Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

 

Sharp Objects

by Gillian Flynn

Was Sharp Objects as good as Gone Girl? No. Was it a twisty thriller that surprised me? Also, no. But it was a fast-paced read with interestingly disgusting characters that you love to hate, and ultimately a satisfying story.

The novel follows reporter Camille Preaker who is sent back to her hometown to work on a story about two murdered little girls. Camille is forced to come to terms with her own childhood while she navigates the small town ghosts that haunt her. A cold and distant mother, a violent and fake little sister, an investigator who uses his charm to get into Camille's inner circle, and a town populated with girls and women who make you cringe and remember what being in high school was really like.

Flynn pulls no punches with Sharp Objects. She's a master at opening up wounds we thought we ourselves had healed, using unflinching language to explore the disturbed psyches of girls and women fighting for their lives against one another. She's good at subverting tropes and exploring the dark sides of the feminine psyche.

All of that said, I knew the mother had something to do with Camille's younger sister's death, and I also knew that her living sister Amma had something to do with the murders of the two little girls. None of that was a surprise. Still, I kept wanting to turn the pages, mostly because Camille was a fascinating character--one who medicates with alcohol in order to keep herself from cutting her own flesh to keep the pain of her youth at bay.

Sharp Objects gets 3.5 stars from me, mostly because it was predictable and there wasn't a twist that shocked me. All of Flynn's cards were on the table with this one. I would still recommend it to anyone interested in exploring the feminine psyche from a different point of view.