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My Thoughts: No Spoilers
Rating: 4-5 Stars
Okay, so, this is the first Gillian Flynn novel I have ever had the privilege of reading, and I must say I was not disappointed. This was a very taut, fast paced, psychological thriller that kept me guessing until the very end. I've read some reviews where readers have found the characters in the novel unlikable or they couldn't really connect to them some what.
That was not the case for me. I connected with each character from the very beginning. Libby, the main protagonist throughout the novel is a very traumatized young woman. Her defenses against everyone and everything is to shut down, and ignore them after the hell she's been through. I related to Libby from the very first page. Her whit and dark sense of humor reminded me a lot of myself which made me connect with her even more, and made me want to learn her story.
If you're looking for an amazing light easy read, this is your go to book. Gillian Flynn surprised me countless times throughout the book. Her writing is flawless and she adds a sense of mystery and suspense with each chapter. I HIGHLY recommend this book!
My Thoughts: Spoilers Included
This book gutted me, and left me with a serious book hangover. After finding out what really happened of the night of January 3, 1985 I felt so angry, heartbroken, and sad for the Day family. They seemed like such a normal family, I mean they had their fair share of problems, but what family doesn't? The Day's had little money, they lived a seemingly poor life. No new clothes, hardly any food in their home. I have so many feelings for each character in this novel that I would like to take a minute and talk about each one.
Patty, was a mother to four children, Libby, Ben, Debby, Michelle, struggling to make ends meet on her broken down families farm. She had no money, no husband, well she had an ex husband Runner, but he was a drug addict and lowlife that I wanted to punch in the face several times. Her farm was being ceased, and her son was in serious trouble, for supposedly molesting a middle school girl named, Krissy. She was frazzled, and frantic during most of her chapters in the book, trying to find Ben before the police did and try and figure out how to come up with the money to save her home and provide for her family. I really felt for this woman, she had a lot on her plate and honestly didn't know how to handle half the situations life put her in I think. She was desperate for money, and wanted to save her children from living a horrible life, so she hired someone to kill her so her kids would receive her life insurance policy. Only, things didn't go according to plan on that night, and her daughter Debby ended up waking in the middle of the night to find her mother stabbed in the kitchen, forcing the man that was hired to kill Debby too, because she saw his face.
Libby, was the youngest of the Day clan and the main protagonist throughout the novel. When she was seven she "saw" her brother Ben murder her entire family on January 3, 1985, except she didn't see anything, she heard it, but still the police coerced her into testifying that her fifteen year old brother Ben had committed the crimes, ultimately putting him in jail. Twenty or twenty five years later Libby is an emotional wreck, unable to properly function because of the events of that night. She hides in her home and does as little as possible just barely making it by, much like her mother. She's running out of money, the money she got from donors and book profits after the murders is now gone. A guy named Lyle offers her money to look into what really happened to her family on that night, and so she does. I loved Libby, honestly, I did. Her sarcasm and dark sense of humor made me connect with her because I'm the same way.
Ben, was the oldest sibling, and the main suspect in his families murder. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for crimes he didn't commit. Ben was an odd kid, a loner, a freak. He had dark thoughts, but never acted on any of them until his girlfriend Diondra and her friend Trey made him murder a cow as a sacrifice to Satan. He let himself become so closed off from the world that when put in situations he didn't know how to respond, which pissed me off. He was your typical teenaged boy, he defied his mom, wanted sex, and did drugs. He was very influenced by the people around him, always giving in to peer pressure. He needed some damn will power, something!
He stood by and watched his girlfriend Diondra kill his little sister Michelle, strangle her because she knew about him getting Diondra pregnant. He did nothing, he didn't stop her, and for that I hated him by the end of the book. He was a follower and did whatever Diondra told him too, and she loved it. I wanted to feel for Ben, and I did, until i found out he let his pregnant cranked up crazy girlfriend murder his little sister. Sure, Michelle was a little blackmailer and a nosy kid, but did she deserve to be killed, no!
Ben heard his mother being shot, and his sister being hacked to pieces, but did nothing. By the end of the novel, all the sympathy I had for him vanished and turned to hatred. He may not have killed his family, but he didn't try and stop it either. He was a coward, and yeah I know he was just kid, but still. It was obvious by the end of the book, he did feel guilty for never being able to stand up to anyone and letting it happen, it was why he protected Diondra and went to jail for a crime he didn't commit.
The police in this novel were a freaking joke. All the evidence gathered from the murder scene was pushed aside or looked over. The signs were there that Ben hadn't killed everyone. Someone else was involved. But, everyone involved/working on the case wanted to make a name for themselves and brushed him over and the evidence.
This book was twisted, but in the best possible way.
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Dark Places: A Novel
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Reviews with images
Highly recommend this book!
It has been 25 years since the “Kinnakee Massacre” where 15 year old Ben Day murdered his family. Fortunately, although unfortunately for her, the youngest sister, Libby Day, who was only 7 at the time, survives, with only the loss of a few fingers and toes and a lifetime of mental instability.When Libby runs out of money and becomes desperate to survive without actually earning the money through the means of a real job, she begins considering the offer put forth by a mysterious identity who is a part of a secret “Kill Club” that focuses on notorious crimes, and begins her journey to answers.With doubts of the reality of the events that actually occurred on that freezing Kansas night, Libby is forced to open her eyes to the possibility that the brother she has despised over the past two and a half decades may not actually be the killer of her beloved mother and two sisters.Between the flashbacks to how life was before the murders and Libby’s life now, it’s easy to begin wondering if everything that you personally remember from your childhood is actually fact or fiction. —- Throughout the novel I found myself questioning Bens innocence and trying to piece together what happened that night along with Libby. I at times found myself on the edge of my seat wondering what’s going to happen next and wondering who the killer truly was, or if it really was Ben all along. In a similar twisted fashion as Flynn’s book Sharp Objects, I anticipated a crazy twist. Whilst this book lacked in the “super sick” twist department, it still had a lot of unpredictability to offer its readers.I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone looking for a fast paced psychological thriller.
