Sharp Objects

How it reads

Sharp Objects is thriller (psychological thriller, specifically), and its dominant mood is dark. It goes to difficult places and doesn't look away. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in a small town setting, in the present day, told in the first person by a single narrator. Its central concerns are secrets, family and loss and grief. In weight it's heavy and literary — denser, more serious, and more demanding of you.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is dark — no rescue, no neat bow. At 254 pages it's a quick read. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.