Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

71 reviews

reading_srsly's review

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

* Multi-timeline

* Dark mystery

* Everybody sucks here

Libby Day was only seven when her family was brutally murdered. As the only blameless survivor, she’s thrust into the spotlight as empathetic donors throw money at her in exchange for sharing her story. She’s able to live lavishly, until the donations stop rolling in and she’s forced to take more drastic measures to maintain her job-free lifestyle. Even if it means taking a harder look at what happened twenty-five years ago, and the role she might have unwittingly played in it. 

Originally, I picked up this book for the premise. With social media detectives on the rise, a more modern story on the topic easily rose to the top of my TBR. But there was something about the writing style that made it difficult for me to get into the story at first. The plot itself wasn’t bad, and the unique narrative device of reliving the past from the points of view of the other members of Libby’s family was a refreshing change from the typical mystery narrative. However, there were less clues to ‘solve along’ with Libby as the reader gets concrete insights into the past that are absent from the modern day interrogations.

While the characters felt real in the gritty way that you want to believe and uplift someone who’s been struggling, they were all so unfailingly twisted or self-destructive that after a while it almost felt like a caricature of a town. Nearly every character was unlikeable, with a thin sheen of patheticness and rare moments of humanity to keep the reader from giving up on them entirely. 

Objectively, this was a good dark thriller - the average person who wants to face down the harsh realities of the world and read through gratuitous descriptions of the worst aspects of humanity will love this book. But subjectively, I think it went way over the top in a lot of places, and while I can appreciate that the author accomplished her goal in writing an incredibly dark and twisted mystery, I definitely wish the repulsiveness of the world had come across better in the official description.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Drug use, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy

jo_in_bookland's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

A dark and bleak slow-burn thriller with many unlikeable characters.
The author really set the mood well with her vivid descriptions of the characters and the settings in Missouri and Kansas.
At times though, I found that there were too many unnecessary details.
I partially read, partially listened to this book (the four narrators did a great job).
Although I liked this book, it's my least favourite by the author (the only one I haven't read is The Grownup), with my favourite being Sharp Objects.
This is quite a dark, depressing and grizzly story so you might want to check TW.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Cursing, Gore, Animal death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

allisonnd's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Slow start but good ramp up. Really dark 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Bullying, Alcoholism, Addiction, Suicide, Pedophilia, Child death, Blood, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Child abuse, Violence, Gore, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Murder, Vomit, Sexual content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Death, and Cursing

mirandahems's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

gets pretty dark there at the end 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Blood, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Alcoholism

aplambeck's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Death, and Sexual content

Minor: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

sydfitz24's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Child death, Sexual violence, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Racism, Alcohol, Animal death, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

fkshg8465's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I expect more of Gillian Flynn. This book was terrible - terrible story that was terribly told.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Abandonment

zosia3's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Drug abuse, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Alcoholism

samdalefox's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

I'm not a big fan of the thriller murder mystery genre, but I adored 'Gone Girl' and 'Sharp Objects' also by Flynn, so I thought I'd give this one a go. Dark Places is certainly dark. It opens dark, stays dark, and arguably ends dark. The book started off strong and I was really invested, however as soon as the first 'twist' was revelaed

the introduction of Diondra as Ben's girlfriend

it quickly became predictable. I had guessed the truth of the murders by about a third of the way in. Overall, Dark Places is not enjoyable or as clever as her other works. I don't usually enjoy the changing point of view and flip-flopping timeline, however the format did make sense for this plot.  I thought Libby was well characterised, though she was the only one. The ending really let everything down. It was anticlimatic and dare I say too 'neat'; throughout the book all the little 'inconsistencies' between each character's POV were neatly explained by another's. I've included another review that I strongly agree with below:

rockinmama2ax's review:

"Unlike some suspense thrillers, I never experienced that on-the-edge-of-my-seat moment with this story. But I don't necessarily think that distracts from the novel's effectiveness. The way details about a triple homicide are shared - from various perspectives the day of and then twenty-four years later - made for a slow yet effective reveal of the sad truth.

And that brings me to my overall assessment: this was a sad story of a dirt-poor family whose circumstances seemed forever stacked against them. What might be glimmers of hope in otherwise perpetually cloudy skies proved illusions, and the reader is left with an unsatisfactory catharsis: a resolution is presented and case solved, but the sadness, the unhappiness, and the sense of hopelessness lingers, whether purposefully or not.

While I wasn't always forced into the next chapter in search of immediate answers, I was interested in discovering the truth, which means I was invested in the characters and the outcome. I only wish I'd been able to experience an intense emotional response - tears, anger, joy - rather than being reminded that happiness and fulfillment elude some forever."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Grief, Blood, Murder, Death of parent, Child death, and Sexual content

Minor: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Drug abuse, and Mental illness

miggyfool's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Fatphobia, Ableism, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury