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zarakoconnor's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Everyone who wants to write about a sex worker needs to take notes on this book. The way she writes a sex worker as a 3D, flawed, interesting person that isn’t a sad victim is so refreshing and funny and believable. Loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit
Moderate: Suicide, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Excrement, and Death
Minor: Sexual content and Animal cruelty
sharonus's review
dark
mysterious
fast-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? No
3.0
Seemed like an outline to a novel that never was. I was quickly drawn in with rich descriptions, but then the writing got really sparse. It was as if the author was tasked with writing a 1200 word essay and realized she was almost at that mark. The end of the book was building to the climax, then plot twist! Then another plot twist! Then a really disappointing kind of boring ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Murder
Minor: Vomit, Blood, Suicide, and Animal cruelty
cosmicpanda's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide, Violence, Emotional abuse, Blood, Vomit, Sexual content, and Murder
Minor: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent
maryy_r0se's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
“I lack formal education. So I'm left with the feeling that I'm smarter than everyone around me but that if I ever got around really smart people—people who went to universities and drank wine and spoke Latin—that they’d be bored as hell by me. It’s a lonely way to go through life.”
For years, she’s been working as a phony medium as a front for her sex work. She doesn’t believe in what she’s doing, but she’s mastered the art of being observant and vague enough to trick clients into believing that her medium skills are real. When a client named Susan offers her money to come cleanse her house of the evil spirits she fears are possessing her stepson, the woman cannot turn down the opportunity. After all, spirits aren’t real…but perhaps evil is.
Gillian Flynn is one of my favorite authors; during my decade long reading slump, her books were some of the only ones to really grab my interest. This was the only book of hers that I had not read, so when I decide to read only horror/thriller books this October, I was excited to finally give it a read.
I was truly impressed by how much this novella accomplished in such a short amount of pages. As with all Gillian Flynn books, the characters are morally complex and the story is twisted enough to keep you guessing until the last page. Because the book is so short, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it tackled issues of social class. I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you’re looking for a short but twisted read.
For years, she’s been working as a phony medium as a front for her sex work. She doesn’t believe in what she’s doing, but she’s mastered the art of being observant and vague enough to trick clients into believing that her medium skills are real. When a client named Susan offers her money to come cleanse her house of the evil spirits she fears are possessing her stepson, the woman cannot turn down the opportunity. After all, spirits aren’t real…but perhaps evil is.
Gillian Flynn is one of my favorite authors; during my decade long reading slump, her books were some of the only ones to really grab my interest. This was the only book of hers that I had not read, so when I decide to read only horror/thriller books this October, I was excited to finally give it a read.
I was truly impressed by how much this novella accomplished in such a short amount of pages. As with all Gillian Flynn books, the characters are morally complex and the story is twisted enough to keep you guessing until the last page. Because the book is so short, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it tackled issues of social class. I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you’re looking for a short but twisted read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Vomit
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Suicide
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Flynn is one of my fave authors and
I’ve officially read all her work now!
A short and creepy horror novella making for a quick read. Interesting characters and great writing; Flynn is an expert at writing disturbing stories that make me uncomfortable. The last 5-10 pages gave me whiplash with all the plot twists!
I don’t always enjoy open endings but in the case of The Grown-Up, it works. And although I did thoroughly enjoy this one short story, I prefer Flynn’s novels (and novels in general) for more developed characters and plot. But for a 67 page story, it’s definitely one of my favorite novellas!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Sexual content
Moderate: Vomit, Murder, Infidelity, Suicide, Animal cruelty, and Blood
malaikawrites's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.0
Spoilers? Kinda? This book is real short so I’ll probably reveal more than I intend to.
Hmm. I really loved this book up until the third act conflict, which is where the whole story sorta just… lost all it’s initial eeriness. The main character was great with her smart, and manipulative, ways of working her way through life. She had an interesting backstory that immediately pulled me in and made me want to read more. I loved watching her navigate through being on the other end of the stick and dealing with being manipulated instead. The picture of intelligence that had been painted around her definitely came into question, but I didn’t find myself too mad about it once we got to see her process that and immediately launch herself into a new strategy.
I loved the kid and his highly intelligent ways of working towards getting what he wants. He crafted and maintained multiple narratives at once, which was very impressive from the readers perspective. Stories with open endings that allow you to believe whichever version you want, or believe nothing at all, have always been interesting to me. This story had multiple versions you could believe that were all kinda twisted and definitely in the moral grey area, but were also equally interesting to consider and explore.
The third act conflict is where things fell apart a bit for me. There was a very noticeable over-explanation that took away from both the shock factor and the atmospheric elements of the story. There’s nothing worse than a character telling the whole story to the protagonist. Having the twists and turns of a story told to you instead of the story being told through hints and actions is always a bit anticlimactic. My interest levels dropped a significant amount after that.
It was a great story, and it had a great ending, but it wasn’t told in the best way. There was some things that could’ve been explained less and some things that should’ve had a lot more explanation. The fathers identity reveal was necessary, but a lot more questions about his whereabouts should’ve been left a mystery. Not everything needed one or more explanations, some things could’ve been left with no explanation at all.
All in all I don’t think this was the most memorable read, but it was an entertaining story. It’s short, it’s very interesting and it ended on a great note.
Hmm. I really loved this book up until the third act conflict, which is where the whole story sorta just… lost all it’s initial eeriness. The main character was great with her smart, and manipulative, ways of working her way through life. She had an interesting backstory that immediately pulled me in and made me want to read more. I loved watching her navigate through being on the other end of the stick and dealing with being manipulated instead. The picture of intelligence that had been painted around her definitely came into question, but I didn’t find myself too mad about it once we got to see her process that and immediately launch herself into a new strategy.
I loved the kid and his highly intelligent ways of working towards getting what he wants. He crafted and maintained multiple narratives at once, which was very impressive from the readers perspective. Stories with open endings that allow you to believe whichever version you want, or believe nothing at all, have always been interesting to me. This story had multiple versions you could believe that were all kinda twisted and definitely in the moral grey area, but were also equally interesting to consider and explore.
The third act conflict is where things fell apart a bit for me. There was a very noticeable over-explanation that took away from both the shock factor and the atmospheric elements of the story. There’s nothing worse than a character telling the whole story to the protagonist. Having the twists and turns of a story told to you instead of the story being told through hints and actions is always a bit anticlimactic. My interest levels dropped a significant amount after that.
It was a great story, and it had a great ending, but it wasn’t told in the best way. There was some things that could’ve been explained less and some things that should’ve had a lot more explanation. The fathers identity reveal was necessary, but a lot more questions about his whereabouts should’ve been left a mystery. Not everything needed one or more explanations, some things could’ve been left with no explanation at all.
All in all I don’t think this was the most memorable read, but it was an entertaining story. It’s short, it’s very interesting and it ended on a great note.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Vomit
Moderate: Infidelity and Suicide
Minor: Violence and Murder
fbzcab's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, and Vomit
daralexandria's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Suicide
Minor: Gun violence
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