I was sent this book for the Birchbox Book Club. All opinions are mine alone.
Okay, it’s official. With finishing Sharp Objects last week, I can officially say I love every single Gillian Flynn book.
That being said, I couldn’t help but think “this was definitely her first book…” the entire time I was reading Sharp Objects. It was a thrilling read, but it doesn’t feel as polished as her first two. The character development in Gone Girl and Dark Places were much better. I was left wanting to know more about Camille, Richard, Amma, Alan…
Even so, this book was (of course) a page turner. I’m not the fastest reader in the world, but even I read over half of it in one night.
So, story line … Camille is our main character. She’s a reporter in Chicago and she’s being sent to her home town in Missouri to cover some strange homicides. Two young girls in the town have been killed, a few months apart from each other. Local police are baffled, and they’ve called in a special investigator.
True to small-town fashion, outsiders are none too welcome, and the cases have been pretty hush-hush. Camille is nervous about going home, because her relationship with her mother is strained (to put it lightly) since her younger sister Marian died. She is not greeted warmly by her mother, stepfather, and 13-year-old half sister. She expected this, so she focuses on the job at hand (reporting the murders).
Although Camille’s there strictly for reporting, she slowly becomes more involved in the cases. She strikes a deal with the special investigator Richard, but he refuses to give her any concrete details on the investigation. Her relationship with her mother is slowly imploding, her stepfather wants her out of the house, and her teenage sister is a hellion-middle-school bully who seems bipolar.
Camille really should go back home to Chicago, but she needs to get to the bottom of the murders, her sister Marian’s death, and her mother’s strange behavior. While everything should be pointing Camille back to Chicago, she stays strong to the very end.
Although the subject matter is disturbing, I thoroughly enjoyed this (that’s probably obvious). Half the fun of murder/mysteries is guessing whodunnit. About 1/3 of the way, I had figured it out. To anyone whose read this, did you guess the ending?
Rebecca has been writing about style, beauty, and lifestyle topics since 2011. Thank you so much for reading this post! Feel free to leave any questions or comments below. I love hearing from you!
