“Sometimes if you let people do things to you, you're really doing it to them.”

I'm finally caught up on Gillian Flynn's books, though I went at them in reverse order.

Less than a year ago a young girl was found dead, floating in a stream, strangled, with her teeth removed. Now a second girl, about the same age, has gone missing. Camille Preaker is a young Chicago reporter with a troubled past. When the second young girl goes missing in her home town, Wind Gap, MO, Camille’s boss sends her down to get the inside scoop.

I felt like this book was way too slow paced for how short it was, and it sort of bugged me that the big reveal and explanation was left to the very end. It was like nothing nothing nothing BAM EVERYTHING.

I'm not sure what to say about this book because while I think it reads like a bestseller should, I didn't enjoy it. The prose is compelling in that I felt compelled to finish it, and I did. I wanted to put it down but I wanted to get it over with. It was just a story about cruelty and the heartlessness and boredom of women and girls living "it up" in small town Midwest. The idea for the book was not bad and the writing style was okay, however the characters were awful.

Needless to say, that it is with obvious disappointment I'm giving this book only 2 stars. I had high hopes for Flynn's first published novel.

This book robs one of smiles, of the beauty of life, and even of the reason for love. It is not only bitter, but leaves one with an unpleasant smell of what I'd like to call rotten feelings. I can't brand the book dull, but I can promise you that you'll feel dull once you've read it. I don't recommend it.