No, I wasn't overreacting.
This book broke my heart.
I'm glad Libby doesn't overcome her obstacles to become anyone's savior. I'm glad she wasn't somehow immune to mental illness after losing her entire family. I'm glad she's not likable, and I'm glad I like her anyway.
I'm also consistently impressed with Flynn's ability to describe things. I've already pulled some particularly good sentences from Gone Girl, and Dark Places, too, is full of "wow, I would never think to describe it that way but you're totally right" moments. Here's what I mean:
"That he took them out to some farm area and performed... acts that are associated with ritualistic Devil worship." He said those words--Ritualistic Devil Worship--the way people who don't know cars repeat what the mechanic said: It's a broken fuel pump."Flynn doesn't go into this much detail about everything, but when she wants you to experience the story a certain way... man does she do a good job of including concise, specific details.
Lyle isn't just some nerd. He's a guy who "leans out from behind [Libby] like a squirrel." A guy who, when drinking a sweet cocktail, makes a "whoo! noise like it had been whiskey." He's a guy who still watches bad TV with Libby when he no longer needs her. And if he wasn't these things, I wouldn't like him as much. I wouldn't like any of them as much.
Flynn's excellent characterization is why I didn't see the end coming. And it's also why I was writhing on the floor in front of my friend.
After all, an action-driven story can make your heart race, but only a character-driven story can break it.
//Find me on goodreads//
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