Dark Places

Reaches.

Very dark. A great story pulled me in instantly.

I read this book because I loved Gone Girl so much, and I went into this thinking that I probably wouldn't like it as much as Gone Girl. I was right.

To clarify my rating, I'd probably give this book 3.5 stars, but that wasn't an option, but I felt like I couldn't give it four, so I rounded down.

The writing was tight and good and intense, and that is what I love about Gillian Flynn. She still has all that here, and she definitely does a good job with dialing up the drama and suspense and she kept me reading till the last page. I also really enjoyed the format of the book, with every other chapter jumping from present day to the past on the day that the murders were actually committed. It was clever and kept me from knowing more, yet making me want more.

I had a lot of issues with two things. First was the characters. I hated everyone at least a little bit, and no one was really likable until Libby towards the end. I understood why (Libby most likely suffered from depression/PTSD and never really allowed herself to heal, hence making her mental issues worse and Ben was poor and angry at the world even though he was literally the worst character for me because I hated him and Diondra), and she probably didn't want any character to really be sympathetic, but for me, if I can't at least connect with a character in some way (even if I don't like them, I have to be able to get them and not want to slap them really hard every time they made a decision), I just can't get into the story as well. The mystery was just good enough for me to keep going, basically.

The second was the murderer. The entire thing literally just came out of left field. There'd been no mention of the murderer before he/she (to keep the mystery!) was revealed, and I really don't like feeling like all the ~mystery solving that the readers do throughout the book was pointless. It was creative, sure, but not rewarding for the reader. (Also it seemed really weird and unrealistic, but whatever, I guess.)

Overall, I'd probably give this book a solid ~eh. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible. It just was.

Bought this and totally forgot I've already read it sooo that sums it up! Was interesting, but nothing that's memorable

This is an interesting take on a murder mystery and has complex characters. I appreciated how much I was conflicted with many of the characters. It kept me guessing and the ending had a twist and i love that.