Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Finals may be over, but work is just getting started. I (promise) to be more active and update a bit more often. There are so many books to read, to review, and the same goes for new music, shows, and movies. But to get back into the swing of things, I'm going to start with an awesome psychological thriller by none other than the kickass author Gillian Flynn.
5 out of 5 Haunting Stars
"That's Wind Gap. We all know each other's secrets. And we all use them."
Holy shit. What the hell did I just read?? Sharp Objects has to be the most fucked-up, creepy, utterly disturbing book I have ever read. I love it. I feel sick to my stomach and like I need to cleanse my brain after finishing it, but it's so worth it. I have absolutely no idea how it is going to end, and just when I think I have everything figured out, Flynn throws in another plot twist that literally has me gripping the pages and having to re-read paragraphs. Amazing. Completely, totally unsettling, Sharp Objects is one hell of a debut novel.
Okay, moving on from my I-just-finished-reading-this-and-need-to-purge-my-feelings state, why don't I tell you guys what Sharp Objects is all about so you can understand my freakout (of the good variety). To sum it up real quick, our protagonist Camille Preaker has some mental instability due to an event in her past, and she's fresh out of a psych hospital when her boss sends her back home to cover the murder of two girls. See, Camille is a reporter, and her boss is hoping she'll have an in with the townies since she once lived there. It really does seem like small towns have the biggest secrets, and it's up to Camille to find out what's going on.
"Sometimes if you let people do things to you, you're really doing it to them. Know what I mean? If someone wants to do fucked-up things to you, and you let them, you're making them more fucked up. Then you have the control. As long as you don't go crazy."
I admit, I don't really like Camille's character. I don't really like any of the characters in the novel. But I think that's what makes Sharp Objects so addicting. Everyone has a problem, a dark side, something off about them, and it's very entertaining getting to read about it. Camille actually isn't too bad when compared to her half sister, Amma. Yeah, Camille makes some bad decisions that she knows she shouldn't be making, but Amma is serious bad news. Camille's family is bad news. Hell, the whole freaking town is bad news. You really can't trust anyone.
Flynn deals with a lot of ideas and themes in Sharp Objects, but the one that stands out the most to me is the role of women. Women are seen as damsels in distress who need a big, strong man to take care of them. They're portrayed as victims. Imagine you're walking down a street alone at night. If a man is walking behind you, you're probably going to be on edge, but if it's a woman, not so much. Flynn takes this idea and twists it around; women may seem safe and kind, but that's not always the case. We're all human, and we all have the capacity for cruelty. This is what makes Sharp Objects such a complex, nasty book, and one hell of a dark, psychological thriller. Don't miss out on this one.
You're crazy to think what you're thinking. You're crazy to not think it.
*Oh, and Sharp Objects is being made into a TV series–so exciting!
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