I loved Sharp Objects as much as I loved Gone Girl. Camille is an amazing protagonist, utterly believable, well drawn, and I related to her far more than makes me feel comfortable admitting. This is a book about darkness and women and Flynn is one of those writers who stares darkness down and goes even darker.

Just like Gone Girl, though, the ending is ludicrous. I laughed out loud, because it was just too much. Completely bananas. I figured it out early on and don't mind that it ended where I expected but the last few chapters are just, "Let's throw everything ridiculous at the reader and see what sticks!" So there's that.

Anyway, this is still an awesome book.

3/5 stars.
The book tells of a young reporter named Camille. She escaped from the town where she grew up years ago to break away from the cruel life she lived, and to start a new life.
Years later, Camille had to return to the town for the article she needed to publish. Camille, who did everything to disavow this town, found herself returning there unwillingly.

I know that in the description of the book, it says it's a murder story. But I wouldn't describe this book that way.
True, there were brutal homicides in the town. True, the main character, Camille, is trying to figure out the murder. True, there are detectives, there are investigations. But after all, I wouldn't say the book is about the homicides.

The book is about the main character. Her past and present. The book is about this strange and cruel town. The book is surrounding around Camille herself, her family and the town itself.

I personally didn't like the book so much. It was... too dumb. Not the book itself tho, but the town. I hate this town. I'm not sure how to explain it, but while reading the book I just... felt bad. Just like that. I had a bad and restless feeling. This town, the people who live in it, the way they live. They are godless. They are cruel. They are hypocrites and liars. It's just so fucking dumb. If I lived there, I probably would’ve committed suicide. And I'm not kidding.

And Camille, so broken on the inside, so twisted, so scarred, literally. She was scarred from the moment she was born in this town. But that's exactly the problem - everyone's scarred because of this town.

I'm not sure how many stars I really want to give this book. After all, it was pretty interesting. But like I said, this book made me feel so bad. And even after I finished the book - the bad feeling remained there and gave me no rest. The ending was over well, but I personally didn’t feel rested, the book continued to disturb me even after I finished reading it.

The only reason this book gets 3 stars and not less, is thanks to Flynn's writing. She writes incredibly, and she deserves a hundred stars just for her writing.

This book definitely wasn't for me. Although the writing is very good, I hated all the characters and the story made me almost want to throw up because it's too disgusting.

Nakon čitanja Gone Girl razmišljao sam o tome da se ne vraćam romanima Gillian Flynn jer mi je dotični bio previše plitak, lako je bilo predvideti šta će se dogoditi, likovi su bili izuzetno iritantni i jednodimenzionalni i neverovatno naaaaaaapoooooorni,... Jednostavno rečeno, knjiga mi je bila očajna.
A onda se na kioscima pojavilo hrvatsko izdanje ove knjige po ekstra ceni i đavo mi nije dao mira i morao sam da je kupim i pročitam. I moram priznati da mi je drago što sam to uradio!
Ako je nekome Gone Girl bio mučan i mračan roman, ovaj bolje da ostavi po strani odmah. Sharp Objects nije lako štivo - u ovom romanu nema ničeg lepog ili romantičnog - ljubav ne postoji, a isto tako ne postoji ni prijateljstvo već samo njihovi prividi ispod kojih se kriju mržnja, koristoljublje ili još neke nijanse ljudske patologije i zlobe.
Mali gradić u Americi je poprište gnusnih zločina, a u njemu na prvi pogled žive savršeni stanovnici koji sa više ili manje veštine kriju svoju patološku sje***ost (izvinjavam se zbog izraza ali za ovu knjigu ovaj termin savršeno odgovara). I nema tu nikog nevinog ili naivnog - sve su to sociopate ili psihopate. Svi su oni skrenuli sa pravog puta na ovaj ili onaj način... Camille, ona koja je imala hrabrosti da napusti ovaj godforsaken gradić, se vraća i njeni demoni ne samo da se vraćaju nego se multiplikuju i dobijaju mnogo veće obrise. Njeno telo, odnosno koža, je živi hram njenog uma koji je odbio da se savija po majčinim i gradskim normama, i reči koje je ona strastveno urezivala u sebe su reči koje reflektuju njenu patologiju i one bride i peku i opominju svaka kada dođe pravi čas... I ona takva, oskrnavljena vlastitom rukom (da ne bi podlegla bolu, zlu, većem ludilu) vraća se na mesto zločina koje je učinjeno prema njoj, ovoga puta kao novinarka da bi rečima rasvetlila druga dva zločina. Na tom putu otkrića koje za nju ima i ulogu katarze konačno će doći do skoro pa ontološkog pitanja - da li je ona drugačija od onoga od čega je bežala ili je ona, u stvari, bežala sama od sebe.
Ovaj spisateljski prvenac Gillian Flynn, je dakle mnogo jači i eksplicitniji od Gone Girl. Sam setting i lepeza likova, koji su mnogo bolje definisiani svojim patološkim nijansama, doprinose toj turobnoj i mračnoj atmosferi koja na momente postaje lepljiva od krvi ili koja svrbi kao novi ožiljak na koži. Jedina zamerka je whodunit deo koji se poprilično lako može razrešiti (zbog toga je i ona zvezdica manje od maksimuma).
Sve u svemu, ovo je žestoko dobar triler, ali vam treba dobar stomak da biste ga svarili!!!

I love this author! To be honest, Dark places, her second book was a bit better, but I wasn't dissapointed in this one. I love the characters she paints, the atmospheres, and especially the female main character. In both books troubled persons, but I grew to like both of them. The stories are not pretty, dark even, but really well plotted and fascinating. This is one hell of a talented writer. I hope her next book is published very soon, I just can't wait!

3.5****

“I just think some women aren't made to be mothers. And some women aren't made to be daughters.”

So glad I re-read this. This book features Camille Preaker, an alcoholic, an ex-institutionalised mental patient and a current reporter for the fourth largest paper in Chicago, the Daily Post. Camille's editor, a man named Curry, almost an Uncle figure to Camille, hears of a child disappearing in the small town of Wind Gap where the previous year a girl had been murdered. Curry believes that with the 'right' story both the paper and Camille as a journalist will get noticed.... So what better than to send Camille, an ex-resident of Wind Gap, to her home town, where she can report on the murder and a possible serial killer?

However, Camille's home life is dark, and she really doesn't want to revisit her tragic past.
Set with the low budget of the paper, Camille is forced to stay at her childhood home with her hypochondriac Mother, Adora, and her chameleon of a sister, Amma- a trouble maker or a little girl?

The deeper Camille investigates and stays in Wind Gap, the more inevitable it is for her to be pulled back into the memories of her damaged childhood. The investigation and memories get her skin burning, if only she could scratch at the surface and discover the ugly truth.

This book was dark, alluring, twisty and stylish. I loved Camille Preaker as a character with her imperfections and flaws, but also tenacity to discover the truth no matter how ugly it is. I enjoyed the complex psychologies, especially those of the female characters in this book which drew me completely in to the story, and placed me inside their disturbing minds.

It's hard to believe that 'Sharp Objects' is Flynn's debut novel. Like a pro, she unsettles the reader with the setting of a bleak rural town full of cruel, social-climbing inhabitants, all while constantly playing on the central themes of violence and self-harm.

Told from the perspective of the protagonist Camille Preaker, a deeply troubled crime journalist, the story follows Camille as she returns to her hometown to report on the murders of two young girls. While on this rare visit home, she is accommodated by her estranged mother Adora, who has always been very cold and hostile towards her. Suprisingly, Adora behaves affectionately towards Camille's precocious thirteen-year-old half sister Amma; another member of the family with good looks and brains, and who can quickly switch from her innocent, child-like persona to a drugs, sex and alcohol crazed teenager whenever her mother isn't present. Despite the murders being a hot topic of local gossip, Camille is finding it hard to obtain any real lead from conversations with old classmates and friends. It is only a matter of time before Camille realizes that suspects and clues are a lot closer than she thought.

Towards the end of the novel, you believe that you have completely solved the mystery before the protagonist. However, upon reaching the twist in the story, you realize that you only put half of the puzzle together correctly. The ending of the book is magnificently disturbing. When you put the book down it feels like you have awoken mid-sleep from a terrifying nightmare.

I don't read many mysteries but I doubt the reader is supposed to be able to figure out "whodunnit" early on. It's more fun to keep guessing, to think you know only to have everything tossed upside down and you have to guess again. Repeat a few times before the end.

With this book, I had part of it figured out immediately and the other had a strong hunch about, which ended up being correct. I think that probably makes it a mediocre mystery.

It wasn't all that believable story either. I was especially put off by the MC being a cutter when the author doesn't seem to "get" cutting. For instance, this: "My upper lip curled involuntarily in repulsion at the sight of my skin".. Um, nope. She would have felt proud of those scars. Embarrassed for others to see them but looking at them in private? Oh she'd have been proud, not disgusted.

The author seems to have made her a cutter just to add more reasons for the book being titled "Sharp Objects". However, if one doesn't understand something, they need to leave it alone, not add it to their book. In case you can't tell, I'm peeved with this.

2.5 stars, but I always round up. Not a bad book and at times I enjoyed it... but damn. Leave the psychological stuff alone unless you really understand it.

آخ این کتاب بدجوری منو گرفت. از شروعش بگیر تا پایانش. جزییات و توصیفات ناب، درونیاتی که با وسواس بیرون کشیده شده بودن و انگار خود نویسنده همۀ اینا رو تجربه کرده بوده، شخصیت‌پردازی‌ عالی، اوج و فرودهای بجا، پایان‌بندی ویران‌کننده... اگه یه نفر خلاصۀ کتابو تعریف می‌کرد، رغبت نمی‌کردم بخونمش. ولی فضای سرد و هولناک و بیمارگونۀ داستان منو غرق کرد. حتی به‌نظرم شهر کوچیکی که کامیل توش به دنیا اومده و بزرگ شده بود، خیلی شبیه ایران خودمون بود و حرفا و رفتارهاشون خیلی شبیه مردم خودمون.

چیزی که دوست داشتم توی این کتاب، یه جورایی آشنایی‌زدایی و تابوشکنیش بود. اون قداستی که برای مادر قائلیم، و برای خانواده، اینجا شکست. نشون داد نزدیک‌ترین آدمامون بیشترین آسیبو می‌تونن بهمون بزنن، دقیقاً به همین خاطر که بهمون خیلی نزدیکن. و نشون داد یه زنجیرۀ تربیتی اشتباه چطوری به انواع کژرفتاری و مشکلات روانی می‌انجامه. اگه از مادر آدورا حساب کنیم، خود آدورا، کامیل و خواهرش، تا حدی هم پدر خانواده، همه ناهنجاری‌های عمیق روانی دارن. ولی چنان پنهان شده و عادی به‌نظر می‌رسه که هیچ‌کس این همه سال نمی‌تونه کاری بکنه. چه برسه به پرستاری که متوجه شد ماریان اصلاً مریض نبوده... چقدر شبیه آدمای جامعۀ خودمونه. که تو دستت به هیچ‌جا هم بند نمی‌شه و هیچ‌کس نمی‌تونه کاری برای درمان و التیام این روان‌های آسیب‌دیده بکنه.

ازین نویسنده خوشم نمی‌اومد راستش. فیلم دختر گمشده رو دیده بودم و بسیار اعصابم خرد شده بود به‌خصوص با پایان‌بندیش. بارها خواستم کتابشو بخونم که شاید نظرم عوض شه، ولی دیدم بیزاریم بهش می‌چربه. اینم سراغ کتاب نمی‌رفتم اگه سریالشو ندیده بودم. اول سریالو دیدم و گفتم وای خدا، من می‌خوام هرچی زودتر کتابشو بخونم! بعد در کمتر از یک ماه تصادفی توی یه کتابفروشی پیداش کردم و به‌نظرم اومد ترجمه‌شم خوبه. هرچند در زمینۀ طرح جلدش رکب خوردم! چاپ دوم طرح جلد مطابق سریال داره و قشنگ‌تره. می‌تونست مطابق سریال هم نباشه، منتها من از طرح جلد این چاپش خوشم نمی‌آد. :دی قطعش هم کاش جیبی‌طور نبود، چون به قطرش نمی‌خوره و حین خوندن کتابو مجبوری زیاد وا کنی. ویرایشش هم خوب بود، هرچند می‌تونست بهتر باشه و چندتایی از زیر دستشون در رفته بود. اما اذیت‌کننده نبود.

به‌طرز وحشتناکی با کامیل همذات‌پنداری می‌کردم! بااینکه زمین تا آسمون مشکلات‌مون فرق داشت و دو تا شخصیت متفاوت بودیم. ولی یه بخشش به‌خاطر علاقه‌م به ایمی آدامز و بازی خوبش توی سریال بود، و یه بخش هم درون‌کاوی‌های نویسنده. حس می‌کردم کلمه‌به‌کلمۀ کتاب با وسواس نوشته شده. می‌تونم یه بار دیگه هم بخونمش، چون از نظر تکنیکی به‌نظرم کامل بود. در جزییات کمی با سریال فرق داشت، که بهتر هم بود. ینی توی سریال یه سری چیزا با عقل جور درنمی‌اومدن و پایان‌بندی هم اون‌قدر ناگهانی گره‌گشایی می‌کرد که انگار عمد داشتن مخاطب بره کتابو بخونه اگه می‌خواد بیشتر بفهمه. ولی کتاب از همه نظر خوب بود. یه چیزا رو هم سریال بیشتر پرداخته بود، مثل خاطرات کامیل و ماریان و مراسم ختمش، یا یه چیزایی که الان از ذهنم پرید ولی توی سریال برای بیشتر درگیر کردنِ مخاطب گنجونده بودن و توی کتاب به‌نحو دیگه‌ای بود.

4 Haunting and Deeply Disturbing Stars

“Safer to be feared than loved.”



Sometimes we forget who we are. But other times we don't really know who we are. We never did.

Sick kids of sicker parents, neurosis and cruelty are diseases that corrupt and erode everything that stands in their way. Secrets upon secrets, mouths closed and eyes that turn blind. Beauty and money have a way to smooth the rough edges, but razor sharp objects tear the layers and let all the puss ooze free from wounds that will never heal.

n  “How do you keep safe when your whole day is as wide and empty as the sky?”n

Darkness and nightmares have nothing on the unforgiving light of day and dreams that never come true. Demons are trembling in fear when compared to people abusing others and sick individuals capable of unimaginable pain.



Camille Preaker, a young journalist is broken. A kid from a dysfunctional family she is trying to make her life work in Chicago. When a murder case will take her back in her hometown, to live again in her mother's house where she managed to escape years ago, it will drive her to the edge. Her old scars are itching and new ones are lurking in the shadows.



n  “Camille?" Her voice quiet and girlish and unsure. "You know how people sometimes say they have to hurt because if they don't, they're so numb they won't feel anything?"
"Mmm."
"What if it's the opposite?" Amma whispered. "What if you hurt because it feels so good? Like you have a tingling, like someone left a switch on in your body. And nothing can turn that switch off except hurting? What does that mean?"n



Sweet mother of God.... I can't comprehend what I just read. I am heartbroken, scared and disgusted. An intense read, unforgettable and unforgiving. No sugar-coating, no mercy. Sickness and madness go hand to hand and you are left feeling dirty like someone touched you and made you uncomfortable. A book about mothers and daughters, the most cherished relationship, turned sour and twisted beyond belief.

n  “I just think some women aren't made to be mothers. And some women aren't made to be daughters.”n

A story that the ending will leave you with eyes wide open and a little bit despaired.



Amazing and gripping you won't be able to take a deep breath. Read it!
Gillian Flynn is a hell of a storyteller...

When it’s revealed that the protagonist of Gillian Flynn’s debut novel, “Sharp Objects” is a cutter---a girl with a pathological need to scar her body with cuts---it’s actually the LEAST disturbing part of the story. Up to that point, so many other horrible things have happened to the protagonist that one can almost understand why she does it. Almost.

I think men may have a harder time digesting this novel than women, mainly because it’s dealing with issues that most men don’t understand, if they are even aware that they exist. If that sounds in any way sexist, it’s probably because it is. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not intentionally trying to sound sexist, but I fully admit that there are things about women I don’t fully understand. Because let me be perfectly honest here: men and women are different. We all know this to be true. The physical differences are easy to see. It’s the psychological differences that trip us up. To say that men and women think or react in the same way is to completely negate and deny those differences.

Camille Preaker, the protagonist of “Sharp Objects”, has a complicated history of traumatic incidents and completely unhealthy methods of dealing with that trauma. Despite all this, she seems like a relatively normal woman. She is a smart 20-something career-minded female working as a reporter for a small Chicago newspaper. She has cultivated a strong friendly-but-professional relationship with her editor, and she seems to be well-liked by her colleagues. One would never guess how totally and completely fucked-up, psychologically, she really is.

Therein lies the most disturbing part of the story: how well some people, especially women, seem to be able to hide the excruciating pain that they feel on a constant basis. There is an expression that says that females are the deadlier of the species. They are also probably the stronger, mentally. This thought came to mind as I finished the book and wondered, would I be strong enough to survive the same adversity and chaos that is thrown at Camille? As a man, I don’t think I even have the cognitive mechanisms to deal with some of these issues.

Camille, on the other hand, has had to deal with them. While she may not have had the proper cognitive coping mechanisms either, clearly she has made do with whatever she could find to compensate, even if it has left her in a very fragile state of sanity.

When her editor suggests that she report on a murder of a young girl in her small home town of Wind Gap, Missouri, which would necessitate her actually going back to visit, she doesn’t exactly jump at the chance. She has no interest in seeing her family. She and her mother were not close, to say the least, and her stepfather and teenaged stepsister are complete strangers to her. Besides that, the town and her home hold too many sad memories of her beloved little sister who died of illness at a young age. Despite her better judgment, she agrees to do it.

She is in town for only a short time before another murder occurs, another young girl. The local police now have a serial killer on their hands and one with a very bizarre m.o.: the killer extracts all of the girls teeth. The police profile is a male, possibly living within the city. As Camille begins to dig further, however, she uncovers some dark truths about her town and her own personal past. Her investigation reveals a posse of extremely “mean girls” roaming the local middle school hallways, led by her extremely troubled stepsister, Amma. Not only that, but Camille’s troubled relationship with her mother rekindles memories of her little sister, Marion, which suggest that Marion’s death may have been something other than the natural one she has always considered a given.

Flynn builds tension well, but she seems truly adept at creating an atmosphere of blood-curdling creepiness and horror, especially by turning upside down some of the basic “truths” about women: that girls are sugar and spice and everything nice, and that all mothers have a natural instinct for loving and protecting their daughters.

Ironically, I have heard some critics claim that Flynn is a sexist, and I can see where these critics may be getting that, but I don’t agree with that criticism. I suppose if Flynn were a man, the criticisms would be stronger, and “Sharp Objects” could almost be described as “misogynistic”. The truth is, what Flynn is doing in her novel is perhaps more honest and much less “sexist” than the critics who feel that she is betraying women by making some of them look vicious, deceptive, and sociopathic. Indeed, some of the issues Flynn tackles in the book---female bullying, for one---have, until recently, nearly been dismissed by the general public as “girls being girls”, when, in fact, bullying and its emotionally destructive effects among girls does not have to be inevitable. Those who turn a blind eye to it or refuse to talk about it in the name of political correctness are the ones invariably making it worse.

I recommend “Sharp Objects” for fans of psychological thrillers, but it is much more than that. There will be some who hate the book for the very reasons that I found it to be fascinating and enlightening, and for that---and the important discussions it raises---I applaud Flynn.

I am clearly in the minority here, but I hated this book! I don't like writing anything to bad about a book, but I cannot in good faith say anything else.
I wasn't impressed with 'Gone Girl', but having read this, it is by far the superior of the two. 'Sharp Objects' is revolting in every way. I disliked all the characters, the setting was depressing and disturbing (in know, I know, that's the point, but humor me here while I vent), and the the plot... oh where do I begin?!
The story, centers around a young reporter living in Chicago, who is sent on an assignment to her little Missouri hometown when two young girls are found murdered in the same horrific way within the space of a year. Camille, the reporter in question is terrible traumatized by the death of her sister many years ago, and has a weird relationship wit her mother and stepfather.
Okay, so the premise sounds intriguing and creepy, that's fine, I'm not expecting a Disney fairy-tale, but it is too much. EVERYTHING is just utterly miserable. The people in the town are portrayed as totally backward and Camille comes across as both whiny and often condescending. I felt bad for her situation, and how she felt, but I just didn't like her at all. Flynn tries so hard to make her character so flawed and vulnerable, but she just seems extremely depressed and a danger to herself. I wanted someone kind to come and pull her out of that awful situation and get her some help and care.
If there had just been one character I felt any connection to, but there wasn't. The plot too, didn't feel tense or gripping, it just slogged on annoyingly with endless vile details. I really should have stopped reading, but I kept hoping it would somehow get better...
I don't want to give away anything, but the end felt rushed and kind of predictable, which was disappointing after this endless buildup I had to battle through to reach it. Sorry for the ranting, but the one thing this book did evoke in me was a great sense of irritation that it has been hailed as such an amazing read, when what it was, to me at least, was disgusting and deeply disappointing.

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