Sharp Objects: A Novel by Gillian Flynn Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Sharp Objects: A Novel
Book Review: Engrossing Read!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
This book would be an engrossing read from an author of stature so I was amazed to discover that it was a first effort for Ms. Flynn. It definitely had three ingredients that make for a surefire good read - a page-turner, quality prose, and psychological suspense.
In short the plot is about a young woman named Camille, who works for a non-major newspaper, who goes back to her hometown to investigate the murder of two children. She does this reluctantly because of her distant and dysfunctional relationship with her mother and step-father. She has a dead sibling who was lost during her youth, and a half-sister she hardly knows. The book interweaves her relationship with her family and effort to find the murderer.
What I loved most is that Ms. Flynn came up with some modern, intriguing, and less "worn out" ideas for her story. For example, Camille is a cutter who actually cuts words all over her body. We slowly learn that her mother has Munchausen by Proxy, a disease which is accurately depicted and explained. Unlike many novels, the potential love object for Camille doesn't end up falling for her because he is bothered once he sees her body. Most importantly, the killer of the children is unexpected and not revealed until the very end!
Book Review: Entertaining Enough, Easy Read
Summary: 3 Stars
I wasn't all that impressed with this book. It was well written, entertaining somewhat. When I first received the book in the mail, I was surprised at how slim the book was. I thought, well it'll be a quick to-the-point kind of book. I was wrong. It went on and on about trivial issues between characters that had nothing to do with the plot.
The abusive relationship between the mother and daughter reminded me a lot of the relationship my mother had with her mother. My grandmother was an alcoholic and a smoker, and it just made her a mean person. Closed off, and cold.
I don't understand why so much focus was given to teenage sexual exploits and bitter judgmental old women. I just don't get it.
Missouri, second to Indiana, being the most addicted state, and very territorial and unwelcoming to foreigners is all true. I've been a KC resident for six years and still feel like I'm trying to win their trust.
Book Review: Entertaining but not nearly as shocking as I expected
Summary: 4 Stars
I don't have to find all my book characters likeable though I did like the main character of this story. I also enjoyed the portrait of a small home town's dark side which I personally didn't find to be too much of a stretch. However, most of the other characters were too "flat" for lack of a better word. I believe that I read somewhere that the author found inspiration in fairytales but while these types of characters work in a fairytale they just seemed not quite right in the book. Not that I wanted them to be less evil; I completely enjoyed that aspect. My major problem with this book was that I figured out the plot (including what happened to the teeth) very early on. More focus on other possible suspects would have increased the suspense. I also didn't feel that creepy forboding nail biting suspense that makes this type of book so fun. I never really felt like the main character was in danger. I'm not sure if this was in part due to the fact that the main character didn't seem to care what happened to herself very much, or simply because the author didn't put her in harm's way enough while creating the feeling that something unknown but horrible was about to happen. I did enjoy and was startled at how the "romance" of the story turned out. It was, in my opinion, a welcome change from most mystery books with a romance. Even though the book had some flaws it felt fresh compared to a lot of other mystery/suspense books so I will likely read anything more Flynn publishes. However, I do feel that the amount of praise for this book is a bit excessive.Book Review: Enthralling read
Summary: 5 Stars
Gillian Flynn is a tremendous writer. Her writing is interesting, clean, and captures the audience well with such articulated imagery. She has a style that is dark, comic, and suspenseful. Her character development is true--you feel like you know them.
In Sharp Objects, the reader is introduced to Camille Preaker, a thirty something journalist from a second rate Chicago newspaper. Plucked from the drudgery of her day to day existence, her editor tells her to go home and investigate the murder and disappearance of two girls. Not such an easy task, as Flynn develops two simultaneous stories: a family life that looks perfect, but is anything but: Camille is a cutter (but not an ordinary cutter), her sister Marion died young and this is something no one in the family has dealt with properly, and her mother is the perfection in public, but in private you can sense her hatred. This family drama slowly creeps into the story as Camille does return to small town Missouri. Ingratiating herself back as a townie to gain confidence and access to the confused/devastated small town, Camille experiences more than her family and job demands: she develops a crush on a detective. All this as we follow Camille get deeper into the case, and in to her mother's home: it is a suspenseful novel that will keep you guessing.
I personally found the intersecting stories developed the narrative. I also found her discussion of mother-daughter relationships to be stark and developed. She goes into familiar territory, but describes it like nothing I have read before. There was an immense possibility for this novel to be a string of clichés, but Flynn is so fresh and dynamic. She allows you to see a killer in everyone, and then wallop you with more shocking revelations. This book will deliver! Highly recommended. Also check out her sophomore triumph: Dark Places: A Novel, a different story, but with all the suspense and twists of Sharp Objects.
Book Review: Excellent Read
Summary: 5 Stars
I like the style of this writer and the matter-of-fact way that she unravels a mesmerizing story. This isn't a long book, which is probably good because nothing else will get done until you finish it.