teddyhd's reviews
189 reviews

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Slaughter speaks the unspeakable. I'm torn: on one hand, maybe it's brave and necessary to acknowledge the parts of humanity that are most evil. Maybe it's important to remind ourselves how easy it is to fall into traps set by the most despicable among us. On the other hand, this is fiction, and fiction doesn't need this. The strongest parts of this story -- the family dynamics, examination of love and loss etc -- would have been just as strong without the absolutely sickening gore. Evil can be written subtly and hit just as hard, if not harder, than this. Look at Toni Morrison, who I think gives voices to the voiceless in fiction while also managing not to turn their pain into a spectacle. That's not to say that every author who wants to write difficult fiction should write like Morrison, or even be subtle about it, but this book made me wonder if, ethically, we as writers have a responsibility to be tactful when creating and sharing pain.

I don't think any of the above takes away from Slaughter's obvious skill. I just can't rate a book like this with a number system.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced