I think I’m starting to get the Gillian Flynn hype.
I felt like the odd reader out when I finished Sharp Objects recently and wasn’t a fan of it. I was so happy that I was able to enjoy Dark Places much more, and while I don’t think it stood out a crazy amount in the mystery genre, it was a pretty dang good thriller.
The mystery was much stronger than the one in Sharp Objects. The unique plot following a woman whose family was slaughtered when she was a child was completely intriguing. Libby was a fascinating character who was carrying the weight of her mother and two sisters’ murders around her whole life.
Her relationship with her brother, Ben, who was convicted of killing his family, was as tense as a deadly snake about to strike. Libby isn’t entirely sure whether or not to believe the rumors about Ben getting caught up in Devil worship when he was younger, or if her brother’s claims that he’s innocent are true.
There were deep explorations of human psychology in the characters. At first Ben is labeled a murderer, but then we get to see his side of things as Flynn delves into his mind and we see what was happening around him as a teenager and how those things might have pushed him to his breaking point. . . .
I really liked how the chapters switched from the past to present. It added even more suspense and kept me on the edge of my seat. There was Libby’s narrative in the current day, then it jumped back to her mother and Ben relating the events that let up to that bloody night in the farmhouse all those years ago.
There was a constant eerie, desolate atmosphere in the story that perfectly emphasized a poor, desperate mother struggling to raise her children, a hateful boy building up his anger, and a cold-hearted little girl who grew up to be a sad and lonely woman.
The outcome was satisfying, though totally screwed-up, and it was more plausible than the one in Sharp Objects. I think this will satisfy anyone’s cravings for a dark mystery.
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