Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl was one of my favorite books I have ever read, but the same cannot be said for Sharp Objects because it’s too much of a slow burn that it hinders the novel.
While the book is written exceptionally well it takes a while to get into and for a short novel like this that can be a problem.
The main character Camille Preaker is sent back to her small hometown to cover the murder of two young girls.
While there she stays with her mother and that starts to bring up traumatic childhood memories which start to take hold on Camille’s mental health.
While reading you are heavily invested in Camille’s journey of trying to solve this mystery while she also falls deeper into a rabbit hole, and you do care deeply about her wellbeing.
The strong point of the book is the character development and the provides us with characters that have depth and complex motives and emotions.
Sharp Objects starts to fall apart with the length of the book and its inability to grip the reader halfway through.
If Flynn had created a longer book it would have been near a masterpiece, but since it’s shorter in length when we finally get to the climax and the resolution it feels rushed and a little sloppy.
We can clearly tell that Flynn is a top notch writer but I feel that personally the mystery needed more time to unravel and to create even more tension for the reader.
Like I have said, while reading you are connected deeply to Camille, and her family and their relationship throughout the book is complex and tense.
To me it felt more like a family drama novel than a murder mystery and as I keep stating if Flynn had extended the story she would have created something special and a story that was even more complex than it already was.
Her ability though to create this story that has so many pieces to it really creates a delicate glasslike relationship and story that could crack at any minute.
I did find the ending to be surprising and while I felt it was rushed it was a clever finale just like Gone Girl, that left you puzzled as to how you didn’t see it.
That tense nature of the book and Flynn’s writing played through the novel and when reaching the rapid conclusion it all comes crashing down in dramatic fashion.
While Flynn is a master at creating a tense environment, she sells herself quite literally short here and would have benefited from a longer novel leaving the reader a little confused at how quickly it all ended. Nevertheless Sharp Objects is a fun summer read.
I give Sharp Objects a C+
