Samadrita's Reviews > Sharp Objects
Sharp Objects
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by
Samadrita's review
bookshelves: suspense-thrillers, crime-noir, spookfest, mystery-detective, disturbia, not-worth-it, real-issues-fake-people
Feb 16, 2013
bookshelves: suspense-thrillers, crime-noir, spookfest, mystery-detective, disturbia, not-worth-it, real-issues-fake-people
When I had first come across rave reviews of Gone Girl, I was bowled over by the fact that there's after all a woman who is brave enough to try her hand at a genre rarely ventured into by women writers. And apparently, she excels at it too. Surely, she couldn't have hoodwinked hordes of unsuspecting readers into giving her books such high ratings.
So I had decided I'd devour Gillian Flynn's entire oeuvre starting with her first published work.
Needless to say, that it is with obvious disappointment I'm giving this book only 2 stars. I had high hopes for Flynn's first published novel.
Sharp Objects comes off as a classic case of trying too hard. The set up feels too contrived, the world building, shabby and the writing, unimpressive and awkward. ('bucolicry' Ms Flynn? is that even a real word?) And to heap on to the negatives, Flynn rushes us through the scenery, the murders, the facts with such alarming speed that few things get time enough to make a powerful impact.
The eerie, secluded little town of Wind Gap never comes alive for the reader. All the characters appear to be caricatures of stereotypical suspects in a murder mystery novel.
Even the central characters seem to be rather blurry outlines of real people instead of full-fledged human beings of flesh and bone. My mind failed at conjuring up even a single image of Wind Gap, its inhabitants or Camille and that's when I knew things were going downhill. After I had made some headway with the book, my attention kept drifting away and this doesn't usually happen with a thriller novel.(Proof of my steadily dwindling interest in thrillers maybe?)
Neither did I care about the murders nor did I think much of the disturbing imagery that Flynn shoves right in the reader's face from time to time. Even if you keep the somewhat macabre murders of pubescent girls aside, there are themes of self mutilation, sexual abuse, descriptions of horrific serial killings, slaughtering of pigs and chickens to make you cringe and wince as you read every alternate passage. Still I wasn't repulsed.
Instead what I felt acutely was Flynn's desperate desire to create a truly unsettling narrative. You can tell she is trying to offer you a blend of all things gory, disturbing and wicked just to titillate your senses. It's as if the central story became secondary to Flynn somewhere while she was writing this and only the deeply perturbing elements assumed primary importance.
Even the ending fails to pack in a punch, because if you have read a slew of whodunits at any point of time in your life, you will sort of guess the culprit.
The only part which successfully creeped me out was the protagonist's tendency to inflict injuries on herself as a way to purge herself of emotions. But that one feeling doesn't help you sail through a book which is, otherwise, ceaselessly dreary and simply put, lacklustre in every way.
Hence, 2 very unsatisfied, very bored stars.
I am holding out hope for Gillian Flynn though. Maybe my opinion will change after reading Gone Girl or Dark Places.
So I had decided I'd devour Gillian Flynn's entire oeuvre starting with her first published work.
Needless to say, that it is with obvious disappointment I'm giving this book only 2 stars. I had high hopes for Flynn's first published novel.
Sharp Objects comes off as a classic case of trying too hard. The set up feels too contrived, the world building, shabby and the writing, unimpressive and awkward. ('bucolicry' Ms Flynn? is that even a real word?) And to heap on to the negatives, Flynn rushes us through the scenery, the murders, the facts with such alarming speed that few things get time enough to make a powerful impact.
The eerie, secluded little town of Wind Gap never comes alive for the reader. All the characters appear to be caricatures of stereotypical suspects in a murder mystery novel.
Even the central characters seem to be rather blurry outlines of real people instead of full-fledged human beings of flesh and bone. My mind failed at conjuring up even a single image of Wind Gap, its inhabitants or Camille and that's when I knew things were going downhill. After I had made some headway with the book, my attention kept drifting away and this doesn't usually happen with a thriller novel.(Proof of my steadily dwindling interest in thrillers maybe?)
Neither did I care about the murders nor did I think much of the disturbing imagery that Flynn shoves right in the reader's face from time to time. Even if you keep the somewhat macabre murders of pubescent girls aside, there are themes of self mutilation, sexual abuse, descriptions of horrific serial killings, slaughtering of pigs and chickens to make you cringe and wince as you read every alternate passage. Still I wasn't repulsed.
Instead what I felt acutely was Flynn's desperate desire to create a truly unsettling narrative. You can tell she is trying to offer you a blend of all things gory, disturbing and wicked just to titillate your senses. It's as if the central story became secondary to Flynn somewhere while she was writing this and only the deeply perturbing elements assumed primary importance.
Even the ending fails to pack in a punch, because if you have read a slew of whodunits at any point of time in your life, you will sort of guess the culprit.
The only part which successfully creeped me out was the protagonist's tendency to inflict injuries on herself as a way to purge herself of emotions. But that one feeling doesn't help you sail through a book which is, otherwise, ceaselessly dreary and simply put, lacklustre in every way.
Hence, 2 very unsatisfied, very bored stars.
I am holding out hope for Gillian Flynn though. Maybe my opinion will change after reading Gone Girl or Dark Places.
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Reading Progress
February 16, 2013
– Shelved
February 16, 2013
– Shelved as:
suspense-thrillers
February 16, 2013
– Shelved as:
crime-noir
February 22, 2013
–
Started Reading
February 22, 2013
– Shelved as:
spookfest
February 22, 2013
– Shelved as:
mystery-detective
February 22, 2013
–
14.0%
"has been strangely uninteresting so far and the language is a little short of terrible"
February 27, 2013
– Shelved as:
disturbia
February 27, 2013
– Shelved as:
not-worth-it
February 27, 2013
–
Finished Reading
February 28, 2013
– Shelved as:
real-issues-fake-people
Comments Showing 1-45 of 45 (45 new)
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Kirsty wrote: "I've heard a lot of good things about 'Gone Girl', but I read 'Dark Places' in January and disliked it for precisely the reasons you've outlined above."
Ah that's not very encouraging. I guess I will skip Dark Places and give Gone Girl a try.
Ah that's not very encouraging. I guess I will skip Dark Places and give Gone Girl a try.
Jill wrote: "Do you have more than one Jill on your friends list? I feel bad if it was my high rating that made you wade through a bad book!
I LOVE Gillian Flynn. I read Gone Girl this summer and promptly inha..."
Nope. You are the only Jill and besides I interact more with really very few people here and you're one of them. :)
Most are just inactive friends.
We seem to have similar tastes so I thought let's give this book a shot since Jill liked it.
I think the main reason why I didn't like this book is, it focused too much on the disturbing parts and paid less attention to the main narrative. And nothing really came alive for me. The characters, the story and the ideas seemed semi-formed.
I LOVE Gillian Flynn. I read Gone Girl this summer and promptly inha..."
Nope. You are the only Jill and besides I interact more with really very few people here and you're one of them. :)
Most are just inactive friends.
We seem to have similar tastes so I thought let's give this book a shot since Jill liked it.
I think the main reason why I didn't like this book is, it focused too much on the disturbing parts and paid less attention to the main narrative. And nothing really came alive for me. The characters, the story and the ideas seemed semi-formed.
I don't usually read crime-thrillers but I totally loved Gone Girl like Jill did - it was unpredictable and disturbing. That being said, a lot of readers have found it too far-fetched to be credible.
I'll have to agree with Jill here that it's a matter of specific tastes. Many Gillian Flynn fans have recommended I read Sharp Objects because it's supposedly her grittiest work and since you didn't like it, I'm not sure if you'll be able to put up with Gone Girl :(
I'll have to agree with Jill here that it's a matter of specific tastes. Many Gillian Flynn fans have recommended I read Sharp Objects because it's supposedly her grittiest work and since you didn't like it, I'm not sure if you'll be able to put up with Gone Girl :(
Kirsty wrote: "I can't wait to hear if it's worth reading! I hope you enjoy it more than this one. :)"
I do too. :)
I do too. :)
Scarlet wrote: "I don't usually read crime-thrillers but I totally loved Gone Girl like Jill did - it was unpredictable and disturbing. That being said, a lot of readers have found it too far-fetched to be credibl..."
Yes I suppose you are right. But even so, I'm a bit curious about Gone Girl. Who knows maybe I will end up liking it after all?
Yes I suppose you are right. But even so, I'm a bit curious about Gone Girl. Who knows maybe I will end up liking it after all?
Exactly how I felt. The Positive press for this book is baffling. I'm hoping Gone Girl is more accomplished.
Shelley wrote: "I thought the same! I read Gone Girl first and LOVED it! I was disappointed with this book."
I hope Gone Girl is better than this. But that book too seems to polarize opinion on Gr.
I hope Gone Girl is better than this. But that book too seems to polarize opinion on Gr.
Terrific review! If I were you, I would not count on an opinion change with "Gone Girl". I found Flynn's style very offensive and puerile. I never finished GG. What is all the praise about??
Barbara wrote: "Terrific review! If I were you, I would not count on an opinion change with "Gone Girl". I found Flynn's style very offensive and puerile. I never finished GG. What is all the praise about??"
I'm sorry to hear of it Barbara. But I am going to read Gone Girl nonetheless.
I'm sorry to hear of it Barbara. But I am going to read Gone Girl nonetheless.
Samadrita, I seem to miss out on so many reviews even though I have the right boxes ticked, I believe.
I love this review but then your reviews are always excellent. This is somehow special though and written from the heart, even when you show your disappointment.
I particularly liked:
"Sharp Objects comes off as a classic case of trying too hard. The set up feels too contrived, the world building, shabby and the writing, unimpressive and awkward."
"Contrived" was the word that struck me...
I love this review but then your reviews are always excellent. This is somehow special though and written from the heart, even when you show your disappointment.
I particularly liked:
"Sharp Objects comes off as a classic case of trying too hard. The set up feels too contrived, the world building, shabby and the writing, unimpressive and awkward."
"Contrived" was the word that struck me...
I agree with a lot of things in your review but I still enjoyed the book.
I don't know if you'll like Gone Girl any better, though, it seems pretentious at times too.
I don't know if you'll like Gone Girl any better, though, it seems pretentious at times too.
Lynne wrote: "Samadrita, I seem to miss out on so many reviews even though I have the right boxes ticked, I believe.
I love this review but then your reviews are always excellent. This is somehow special though..."
Thanks so much for the kind words, Lynne. This book was a major disappointment for me.
I love this review but then your reviews are always excellent. This is somehow special though..."
Thanks so much for the kind words, Lynne. This book was a major disappointment for me.
Anushka wrote: "I agree with a lot of things in your review but I still enjoyed the book.
I don't know if you'll like Gone Girl any better, though, it seems pretentious at times too."
I'd still have to read it though. That book enjoys so much hype that I just need to find out for myself how much of it is true.
I don't know if you'll like Gone Girl any better, though, it seems pretentious at times too."
I'd still have to read it though. That book enjoys so much hype that I just need to find out for myself how much of it is true.
Shruti wrote: "'Gone Girl' was a big meh for me. Contrived, totally.
Great review, Samadrita."
Hmm everybody seems to either love or hate that book. Few are known to have had muted reactions to it. Thanks for reading, Shruti.
Great review, Samadrita."
Hmm everybody seems to either love or hate that book. Few are known to have had muted reactions to it. Thanks for reading, Shruti.
I haven't read Sharp Objects, although I think I'll give it a shot, as I loved Gone Girl. Yes, it was a little contrived, but so cleverly done, so creeping up on you, so observant of all little human foibles and relationships.
Marina wrote: "I haven't read Sharp Objects, although I think I'll give it a shot, as I loved Gone Girl. Yes, it was a little contrived, but so cleverly done, so creeping up on you, so observant of all little hum..."
I can't speak for Gone Girl but this one was most definitely contrived.
I can't speak for Gone Girl but this one was most definitely contrived.
Your articulate review reminded me of those cheap Hollywood horror movies, "I know what you did last summer" type, where there's too much blood and fanfare and little tasteful suspense and psychological disturbance. To avoid at all costs. Love your critical voice, Samadrita.
Dolors wrote: "Your articulate review reminded me of those cheap Hollywood horror movies, "I know what you did last summer" type, where there's too much blood and fanfare and little tasteful suspense and psycholo..."
Thanks for reading, Dolors. It's silly that the GR bug chose all my 1 and 2-star reviews to float today.
Thanks for reading, Dolors. It's silly that the GR bug chose all my 1 and 2-star reviews to float today.
I totally agreed with your review. I thought Sharp Objects was so predictable. I'm amazed that people love these books.
Noelle wrote: "I totally agreed with your review. I thought Sharp Objects was so predictable. I'm amazed that people love these books."
Me too, Noelle. And after putting myself through the excruciating experience that was Gone Girl, I have decided to stay away from all her future writings.
Me too, Noelle. And after putting myself through the excruciating experience that was Gone Girl, I have decided to stay away from all her future writings.
I read Gone Girl and I was extremely intrigued with Gillian Flynn's work that I wanted to dive in to her other novels. However I just finished Sharp objects last night and I can honestly say that I was extremely disappointed. I felt I knew immediately who killed the girls. I felt the sex scenes were not necessary and there wasn't any suspense to me. Sharp Objects made me feel Flynn was trying to push out a novel and didn't really develop the characters,setting or plot.
Danielle wrote: "I read Gone Girl and I was extremely intrigued with Gillian Flynn's work that I wanted to dive in to her other novels. However I just finished Sharp objects last night and I can honestly say that I..."
Very accurately phrased. That's exactly how I felt.
Very accurately phrased. That's exactly how I felt.
Agree with your review. Flynn has stuffed this book with gruesome things which highlights in every way that she was least bothered about the storyline.
Varsha wrote: "Agree with your review. Flynn has stuffed this book with gruesome things which highlights in every way that she was least bothered about the storyline."
Good to know we're on the same page, Varsha.
Good to know we're on the same page, Varsha.
I still have to read dark places but after this one and then gone girl being too predictable I've almost given up on her. I hate to say it but they all seem the same. I think I stop
This is probably the most accurate review here and i couldnt agree more with you.. I was just scrolling and wondering: is it possible I failed to feel the book? ..that twisted creepy disturbing feeling many are *omg* about... the story actually felt horribly non-digestable, slow-paced and shallow to me; the idea itself is revealed at the very end while at some point through the book i felt like i was reading some kind of crimi 50 shades of grey...I could tell numerous other reasons but I find your review good enough. cheers
Couldn't agree more with this review. I also gave it 2 stars. Was hoping for a lot more than what it was.
Couldn't agree more with this review. I also gave it 2 stars. Was hoping for a lot more than what it was.
I was bored out of my mind with Gone Girl. I thought I would give the author a fighting chance. Sadly, the same thing has happened with this book. I had it figured out early on. The characters are under developed, much like the story.
I LOVED Gone Girl and decided to check out Flynn's other work. I hated this book. I'm only 50% in and I'm so bired. Everything you said was accurate. I can't seem to bring my mind to imagine the characters or Wind Gap. The characters are unlikeablw and not in the good, realistic people sort of way. A lot of the language came off as try hard, which surprised me because I adored Gone Girl's writing. Though I suppose I should cut her some slack as it is her first novel. I'm glad it is a small novel, because I just want to get this over and done with. Debating whether to read Dark Places now
I know this is a super old thread but you put it into nicer words how I feel about Sharp Objects. This was so mediocre and I say this as this is my second Flynn read - my first was Gone Girl and I LOVED it. Maybe I'll hate read Dark Places because I found it online and it's another book for my reading challenge.
You took the words right out of my mouth, I can't decide whether I loath this book or have a seathing indifference.
Samadrita wrote: "Hmm everybody seems to either love or hate that book. Few are known to have had muted reactions to i..."
The only explanation I can find for the ones that love it is that they've been successfully socially-conditioned to hate on their mothers and secretly want to be "mean girls". Honestly for all the criticism Gillian Flynn seems to superficially critique "mean girl" culture in the book, her book is filled with [unoriginal] snipes at people. I wonder if she even realizes it.
The only explanation I can find for the ones that love it is that they've been successfully socially-conditioned to hate on their mothers and secretly want to be "mean girls". Honestly for all the criticism Gillian Flynn seems to superficially critique "mean girl" culture in the book, her book is filled with [unoriginal] snipes at people. I wonder if she even realizes it.
This book felt like it was missing something. The premise was interesting but there were so many 'violent' moments that were unrelated and left unexplained. I remember being shocked by Gone Girl, but I felt nothing with Sharp Objects.
Hey! Since we all have basically identical hatred for this book, did anyone watch the series made on it? Was it awful? Is it better? Part of me wonders if it would translate better on screen? I’d be curious to know if anyone from this thread liked it
I LOVE Gillian Flynn. I read Gone Girl this summer and promptly inhaled her other two books. That said, I think it's definitely a certain taste. I appreciate her grim, horrific, and sometimes disgusting plots and characters. But I totally understand how they could seem like pure shock-value for a reader.
I do agree that the whodunnit aspect wasn't great. (view spoiler)[I personally thought it was the mom, because she was just an awful awful human being, so I was sort of surprised when it was the half-sister. And then when she killed again in Chicago at the end, I was utterly shocked. At least I think that's what I remember happening... (hide spoiler)] It was this tiny town with very few potential suspects.
Based on the reasons you outlined above, I doubt you'd much appreciate Flynn's other books. If you do give her another go, though, I think Gone Girl is much superior to Dark Places and to Sharp Objects. However, it seems to inspire extreme opinions: either abject hatred or unadulterated love.