Book Review: Dark Places ByGillian Flynn

“I was not a lovable child, and I'd grown into a deeply unlovable adult. Draw a picture of my soul, and it'd be a scribble with fangs.” 

-Gillian Flynn, Dark Places

Plot (without giving anything away): 

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice" of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.

What I thought: 

Wow! This book was a beautiful, interesting, and an intense piece of work. Definitely a page turner. I am not one for dark books but one of the members from my book club decided on it and it blew me away. The pace of the book is very realistic. Apparently Flynn did much research before writing the book and it shows in an often detailed and heart wrenching way. Sometimes the story felt so real that you forgot about reality and you were submerged in the characters lives. Libby Day, the main character is a phenomenal character, she is broken, imperfect and dark but funny and hopeful at the same time. Flynn has a talent for dragging you on in this story. 

The story bounces back and forth between Libby's present-day, first-person narrative (as she attempts to piece together what really happened the night of her family's murders) and alternately Patty and Ben in the mere hours and minutes leading up to the murders.  I loved the fact that you never really know what is going to happen. One second you are convinced you know who the murder is but the next you are in doubt. This book is AMAZING...very dark but one of my favorites I have read in a long time. 

Highly recommend. I can't wait to read Sharp Objects. 

Next up on the list: 

My Story by Elizabeth Smart