Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Dark Places is perhaps bleaker than Gone Girl, and much less playful or, uh, meta. The men are despicable and desperate, basically irredeemable. The women are slightly better, even though some of them are pretty cringe worthy, too. At least they seem to have more life in them than the men.

The poverty she describes is grotesque. It makes everything and everyone in the story grotesque, even those who supposedly have money. I must admit I did want to know what it's like, egged on by a morbid curiosity, so it would not be fair for me to complain about it now. It's not easy to read. No wonder people want escapist entertainment. Lousy, pathetic lives like a puddle of mud. Can't they have a bit of color and dignity too? Ugh. 

Sometimes I feel I've always had a bit of princess tendencies. Now I am just terribly grateful for it.