A ultra-dark true crime mystery, this is my first time reading Gillian Flynn (shocking!), and I can now understand her reputation—there's a raw, in-your-face grittiness in her writing that is very distinct from the typical concise, streamlined thriller prose, it reads almost literary in parts.

I can say I appreciated Dark Places more than I enjoyed it, if the label 'dark romance' exists for romantic stories featuring shadier subject matters, then Dark Places would be a prime example as the equivalent in the mystery/thriller genre. The compounding effect of unfortunate events happening to characters living at the fringe of society can feel gratuitous and mean-spirited at times (reminding me how I love horror movies, but dislike ones bordering on torture porn). So while I appreciated the layers of storytelling (the ending is definitely unpredictable and very over-the-top complicating) and character development, part of me also felt slightly repulsed about reading bad things happening to under-served people as entertainment.

I did not expect Dark Places to bring on so may philosophical self-reflection about enjoying thrillers, but this novel is indeed very dark, and it has been awhile to have a story actually impacting me emotionally after finishing (I binged animated and comedy films for a few days to re-calibrate). So yeah, guess I really should read Gone Girl now!

**The Book Troop Book Club January 2025 Selection**