Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Originally the last of Flynn's books I read (starting with Gone Girl of course) I decided to re-read this one after finding out they were releasing a film about it. I remembered very little about it despite only reading it about a year ago, which wouldn't bode well except that I also remember very little about Sharp Objects and I by far thought that was the strongest of the Flynn books. Anyway, the first time I read this book I felt very little except abrupt disappointment. This time round I was more prepared and I definitely enjoyed it more.

The main problem with Dark Places is it sells itself as a mystery but the conclusion is so unsatisfying and contrived that it doesn't make a very good one. On both read-throughs I was sucked in, keen to learn what really happened to the Day family. It definitely helped to read it again knowing that I wasn't going to be happy with the ending. Instead the book became about the characters, and viewed like this makes it much stronger on the whole.

In terms of Flynn's style, I guess it's quite formulaic. All the female characters are deeply flawed and not that pleasant but honestly, I adored Libby. She's not a nice person but at no point is she expected to be. At the end of her story, she is essentially just as flawed but also on the way to being happier. Female characters are so rarely allowed to be flawed in the first place that it's great to have one where her flaws aren't something she has to change in order to get her happy ending. Instead the plot is about what happened to her and that's much more powerful.

I also loved the character of Krissi, especially with how similar she was to Libby. Patty Day just broke my heart, and her part in everything made much more sense to me the second time around. Diondra...let's just say I forgot about her completely until I read it again which is very bad considering how much she is in the novel. I know I'm not supposed to like her [HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOILERS] but like Amy in Gone Girl, her comeuppance is not good enough for me. I also don't really get why Ben lets her kill his sister and in general, Ben as a character troubled me. Am I supposed to see him as redeemable and sympathetic? I really don't.

On the whole, I stand by my statement that this is the second weakest of Flynn's books, with Gone Girl being the weakest in my eyes. However, I do think Gone Girl is the more interesting and enjoyable book the first read-through. The difference is, I would not read Gone Girl again without skipping the first third. Taken as a character story rather than a mystery, Dark Places is brilliantly written and gripping throughout. Heck, even as a mystery it still manages to succeed for most of it. It's just a shame that I certainly didn't buy the conclusion, nor did I think it was a worthy end to the story that proceeded it.

Overall Score:

.5

Favourite Quotes:

'It meant having the blues in a way that annoyed other people. Having the blues aggressively.'

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'I don't have friends but I have people who invite me places.'

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'How could you kill something you cared enough to name?'

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'And still she'd gotten pregnant three more times, because he didn't like to wear condoms and it was too much trouble to nag.'