Friday, December 19, 2014

Dark Places

Book: Dark Places
Author: Gillian Flynn

Libby Day was just seven years old when her evidence put her fifteen-year-old brother behind bars.

Since then, she had been drifting. But when she is contacted by a group who are convinced of Ben's innocence, Libby starts to ask questions she never dared to before. Was the voice she heard her brother's? Ben was a misfit in their small town, but was he capable of murder? Are there secrets to uncover at the family farm or is Libby deluding herself because she wants her brother back?

She begins to realise that everyone in her family had something to hide that day... especially Ben. Now, twenty-four years later, the truth is going to be even harder to find.

Who did massacre the Day family?-Goodreads



Review: I finished this book several weeks ago and my first instinct when finishing it was mild disappointment. I liked it but I was left wanting "more." Believe me, Flynn knows how to write disturbing characters and the multiple narratives (Libby in present day, her mother and brother the day of the murder) kept me reading non-stop but I felt a lot of the book was predictable. However, after thinking about it...and thinking about it...I realized this was better than I originally thought. Libby is perfection as an emotionally stunted adult after experiencing a horrible childhood trauma. She's a train wreck and it's hard to look away. I really felt sorry for her mother and the circumstances she was in and her brother's sections make me frightened about ever having teenagers. 

Overall, disturbing and well crafted. 

Grade: 4/5

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