midikitty's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Spoiler
but Amy managed to be a level above the rest in both her pretentiousness and delusion! There’s also her sociopathy, narcissistic personality, and manipulation, which even if I hadn’t seen the movie beforehand, the faked journal entries were obviously off from the beginning. Nick presents himself as an average midwestern (yet unreliable) guy who makes dick jokes and drinks pints of PBR…not even close to the sort of person who would give a crap about monogrammed embossed stationery.He may have checked out of their marriage on top of overall selfishness, cheating, etc. but NONE of that warranted the response Amy had. I did really appreciate that it was a prolonged pattern of behavior of hers too, that made it much more realistic.
Still an entertaining story, definitely infuriating at times. I’ll be checking out Sharp Objects next, i’ve liked this author’s books so far.
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Stalking, Rape, Infidelity, and Murder
hannahmg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
1/2 writing/structure/character creation
1/2 enjoyment
I would not recommend this book.
Overall I did not enjoy this book, the first 250 page were not needed and were poorly written, the last 50 pages were as bad as the first part of the book. I only enjoyed a small snippet of the book. The length of this triller is way to long and unnecessary. I felt like I was reading a first draft of a idea.
The writing was partly smart with good ideas but poorly done, the journal extracts giving us a unreliable pov which was smart, reminded me of Dracula, but this was done in a manner which made it worthless, more dialogue than actually description, this was so unrealistic it was unnecessary to make it seem like a dairy. Nicks pov was closer to a dairy than Amy's own dairy entries. The repetition was unbearable, -yes Nick we get it you have a mistress and she is young, very young, and pretty.
The character creation was immense and well though through, Amy and Nick are both so realistic but fucked up at the same time. This is one of the major reasons it is a two and not a one star review.
I thought there was a lot of unnecessary added details, the level of Misogyny and sexism was not needed and weakly touched on at the end. Specifically the character of Nick's father who has Dementia and becomes extremely misogynistic, with the use of the slur "bitch" in both his speech and Nicks thoughts. Why add this, I just think the book would of been fine without it and it didn't feel like a representation of any sorts but more a tick for the check list and even excusing the behaviour.
I was very disappointed in the trigger warning list i found (Storygraph). Yes it is a thriller, we should expect triggering things but at the end of the day the book should have a page of trigger warnings.
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Self harm, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Cursing, Cancer, Vomit, Violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Terminal illness, Infertility, Grief, Rape, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Torture, Misogyny, Miscarriage, and Lesbophobia
agirlthatreadsbooksforfun's review against another edition
4.25
“We weren’t ourselves when we fell in love, and when we became ourselves – surprise! – we were poison. We complete each other in the nastiest, ugliest possible way.”
I love mind games, and psychological thrillers seem to have them. I didn't like the first half as much as I thought I would, but when the second half hit, it hit hard. Even though I guessed the big twist, it's what that twist did for the story that made it so captivating. I didn't like the writing style at certain points of this book, it felt a bit too graphic with the cursing and gore (for my taste, that is). It made me uncomfortable, which I guess, is the point. However, overall, this book is chaotically unhinged, disturbingly dark and deceptively brilliant.
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Cursing, and Suicidal thoughts
izachime's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Dementia, Rape, Self harm, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
karahreads'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? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Murder
Minor: Self harm, Sexual assault, and Violence
mamalzie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Minor: Sexual assault, Vomit, Stalking, Suicide, Violence, and Toxic relationship
zdhunt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Suicide, Self harm, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence
fionamatilda'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Gaslighting, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Blood
Minor: Vomit and Miscarriage
janewa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Cancer, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Self harm, Violence, and Rape
Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, Kidnapping, Medical content, Terminal illness, Sexism, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Stalking
Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
xkrille's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Gillian Flynn wrote a masterpiece. I loved this book.
I had already watched the movie before reading the book, so I already knew the twist and the ending. This did not worsen the reading experience.
Nick and Amy were two great main characters.
Spoiler
Nick is extremely unlikeable, pathetic, misogynistic, selfish - just awful, but at the same time, when the murder investigation suddenly has him as the prime suspect, you cannot help but “kind of” root for him. Not much, he is really difficult to like, which is 100% on purpose. He lies and lies and lies. He is just so awful, at times, I almost think he deserves it. Of course, getting framed for murder is an extreme punishment for his infidelity and unlikeable self.Then there is Amy, who through her diary entries paint a beautiful picture of herself. But when the twist is revealed, everything changes. She is absolutely crazy.
Their dual POV works incredibly well. Two characters that are extremely unlikeable, and I couldn’t help but root for both, in some way. Not literally. If this was real life, I would root against both, but as a book, it worked so well.
The ending left me with a tummyache. What a horrible ending, but so fitting. It really could not end any other way. Amy always has a back-up plan. She is always two steps ahead.
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Blood, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage and Vomit