Dark Places: A Novel Kindle Edition

I loved Gone Girl and so I picked this up despite other reviewers calling it dark. This was a well written book with good character development. But For almost all of the book, I just did not like any of the characters. The story was filled with more violence than I can even contemplate. Many times I said this story is too much. But of course I could not put it down. There were twists and turns and the ending was an interesting surprise. The reason I gave it 3 stars is because of how depressed it made me feel while reading it. I could not get through it fast enough. If it is made into a movie, no way I will go see it. I just want to put it out there that you will be depressed until the end and horrified many times. I love novels that draw me into the story and how I can't wait to pick it up again. With this book, I just wanted to get to the end and prayed that I would see an inkling of hope when I did. So if you like a good who done it and don't have nightmares when reading intensely violent and horror filled themes, then this is a book for you. But don't pick it up just because you really enjoyed Gone Girl.

DARK PLACESA seven year-old little girl, Libby, testifies against her older brother Ben for the murders of her two older sisters and her mom. With Libby's words and other evidence, Ben is sentenced to life in prison.Twenty five years later, Libby is contacted by the Kill Club. This club is one that is interested in crimes and the people involved. This club wants details from Libby. Libby is willing to do this for a price. Suffice it to say, Libby is a little messed up from being in the middle of the murders, surviving, living her life dealing with that awful night.This Kill Club is also definitely convinced that Ben is NOT the murderer and they hope that by talking to Libby, Ben will be a free man.So, we are off and running. I loved how this book went from past and present, jumping back and forth and explaining how events led up to that doomed night, all from various characters points-of-views. Who was involved. Who wasn't involved. Why this happened. Why this didn't happen. Flynn has a flair for writing and keeping the reader guessing and involved. The characters are disturbed, mean, calculating, believable. The situations shocking.One thing that really bothered me was the graphic details of animal abuse and mayhem. While a part of the book and story, I didn't really appreciate reading the minute details of the slaughter of innocent animals/humans. Even though this is a murder who-dun-it, the graphics of the animal/human carnage was upsetting to me. However, as mentioned, this is all part of the story and unfortunately probably had to be.All in all, a good read, one that will keep you guessing, keep you up until the wee hours.

Even though the main character is severely flawed, she has very good reasons. So I liked her and was rooting for her, even though she does some very questionable things. Plus her sense of humor is darkly funny, which gets her through life (although just barely in many cases). This book is well thought-out and doesn't rely on "sudden plot twists" that were pulled out of the author's arse at the very end in a lazy way that happens with a lot of books. Instead it's multii-layered, so that descriptions of past events build on each other over time, and tie back to earlier descriptions in ways that weren't entirely clear before. I like the way the story begins long after the horrible tragedy takes place, then slowly glances back and glimpses at what happened that night years ago. Not until the end does the full story become clear.One thing I would recommend to sensitive readers like myself--skip the entire chapter with the cows (about 3/4 way through the book). You'll already know what's going to happen by then and the details were too disturbing for me as an animal lover, and didn't really add anything to the story the reader didn't already know. I just flipped through to the next chapter and was able to enjoy the rest of the book.

It has been 25 years since the “Kinnakee Massacre” where 15 year old Ben Day murdered his family. Fortunately, although unfortunately for her, the youngest sister, Libby Day, who was only 7 at the time, survives, with only the loss of a few fingers and toes and a lifetime of mental instability.When Libby runs out of money and becomes desperate to survive without actually earning the money through the means of a real job, she begins considering the offer put forth by a mysterious identity who is a part of a secret “Kill Club” that focuses on notorious crimes, and begins her journey to answers.With doubts of the reality of the events that actually occurred on that freezing Kansas night, Libby is forced to open her eyes to the possibility that the brother she has despised over the past two and a half decades may not actually be the killer of her beloved mother and two sisters.Between the flashbacks to how life was before the murders and Libby’s life now, it’s easy to begin wondering if everything that you personally remember from your childhood is actually fact or fiction. —- Throughout the novel I found myself questioning Bens innocence and trying to piece together what happened that night along with Libby. I at times found myself on the edge of my seat wondering what’s going to happen next and wondering who the killer truly was, or if it really was Ben all along. In a similar twisted fashion as Flynn’s book Sharp Objects, I anticipated a crazy twist. Whilst this book lacked in the “super sick” twist department, it still had a lot of unpredictability to offer its readers.I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone looking for a fast paced psychological thriller.

I haven't finished it because there are some suggestion of pediphila which has really upset me. I thought it would have been nice to know this before reading but serves me right for not googling what I might find in a book like I do in films. So I'm letting you know, just incase. I also don't think it's a badly written book, I enjoyed it until a point. I also don't know how graphic it gets. Honestly what was I thinking? It would be happy? Haha. But I do have my limits to what media I consume and sex with children and rape are two things I can not. "What a snowflake". I know.

I have seen and read Gone Girl.I have also seen but not read Sharp Objects.This is the third and last Gillian Flynn's, which I've only read.Still, I'm not sure whether I'm a fan of hers.There's a certain amount of sensational noise around her books I'm not sure I approve of, a reputation for shocking that smacks of wanting to grab attention...She's supposed to be so "dark" and so unflinching in her depiction of women.Sure enough, she doesn't write "pretty" stories or "likeable" characters.I'm not really bothered by the fact that she writes about "bad" women. Why not? Women don't have the monopoly on goodness. They're like men, flawed and, as stories in the press attest everyday, just as capable of all sorts of nasty things.People make a big deal of the nastiness in GF's books subject matter. I suppose what shocks perhaps it's that it's a woman creating and writing these things. But again why not, women have an imagination too.All this is not what I find interesting in her books and in particular this one.It's the characterisation, not the story per say. All the characters in this book are so well observed and believable, in all their good and bad points, their flaws, their defects, their vulnerability, their helplessness, their humanity and inhumanity, their ugliness.She writes very well. She can spin a yarn, craft a thrilling mystery and mostly sustain interest making you want to read more and find out what happens, although by the end I'd figured out most it and didn't find the story particularly remarkable or believable.It's also her ability to paint a picture in a social context that's compelling.Here the desperation of economically depressed and deprived mid rural white America. The sense of hopelessness, no way out, no present, no future type situation. It's not fluffy reading and more than the gore, it's what gets to you and feels real.I can't say I really "enjoy" her stories but I don't think that's the point. They make you reflect. Through the characters and the plot, she develops some serious themes, some psychologic and social insights worth looking at.It's just perhaps a bit too close to real life for comfort at times and forces us to dwell on things we'd rather dismiss from our minds.

This book was too disturbing for my taste - and I like dark macabre tomes sometimes, Joe Hill and the like.The tone was bleak from the outset, the descriptions of murder, blood and gore explicit and chilling.The premise is good, but the story gets bogged down in side-stories about Ben's descent into 'bad' and flipping between present and future. Libby is only a half-likable character and the Kill Club premise is flimsy, that people would pay her to investigate the crime.The actual twist/ending was also a bit limp, and again not really believable. Hard to elaborate without spoilers, but it was disappointing having slogged through this miserable story.I liked Gone Girl and was going to purchase Sharp Objects but I'm less keen now.It takes a lot for me to dislike a book so much that it doesn't go on my shelf to be re-read at a later point.

I chose this rating because the book was really good, brilliant writing and pacing from Flynn as usual. The characters just come to life so easily and I spent my time desperately guessing who it was. I really liked the way it went to flashback and then back to current day, with each and turn getting closer to the inevitable that you read pin the back was coming. Libby Day was an awesome character and I admitted her feisty attitude and honesty. Her brother in the flashbacks was far too weak,in an understandable way.I much preferred Sharp Objects and Gone Girl but this was another solid read from my favourite thriller writer. I love the way her characters are real, warts and all.It's recommend this to anyone who like a really taught,fast paced thriller by a superb writer. I highly recommend it,and Flynn's other books too.

I enjoy Gillian Flynn's writing a lot, I had come to expect certain things having read some of her other work, one being complex and flawed characters. I find characters like this to be an extra layer to the reality of the world being built to draw me into the story. Real flawed help develop a character past their role in the plot and into real actual humans. But in Dark Places I felt that every single character was so deeply flawed and inherently unlikable that it causes a bit of a barrier for me and I struggled a little to make it last the middle.I am very glad I kept reading, as one thing I love about Flynn's writing is her endings!No spoilers, but a twisted and surprising while also satisfyingly understandable ending is another thing I've come to expect and enjoy. The ending was perfect.I also enjoyed the quick references to real-life events that helped to root the story in the time period (which I'm too young to have any familiarity or nostalgia for). This helped suck me into Libby's horrible world.I've chosen 3 stars, though I'd rather give 3.5 because I really did enjoy the story even if I did want someone to root for!