Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

18 reviews

sarahmaxwell's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I really liked it, I think I was just expecting…. more. Sharp Objects worked so well for me in a way that this book just couldn’t. But Gillian Flynn’s prose and her ability to keep you enraptured will always be impressive to me. In this novel, she can keep you hooked until you actually begin to uncover the truth, and it all sort of… falls apart. The ending is what we are all searching for, the climax, the answers to all of our questions. But she doesn’t give us a chance to absorb it, let it linger, or consider all of the consequences of this deep string of lies.

It’s immediately resolved—Ben is freed, and Aunt Diane forgives her.

I want to soak in the moment we are able to piece everything together. I want to feel the moment deeply, but we aren’t given the chance.

But while the ending may have felt rushed, the journey there was anything but. Every little clue means something, and every page points to something deeper. Flynn gives us the information little by little; she doles it out in tiny doses, dangling the answers in front of us like a seasoned expert. She knows where to push, and where to pull back. I find myself impressed by this at the end of every chapter, and I think I’ll keep this awe throughout the rest of her novels.

I may need to sit with this novel a bit longer. I don’t know how much i skimmed over or haven’t absorbed fully, but I trust that there’s more to this novel than its initial read-through.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Alcoholism, Body horror, Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Child death, Blood, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Addiction, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Classism, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Misogyny, Drug abuse, and Bullying

ria_mar's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Alcoholism, Addiction, Blood, and Death of parent

chris_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Blood, Animal cruelty, Classism, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, and Vomit

Minor: Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Fire/Fire injury

teddylouise00's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

HOLY FUCK. I just stayed up till 4am reading the last 100 pages, I couldn’t stop. Took me a little while to really get it going but when it goes it fucking FLIES. Devastating and heartbreaking

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Blood, Child death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Violence, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Murder, Animal death, Gore, Death, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Classism, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Vomit, and Alcohol

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

---

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

uniquelymace's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Gaslighting, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

illgiveyouahint's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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

3.5

First finished vacation read!
I wil lsay I'm not much of a crime thriller reader. It's not really my thing.
However the first 3/4 of the book were great. I enjoyed the switching between now and then. I thought the three narrators had all distinct voices. Ben was so beautifully stupid and teenagery. I occasionally found it funny even.
But I gotta be honest the ending really disappointed me. After all this build up I expected a bit more. It felt like the resolution/reveal came out of nowhere and it was all tied up with a bow all too neatly in my honest opinion. Like it was such a let down after such a build up.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Alcohol, Body shaming, Death, Gore, Blood, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Grief, Violence, Vomit, Bullying, and Child abuse

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Homophobia, Cancer, Incest, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Ableism, Abortion, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide

melmertsis's review

dark sad fast-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, Animal cruelty, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury

brandie_abbie19's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gun violence, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, Violence, Abandonment, Child death, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cancer and Colonisation

kat_rowlen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

This book is short to begin with but could have been at least 150 pages shorter. Nothing happened for the first 95% of the book (I track my pages so that’s accurate) the ending was twisty and surprising, but wasn’t really worth enduring the first half of the book. I was comparing this book to Sharp Objects and it doesn’t hold a candle to it! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Rape, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Torture, Pregnancy, Blood, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Incest, Child death, and Drug use