyone one of them makes a series of awful decisions. It's rare for me to enjoy a story when I don't like the protagonist, but Ms Flynn is a master at this sort of thing. I didn't like Libby, but i empathized. I had a distinct "there but for the grace of God" take on Libby's disaster of a life, similar to how I felt about the main protagonist in The Girl on the Train. No, my family wasn't murdered, and I have a degree and a job and kids and all that fun stuff, but I could see myself sliding into Libby territory if I just .... stopped ... trying.

Short review for now. Maybe I can tidy it up later.

A few excerpts:

This was one of those moments where I wished I had more friends. Or, friends.

***

After another forty minutes of driving, the strip clubs started showing up: dismal, crouched blocks of cement, most without any real name, just neon signs shouting Live Girls! Live Girls! Which I guess is a better selling point than Dead Girls. I imagined Krissi Cates pulling into the gravel parking lot, getting ready to take off her clothes at a strip club that was so entirely generic. There's something disturbing about not even bothering with a name. Whenever I see news stories about children who were killed by their parents, I think: But how could it be? They cared enough to give this kid a name, they had a moment - at least one moment - when they sifted through all the possibilities and picked one specific name for their child, decided what they would call their baby. How could you kill something you cared enough to name?

***

Patty fished around in her pocket for some change and got a pink frosted donut, gave it to Libby on a napkin. She could not deal with Libby feeling denied, staring mournfully at all those pastel shades of sugar while they tried to have a conversation about whether her son was a Devil-worshipping child-molester.

...more

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