Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn - 2.5 stars

[Emily]

I'd been meaning to read another Gillian Flynn book since reading Gone Girl back in 2013, but it's taken me this long to get around to it. I wasn't impressed, though. It's sold as a thriller, so I kept waiting for the game-changing twist moment that made me want to devour the rest of the book, but it never came. If it had been sold as crime fiction, I think I probably would have appreciated more because I would have known what to expect.

Having said that, Flynn creates a really stifling, claustrophobic small-town atmosphere, and she never romanticises the dysfunctional family and mental health issues that she highlights throughout the novel, which I did appreciate. The characters are all well-constructed, to the point where there are times when you want to sympathise with even the most unlikable of the characters. There's no doubt Flynn is a good writer; I just think I maybe had the wrong expectations.

My full review is here.

[Flo]

Aww I actually really loved this one! I think I loved it almost as much as I did Gone Girl, which is pretty much my favorite book ever. I found Camille really sympathetic and I just wanted to hug her. And although no one else was very likable, I still found myself interested in the story anyway. And also I was really interested in the psychology behind all the characters and what made them the way they were, so maybe that's another reason I found this book so fascinating.

[Emily]

I definitely liked Camille and I think that was the reason I kept reading - because I wanted to know more about her and see her figure things out. I was expecting a turning point like the one half-way through Gone Girl which turns everything on it's head and the turning points in this aren't like that one.