I haven't gone to bed yet, but I imagine I'll face a similar experience. Sharp Objects surprised me. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but what I got was something dark and addictive and entrancing. If you've read my blog before, you may have noticed I have a soft spot for books about small towns and their inhabitants. However, I usually tend to go for "fluffier" book. Chick lit, if you will. Sharp Objects was the exact opposite of that. It's about a reporter, Camille Preaker, who returns to her small town to cover the murders of two young girls. While that might seem dark enough, that's only the beginning. Camille is haunted by a dark past-a bad relationship with her mother, a dead sister. And before long, she begins to wonder if returning to her hometown was really the best idea.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I even thought I had guessed the answer to some of the mysteries throughout it, but it turns out I was never completely right. If you love murder mysteries or crime dramas, this book is definitely for you. However, it is not for the faint of heart. It also may be triggering for those who struggle with self harm.
Gillian Flynn has contact info available on her website, gillian-flynn.com, so I decided to send her an email. Here it is:
"I just finished reading Sharp Objects, and I wanted to write to you to tell you that it's one of those scary-good books. It was definitely disturbing, but... elegantly disturbing, if you know what I mean. I was definitely impressed with the way you handled such dark subject matter. I really couldn't put the book down. I'll have to check out some of your other novels soon too."
Anyway, that's all I have for tonight. I have a few more books that I bought over the past few days, so expect another post soon.
I see the Book Report radio show has her new one (Gone Girl) in their line-up of books this last week. They usually read an excerpt from the audio book, so you might like to take a listen and see what you think. The schedules and stations are on their site – bookreportradio(dot)com- and if you’ve missed the show in your area, they have archived recordings. Think you may enjoy this one even more!
ReplyDeletePs. Great review, and I like that you do warn people that it's not for the faint-hearted, etc. Too many book reviews don't consider varying tastes. Nicely done.