nadiaxm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Self harm, Body horror, Violence, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Rape
crpettit's review against another edition
Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Torture, Incest, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Homophobia, Infertility, Kidnapping, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, and Sexual content
andatherrin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Murder, Self harm, Medical trauma, Child death, and Bullying
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, and Kidnapping
princessgonchar's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I'll start with painfully unsurprising. Granted, this was published in 2006, but this idea of
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crazy mother who wants to take care of her kids so she makes them sickSpoiler
Amma was a bitch the whole time and it was obvious that Adora couldn't poison the kids who weren't hersThe problem is that there was some surprise, but it came in the form of total nonsense. Like why in the world would
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Camille sleep with John????Also, I unequivocally hated every single character in this book. I want to make it clear that I didn't not like this book/its characters because it/they felt overly dark or it/they wasn't feminist enough. I mean the book is about child murder, it's going to be dark (and tbh nothing bothered me too much except for the
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incessant eyelash picking, but I have a weird thing about eyes, soThat being said: Camille wasn't endearing or even remotely sympathetic, there was literally no reason why she should have gone back to Missouri or why she stayed. I don't think the journalism thing was convincing enough. Richard sucked, her family sucked harder, and there was literally not a single character that made me go "well, at least they're in this scene." It was a constant battle of the characters to see who ended up my least favorite. And I hate to say it, but it might have been Camille.
I gave it two stars instead of one because I do genuinely think Gillian Flynn is good at writing. The voice in the novel was really good, and I liked a lot of the descriptions (even if it slowed things down a bit). Also, the reveal at the end with the
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teeth in the dollhouse was really well done, even if Amma was clearly the murderer the whole timeThis was such a disappointment for me.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Minor: Rape