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TW: self-harm

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn was definitely a novel outside of my normal reading habits. Camille Preaker is the protagonist of this novel--she's a cutter who recently finished a stay at a mental health institution. She's gone back to work and as one of her first major assignments, she's sent back to her hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri. There's been two little girl murdered and Camille's editor wants to be the first "major" newspaper in on the story.

Camille does not have a good relationship with her family. Frankly, Camille does not have a good relationship with herself. She's stopped cutting, but she's turned to alcoholism instead. Camille has no respect for her own body--I mean, I am all for doing what you want with your own body, but only when it isn't a choice made with a self-destructive intent. Camille takes drugs and sleeps with people with the intent to hurt her own body.

I wasn't a fan of Sharp Objects. I didn't really understand where it was going at first but then the ending seemed obvious as it approached. I felt like all the women characters were the worst representations of women ever. Like there isn't a single kind woman in the entire book. There are a lot of women characters which I support, but they are all terrible people. They all reinforce the stereotype that women are bitches and that women are extra bitches to each other. I don't like that.

Maybe if you like mysteries and aren't particularly focused on how women are represented in media, you might enjoy this book.


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