One thing that you might not glean from the blurb is that some of the content might cause discomfort for some readers. Here’s a big ole CW for you: sex, rape, self-harm, drug and alcohol misuse, child abuse/murder, and teeth.
Beyond that, this is a fairly standard thriller. Admittedly not told from the perspective of the police, instead from Camille the journalist, but it’s still predictable in terms of the ‘Whodunnit’ part of the plot. The clues Flynn leaves are big and obvious and I found myself wanting to reach in and shake Camille for being so blind to it all on several occasions. Perhaps that is the point? To show how we do not wish to believe the worst in the people we know, no matter how much evidence there is.
Camille is a walking litany of self-harm (sex, drugs, alcohol, sharp objects…), which I found a little difficult to read at times as she tries to defend her decisions as rational. This is a commonality I found with The Grownup, both protagonists are very sexual and use sex as a way to get what they want (as is one of the key supporting characters in Sharp Objects) however there is no criticism of this and how a society puts women in a position like that has something deeply wrong with it. Because of this, I can’t quite tell if Flynn is trying to be a pro-sex feminist, reclaiming it for women to wield or whether she’s playing into patriarchal rhetoric.
Given some of the issues I had with the book and the predictable perpetrator I don’t feel I can give this more than 3 stars. Entertaining enough but has it’s problems.
3/5
See this review on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3086425953
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