Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

124 reviews

tjmitrovic's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Cursing, Animal death, Gun violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Violence, Blood, Drug use, Gore, and Vomit

shannonleestrouse's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Death, Animal cruelty, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

crocodilerocklobster's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Death, Violence, Gore, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Cursing, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Drug use, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Racism, Sexual content, Abortion, and Miscarriage

halaurll's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

3.75

Rereading after having learned more about the Satanic Panic. Gillian Flynn knows how to keep you turning pages to find every twist. However, the end of the book piles too many rapidly-revealed twists on top of each other. The alternating POV and time period structure, which is typically interesting, is more of an annoyance at the climax.
Also, I would have liked to hear more about Libby's Satanic Panic zealous child therapist.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Child death and Violence

celina246's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

2.5

This book was intense. It felt a bit like the shock value outweighed the actual plot, so that the mystery was just background to the gore, violence and tragedy. I can’t see myself wanting to read this again. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Gore, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Classism, Pregnancy, and Grief

punkrockingnerd's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

There are def some sections crossed out because of trigger stuff, but DAGNABBIT, Ms. Flynn is SUCH a good writer

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Emotional abuse, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Stalking, Trafficking, Abandonment, Car accident, and Incest

kelseywish's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• 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

2.5

This book was captivating but extremely dark. So much detail in the lead up and had the reader guessing. Still wouldn't recommend. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Animal cruelty, Gore, Child abuse, and Drug abuse

brandie_abbie19's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gun violence, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, Violence, Abandonment, Child death, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cancer and Colonisation

runefactories's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense

• 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying and Pedophilia

Minor: Misogyny

kingcrookback's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This is my second Gillian Flynn after Sharp Objects, and while I rank Dark Places below Sharp Objects, I did enjoy this. It's well-paced and Flynn maintains the tension and intrigue throughout. I wasn't entirely surprised by the ending, largely because the hints were seeded throughout the story well enough that the reveal felt like it fell into place in a way that made sense - which is honestly more satisfying than twist ending geared toward pure shock. I think this might make for a decent reread for that reason. I also enjoyed the exploration of the unglamorous, more unsavory aspects of grief and trauma - Libby's anger, the sluggishness of her depression, her desire to isolate. Like Sharp Objects, this is great source material for a miniseries, in the right hands and with a good cast; shame the 2015 adaptation wasn't well-received.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Gore, Child death, Death of parent, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Vomit, Pedophilia, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail