Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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“I was not a lovable child, and I’d grown into a deeply unlovable adult. “

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

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Did you know that Gillian Flynn hasn’t written anything new since Gone Girl? She has kept busy doing the foreword to I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and writing the film & television adaptations to all three of her novels. Unfortunately she has been radio silent on the publishing front since the lack luster short story The Grownup in 2014! I was really disappointed in the film adaptation of Dark Places so I hadn’t thought much of the novel until my coworker began reading it a few […]

Midwestern Horror Show

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

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It’s been six years since I read Gone Girl but I would probably put this ahead of it as Gillian Flynn’s most realized work. It’s miles ahead of Sharp Objects for sure. There’s not a big departure from anything Flynn has done in other books: a woman horribly abused by life living in a perpetual state of neuroticism and self-loathing who has to either solve a mystery or figure her life out. This time it’s the former and I suppose there’s not a big difference between the three but […]

Review roundup! Female-centric thillers

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I badly need to catch up with writing reviews, but don’t really have the inclination to write long and individual reviews for books that were mostly ‘meh’. I sometimes pick up thrillers when I need a break from fantasy, and this review covers several that I’ve read since the early summer, in order that I read them. In some cases I have to cast my mind back rather a long way–and some definitely made an impression more than others. Most of these I read pretty […]

Or just read “Girl on the Train” instead

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I was a little late to the game on Flynn’s “Gone Girl,” but like many, I’m a huuuuge fan. I enjoy a good psychological thriller and was excited to dive in to this one. Luckily, a pal of mine said that in her opinion, this was her least favorite of Flynn’s books. This tempered my expectations and I am glad it did because I did not love this book. This is a story of rural America in the 1980s, a failing farm, a slain family, […]

Twisty Like the Roots on the Cover (But Don’t Worry, It’s Not the Nemeton)

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I’m late to jump onto the Gillian Flynn train, aren’t I? Okay, maybe not. I don’t really know. Anyways, Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places indeed deals with some dark issues, all centered on a character, Libby, who comes across as abrasive and unlikeable, yet she is still understandable and I was able to develop some empathy for her throughout the novel. I also personally enjoyed how the story was told as a series of present-day versus past event chapters, that alternated with one another to reveal different […]

Darkplaces

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Twenty-five years ago Libby Day’s family was murdered in the middle of the night. She escaped and named her older brother, Ben, as their murderer. After depleting the fund set up for her through donations and managed by a local banker Libby is desperate for some quick cash. She finds Lyle and his “kill club” who are obsessed with finding the true killer of her family; and they are willing to pay Libby to find the information. It’s a convenient set up but it works […]



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