Title: Dark Places
Author: Gillian Flynn
Genre: Mystery
Quotation: “The truly frightening flaw in humanity is our capacity for cruelty – we all have it.”
Would recommend to: those who enjoy thrillers and mystery.

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A couple months ago (and by that I probably mean a year ago at this point), I went to the book store trying to buy “Gone Girl” but settled for “Dark Places,” and I was not disappointed. When I tell you this book is amazing, believe me. Please, please believe me. It blew my mind.

If you are not one for thrillers or mysteries, stop reading this post now and pick up something that won’t leave you with nightmares. But if you’re a thrill-seeker, like myself, you will devour this book in mere days (maybe even hours).

WARNING: It is a very dark novel. And you probably won’t like the main character, Libby Day, very much.

But it is very honest.  Libby never pretends to be anyone but herself, even to the public. She is slightly abrasive, very uncaring for those around her, and driven by purely selfish motives, like money. But that’s part of what makes the book so good in my opinion — You know she is doing it for herself and no one else.

The premise of the novel is that Libby’s mother and two sisters were killed by her older brother one cold winter night. Or were they? From that description, you surmise that it probably wasn’t her brother because there wouldn’t be a story without a different killer. And although you know this information going in, the story’s twists and turns keep you on the edge of your seat for the entirety of the novel.

The structure of the novel also interested me. It wasn’t cut and dry, all taking place at the same time. And that’s what I loved about it. It would alternate between point-of-view, as well as time period, flipping from the present to the past back to the present. It would have one chapter set in the present day in Libby’s perspective and then flashback to her brother or mother’s perspective of the day the murder’s happened.

This structure allows the reader to come to his/her own conclusions about what happened on the night in question, but you’re still shell-shocked when the actual occurrences are revealed in black-and-white.

It truly is a jaw-dropping book.

Happy reading,
Kim

UPDATE: I recently finished “Gone Girl” and will make sure to post my reactions to that as well.