Review: Sharp Objects

Sharp Objects
by Gillian Flynn
Published September 26th 2006
by Shae Areheart Books

WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heart 
Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker’s troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille’s first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls.

NASTY on her kneecap, BABYDOLL on her leg
Since she left town eight years ago, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed again in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille is haunted by the childhood tragedy she has spent her whole life trying to cut from her memory.

HARMFUL on her wrist, WHORE on her ankle
As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming.

With its taut, crafted writing, Sharp Objects is addictive, haunting, and unforgettable.

Though I finished this book the day I got it, weeks ago, I still cannot comprehend why it hasn't gotten more attention since its release in 2006. Even as a debut author, Flynn wove an ingenious plot that haunted me for days after turning the final page. I can't pin my obsession down to a specific aspect -- Sharp Objects just has that x-factor that readers crave in a good book.

Flynn's writing style may have had something to do with it. Her writing is like the most invasive and addictive of drugs. Every paragraph rubbed me raw, not withholding a single detail for the sake of anyone's sanity. Just reading the book made me feel scummy and unworthy, like all of the decay described in the book was leaking out onto my hands. It took all of my energy to remind myself that Sharp Objects is only a work of fiction -- though every word seemed to be trying to prove otherwise, twisting my psyche to the point where I realized that with the right (or more appropriately wrong) group of people, this book could easily become real. And that thought, you'll learn, is a terrifying one.

The corruption begins with the characters. I guess I assumed that the synopsis was exaggerating the insanity of this book, as many summaries do. But it didn't take long for me to realize that everyone in the disturbing cast of characters is guilty until proven innocent -- and very few of them passed the test. There was red herring after red herring thrown around in the book, but if a character was falsely accused of one crime, you could be sure that whatever they had really done was at least three times as horrific.

I wish I could get into details about the characters, but I truly can't without giving away key plot elements of the story. Flynn does a thorough job of making their relationships realistic, though, from family friends to estranged siblings. There were few moments where any characters blended together or any of their stories struck me as illogical, which is really something for Flynn to be proud of, considering I can't even count all the characters on my fingers and toes.

Though the characters are what brings the story to life, the plot is what gives them a story to bring to life. And oh man, what a plot it is. What starts as a simple murder mystery soon escalates to a conspiracy theory, which soon escalates to something much deeper and frightening than even the brightest of readers could predict. Camille starts off someone who seems to have gotten back on her feet, but after spending mere days in her hometown, she is diminished to a shivering pile of insecurities and demons that she never truly left behind. In a way, the message here could be that it's very difficult to come back to a place that you ran away from, even if you know that you can never really leave it all behind.

But of course,  Gillian Flynn would never make it that simple.

Sharp Objects is a real razor blade in the rough.

12345 stars

Review: The Duff

The Duff
by Kody Keplinger
Published September 7th 2010
by Little Brown

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face. 

But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

Every time I'd go to the library I'd pass this book and every time I'd pick it up, stare at it for a few moments, then set it back down without even reading the summary. It's safe to say that I do judge a book by its cover, but it's also safe to say that this strategy of mine kept me from wasting my time, because The Duff was a read I could have done without.

It wasn't that Kody Keplinger's writing was terrible. Keplinger's style wasn't anything special, but it kept me interested enough to turn Just One More Page when I was about to give up on The Duff. I have yet to decide if this was because Keplinger has skill, or because the train wreck of a storyline was almost too horrible to look away from. You know those horror movies that are vile and frightening and compel you to turn on every light in the house? You can't look away, even though you want to. That describes my relationship with The Duff.

I will, however, give this book the benefit of the doubt, because I started it right after finishing Hold Still (review here) and there was a constant comparison running in the back of my mind while I read The Duff. Particularly, in the case of characters. While Hold Still had 3-D characters with believable back stories and realistic relationships to each other, The Duff featured 2-D characters whose relationships were built on flimsy coincidences. There was not a single character in the book that I could have imagined existing in the real world.

First, we have Bianca, the main character. Sarcastic, naive Bianca. Her friends say she has a 'cynical' view on the world, she calls it 'realistic,' and the only appropriate adjective is actually 'blind.' Bianca is of those main characters who has sexual tension with a 'douche bag' and won't admit it nor acknowledge it until someone else does for her. Of course, by the time anyone mentions this to Bianca, readers have already been to the emergency room and back, for slamming their head on their desks and wondering why on Earth Bianca hasn't realized it yet.

Second, we have Casey, the best friend. It's clear from the way Casey is put up on a pedestal, that we are meant to think she's the best friend a girl could have. Casey stood up for Bianca when they were kids, was there for her after her first heartbreak freshman year, and is constantly asking if Bianca is 'okay.' Keplinger includes multiple instances of 'Girls' Night In' and 'Girls Night Out' and all sorts of planned activities between Casey and Bianca that are supposed to be the foundation of friendship. But the thing is, that's all they are: the foundation. Everything about Casey and Bianca's friendship, as well as their mutual friendship with Jessica, felt forced and superficial. There was never a moment when I believed that Casey truly cared about Bianca, or that they were genuinely excited to spend time together.

Thirdly, Bianca's parents. Bianca's parents are put there strictly as plot mechanisms and come off as caricatures as opposed to characters. Bianca's father is a recovering alcoholic who calls her 'bumblebee' and only questions the boy in her bedroom because he is drunk. Bianca's mother is a tan, 'hot mom,' who is away on business for most of the book and is mostly characterized by the way she dresses (young) and the color of her hair (blonde.) Suffice to say, Bianca's parents are only included to spark up Bianca's claim that she is 'fucked up' and to drive her into the arms of men. Not exactly the goals of parenting, huh?

And Bianca's parents do succeed in tricking us into thinking there is depth and a plot here, along with the rest of The Duff's cast. Though there is no underlying plot line to this book, there is a long string of  plot mechanisms that are supposed to look like one. As I read along, I began to make a mental list, but it's such a ridiculous list that I won't bog down this blog post with it. Just know that it included a divorce, multiple forbidden romances, ill-timed visits, alcoholism, troubled home lives, OCD, and lots and lots of sex. None of which which were well-developed or realistically portrayed. Everything and everyone was turned into a 2-D caricature, from the cheerleading best friend to the abusive, alcoholic father.


Maybe I would have liked The Duff if the author had taken the time to research and develop the themes included in this book. Maybe I would have enjoyed the characters if they had been more like real people and less like stick figures. Maybe I would have given this more than two stars if any of the philosophical conclusions Bianca made were legitimate.

There was so much undeveloped potential here and so much unnecessary detail.

2 stars

Review: Hold Still

Hold Still
by Nina LaCour
Published September 25th 2009
by Penguin

An arresting story about starting over after a friend's suicide, from a breakthrough new voice in YA fiction

Dear Caitlin, there are so many things that i want so badly to tell you but i just can't.

Devastating, hopeful, hopeless, playful . . . in words and illustrations, Ingrid left behind a painful farewell in her journal for Caitlin. Now Caitlin is left alone, by loss and by choice, struggling to find renewed hope in the wake of her best friend's suicide. With the help of family and newfound friends, Caitlin will encounter first love, broaden her horizons, and start to realize that true friendship didn't die with Ingrid. And the journal which once seemed only to chronicle Ingrid's descent into depression, becomes the tool by which Caitlin once again reaches out to all those who loved Ingrid - and Caitlin herself.

Out of the ten books I picked up at the library last Sunday, Hold Still was undoubtedly the one I was most excited about. Numerous friends of mine had recommended it and the reviews it received on Good Reads were very positive, so I deduced that this book had that 'wow-factor' I'd been searching for ever since I read Stay With Me by Garret Freymann-Weyr (a novel that also revolves around a loved one's suicide). Stay With Me was written in beautiful prose that didn't sacrifice clarity or meaning, which is that 'wow' style I've been on the hunt for ever since finishing.

Hold Still has ended that hunt. The way LaCour laces philosophies into prose is very seamless and leaves the reader thinking without being demanding or preachy. All the things that run through Caitlin's mind, both about Ingrid and life in general, are spot-on and insightful -- but not to the point where we forget that this is a teenaged girl. Caitlin's inner-monologue breathes believability and that, above beautiful prose and quote-worthy lines, is something LaCour should be very proud of.

Another thing that LaCour should get a shiny, gold medal for is her characterization. From absent-Ingrid, to hardly-mentioned-Henry, every character was realistic and unique. In fact, one of my status updates on Good Reads while reading this book was 'I swear these characters are real people and that I've seen them walking around town before.' It wasn't that LaCour spent extensive time describing and building these characters (because she didn't, in most cases), but that she made every word about them count. The only time when characterization may have fell short the tiniest bit was when Alisha's followers were described, based only on their tank tops and actions towards Henry. They were mainly referred to by whatever label was on their tank top (one of them was spoiled, one of them was princess, etc) and for the most part blended together. However, I took a step back and reminded myself that this is through Caitlin's eyes, Caitlin who is only human and deals with superficial people like the rest of us. Considering how well-developed the rest of the cast was, it's safe to assume that LaCour knew what she was doing when she let the followers fade into the background.

Writing, characters, the last thing I want to address is the plot. Hold Still didn't really have a plot, at least not a very defined one. We readers wade through Caitlin's journey in sections labeled off by season and then numbers within each season. The shift in season and gradual shift in Caitlin's mindset were what drove the story, as opposed to a traditional plot. While this may irritate those that are fond of a clear beginning, middle, and ending, I found this format to be very conducive to the story and characters that LaCour wanted to write about. There wasn't a plot that drove Hold Still, but LaCour proved that books don't always need a defined plot in order to be beautiful, memorable, and well-written.

12345 stars

I am an Indie Flower

I am also awake at five a.m. making a blog post so I can text (it's that late, guys) test how everything looks. I guess this post can act as that super awkward 'welcome to my blog, nonexistent readers' post that every blogger must suffer through. The truth about these posts is that you're literally talking to the wall, or the equivalent of a wall in cyber space. Because who gives away their url before posting? It's kind of an embarrassing, paradoxical* thing, the first post of a blog: you can't win over followers before posting, but you have no followers to post for.

The title of this post was inspired by a lovely font I found in the font index of Blogger. Indie flower. I figure that, since I wasn't given context as to what an indie flower is, I can imagine it to be whatever I like. The first thing that came to mind was the title of this post "I am an indie flower." It sounds like a pretentious new way of saying "I'm a flower child." Mull that over while I pass out.

xoxo,
Halle

*Paradoxical is my word of the week. It's not new to my vocabulary, but it only recently started seeming relevant and interesting.