Sharp Objects – by Gillian Flynn

Synopsis: When two girls are abducted and killed in Missouri, journalist Camille Preaker is sent back to her home town to report on the crimes.

Long-haunted by a childhood tragedy and estranged from her mother for years, Camille suddenly finds herself installed once again in her family’s mansion, reacquainting herself with her distant mother and the half-sister she barely knows – a precocious 13-year-old who holds a disquieting grip on the town.

As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims – a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming.

Title: Sharp Objects
Author: Gillian Flynn
Publisher: Phoenix
Pages: 336
ISBN: 9780753822210

Rating:

After reading Gone Girl, I couldn’t wait to pick up another Gillian Flynn novel – so I was extremely happy when my friend brought along not one, but two of her books on our travels around Thailand and Cambodia.

Unfortunately, Sharp Objects really didn’t cut it for me (pun not intended). Don’t get me wrong, it’s a decent book: well written, has a good pace but that’s pretty much all I can say for it. There was no intense desperation to know whodunit; in fact, it was pretty easy to figure out. I was actually glad to finish the book just so I could put it down, forget it, and move on to the next novel.

I also really didn’t like the protagonist, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing; I didn’t like the female character in Gone Girl either but still managed to love the book. But in the case of Sharp Objects, I couldn’t comprehend some of the protagonist’s thoughts/actions and so couldn’t connect to her in any way.

I’ve not read that many crime/thrillers but found this to be extremely similar to a Lackberg novel I read this year. Ice Princess follows a very similar plot and, if I’m quite honest, does it better.

Let’s just say I’m glad I borrowed this book and didn’t buy it!