Book Review: Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Earlier this year, I read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  If you want a review of that amazing novel which is supposed to be made into film soon-ish, you can find mine HERE. With that in mind, I decided to seek out her two earlier books and read them eventually.  I bought Sharp Objects a few months ago and as I try to balance the genre of novels I read, I finally decided to start this one earlier this week.  Sharp Objects is Gillian Flynn’s first novel and she was the Edgar Nominee for Best First Novel.

Sharp Objects is about Camille Preaker who is a reporter based in Chicago focusing on the darker criminal cases.  Her boss is eager to find that breakout case that can make the newspaper popular and shoot up in sales, so hearing about one case of brutal child murder and a following one with a missing child in Camille’s hometown, Wind Gap, he sends her there to try to get some information.  When she goes back, her memories of why she escapes tortures her from the death of her sister, her relationship with her mother and the days when she used to cut words onto her body.  On arrival, she seeks information that everyone reluctantly hides away from her as to protect the town but she meets the other out of town cop, Richard, who was sent to help out with the case also.  As she tries to uncover the truth, she realizes she has to confront some of her own issues before she can see clearly through this case.

Can I go straight out and say that I think Gillian Flynn just became one of the most awesome writers for thrillers? Gone Girl was an amazing book and it was her breakthrough one, I believe.  However, if you think her debut novel was any worse, you may be wrong. The only difference with this one is that it starts off a bit slower.

Sharp Objects has a slow beginning to build up the situation and understand the complex relationships in Wind Gap and to get to know our main character Camille a bit better and her very messed up past.  However, once you get past that, you get pulled right into the story itself as she pieces information together from past people in her lives and as she struggles with her own issues, we see how things are related even before she probably does.  Even with that, she keeps the readers guessing as to who is doing those cruel acts of violent murders to little preteen girls right to almost the very end.

Through a good part of this novel, I was on the “really like it” level and then when that ending came by and it went completely out of the world into crazy messed up phase, I was sold.  That ending made me feel like I was almost as anxious as running a marathon.  My heart was pounding from the intensity of how the situation unravels.

I highly recommend this novel.  Its a haunting, suspenseful psychological thriller that paces itself really well and then before you know it, you get sucked right into the action.  Your brain won’t rest one minute till you know who committed those crimes.  I believe addictive is the word to describe it.  That is a rarity in my novel reading experience, especially a double hit with one author.

I’m telling you now that after I take a break to erase some of the disturbing images I have from reading this, you should be expecting a review on her second book Dark Places soon-ish!

Book Review: A Woman Lost by T.B. Markinson

Seeing as its August recommendation month here, I decided to show some love for the fellow authors I follow.  Trust me, I buy ALL of your ebooks and store them on my tablet.  Trouble is, I’m still building the habit of reading on my tablet so it just sits there.  For this month, I’m venturing to read those books.  If you just followed me and you have a book, or you just saw this and wanted to share a book that you wrote with me, tweet, email, facebook message me, even search me up on Goodreads and tell me.  I’d love to showcase it here.  This month is about giving back to all of you.  There is just so much talent here that I can’t help but support it all.

First up is the ever wonderful T.B. Markinson’s debut novel A Woman Lost.  She has two blogs currently.  One is 50 Year Project and the other is Making Your Mark. I first met her on 50 Year Project and it where she showcases her travelling adventures all around the world, her reading and movie watching challenges.  Its a great personal journey to read.  Making Your Mark is the more recent blog featuring her world as a self-published author.  Both are very awesome and you should definitely stop by to check it out.

Lets start this review with a little synopsis:

A Woman Lost is about Elizabeth “Lizzie” Petrie who is intelligent and beautiful, has a trust fund as she pursues the career of her dreams and also has an attractive and sweet girlfriend Susan.  When her brother Peter calls her out of the blue to announce and invite her to his wedding and to meet his future wife, Maddie, she is forced to face her family that neglects and dislikes her, especially her mother who is unaccepting of her sexual orientation.  All her mother sees is Les-Bi-An. In this situation, she loses track of how her life should be and gets scared as Susan asks her to commit.  This fear, in turn makes her start avoiding the situation and questioning what she wants in her future.  Will Lizzie be able to conquer her fears and decide what she really wants?

I’m not a person thats crazy about chick literature.  I used to back in my high school days when I read Nicholas Sparks.  BUT, if  you use A Woman Lost to initiate that whole world of romance, its definitely a good start.  Its hard to believe this is a debut novel because it was really well written.  The story was enjoyable and had some pretty sexy and passionate sex scenes to top things off. I haven’t read an ebook (that was actually a novel) this fast but the story made me want to just keep going to find out what happens to a clueless and self-absorbed Lizzie.

What is great about the story is that even though it was a romance, it was also something of a self-discovery and a whole mural of other problems that influence relationships like family and our past for example. It makes it so much more realistic.  Thats one of the issues I usually have with romance novels.  This definitely didn’t go too far from being realistic.

Also, the characters in the story were great.  Even though, the main focus was on Lizzie and her partner Susan and her brother’s fiancee Maddie.  These characters lead the romantic story on really well.  However, my favorite has to be her behind the scenes best friend Ethan.  Those conversations made it a bit more humorous in a way and was always fun to read.

It was a really enjoyable and engaging romantic read.  I loved every minute of it.  It wasn’t too long either.  I highly recommend that you check this out and show a fellow blogger some love 🙂 If you aren’t into romance, maybe you know someone that does!