So when I saw the opportunity to review Flynn's other two novels for the Birchbox Birchbloggers Book Club in October, I jumped at the chance. I have only had time to read her first novel so far Sharp Objects, so this blog will serve as a review of that. This review will contain some spoilers of the book, so please do not read on if you do not want to be spoiled. I won't spoil the ending, however :)
I have friends that had previously described this novel as "disturbing" and I thought, great, I like disturbing! Well let's just say, it did not disappoint!
The book is very dark from the very beginning. It starts out with the main character, Camille Preaker, describing her depressive surroundings; the cold Chicago spring weather, the horrendous murder stories she has to cover, her boss Frank Curry's brown tobacco saliva soaked teeth, the list goes on. She is a journalist at a small newspaper in Chicago required to return back to her hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri to cover the murder of two young girls. Camille, not a huge fan of her place of origin, reluctantly returns "home" to cover the story.
The majority of the book takes place while Camille is in Wind Gap investigating the murders for her newspaper. She reconnects with her mother, Adora (whom she refers to my her first name), her step dad Alan and her step sister Amma (who is only 13 and Camille barely knows). We find out that her mother and step sister are very dysfunctional, to say the least, and that she had another sister, Marian, that passed away when Camille was very young. Neither Camille nor her mother have been the same since Marian's death.
I would say that this book is more about a dysfunctional family and less about the murders of these young girls, but it does keep you intrigued on who committed the murders and how the story will tie all together. My favorites parts of the book are Camille's love interests (there are more than one) and me going back and forth in my brain on who I think killed the two girls and why (I think I changed my theory about 5 or 6 times through out!). I won't reveal the ending but I will say I was very satisfied! I would definitely recommend this book if you liked any of Flynn's other novels or are just a fan of dark mysteries!
Think "Whatever happened to Baby Jane" (novel or movie) and "Flowers in the Attic" (novel or movie) dark.
