Published July 2007 by Crown Publishing Group
Source: I bought this one years ago after reading rave reviews from other bloggers
Publisher's Summary:
Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.
My Thoughts:
I don't know what horrible thing happened to Gillian Flynn in her lifetime but it must have been some really bad sh*(. She has one dark and twisted mind. Also, I'm left to wonder, after reading two of Flynn's books, what kind of people she has spent her life around. As in Gone Girl, Sharp Objects is filled with very, very unlikeable characters and people who have had very, very terrible lives.
To say that Camille is dogged by her own demons is a major understatement. She wears her demons over her entire body - as you might have wised up to by the cover art (although I, for some reason did not), Camille is a cutter. Raised by a mother who never loved her, a step-father who had little to do with her, and living in the very large shadow of the ghost of her dead sister, Camille has done some things in her life that make this a book not for the prudish or faint of heart.
Returning home to cover the story of a second dead girl in her home town, Camille unleashes not only her demons but her deepest insecurities and need for love and acceptance. When you know what's happened to to Camille, you be tempted to feel sorry for her. And you should; her mother is a horrible person and her sister is one nasty piece of work. But people make choices in the way they deal with the hand they are dealt and Camille has made some choices that are hard to get past. There is not, in fact, one person in Sharp Objects readers can thoroughly embrace. It's what makes Flynn Flynn. It's what makes her books hard to read and hard to put down.
I started reading this one but had a bunch of things going at the time and never had time to really get into it. I've been unsure if I want to go back to it and now I think I'm even more unsure though I do want to find out more! Flynn is definitely dark and twisted! I didn't think another book could be as full of unlikable characters as Gone Girl but it sounds like this one is!
ReplyDeleteI agree. Flynn is twisted but it makes for books that you can't put down.
ReplyDeleteGillian Flynn freaks me out, and I think she thrives on sensationalism.
ReplyDeleteHaha! My boss said the same thing about the author after finishing Sharp Objects and Gone Girl. I haven't yet read this one, but it's on my list to read before the movie comes out.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this one too, but Dark Places is my favorite Flynn novel. Each of her books is so different, but I've thoroughly enjoyed each one!
ReplyDeleteI don't know what it says about me, but your commenting that this author has a dark and twisted mind really piques my interest in this book. :-) Also I really liked Gone Girl.
ReplyDeleteYup, I just don't think I can do it. Gone Girl was icky enough (though you're right--tough to put down) but I've heard that this one is even more dysfunctional. On a happier note, can't wait to see what you think of Goodnight June!
ReplyDeleteLisa, I read this and thought it was okay, but I wasn't as wowed as some readers.
ReplyDeleteI definitely need to read this. Great review!
ReplyDeleteAre you looking forward to the Gone Girl movie? I am. I'm excited to see what they do with it.