Book Review: The GrownUp by Gillian Flynn

“Empathetic silence is one of the most underused weapons in the world.”

― Gillian Flynn, The Grownup

Gillian Flynn's short tale "The Grownup" was first released under the title "What Do You Do?" in the Rogues anthology from 2014, curated by Gardner Dozois and George R. R. Martin. It received the Best Short Story Edgar Award in 2015. In the same year, Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK and Crown in the US both released it as a standalone book.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

A canny young woman is struggling to survive by perpetrating various levels of mostly harmless fraud. On a rainy April morning, she is reading auras at Spiritual Palms when Susan Burke walks in. A keen observer of human behavior, our unnamed narrator immediately diagnoses beautiful, rich Susan as an unhappy woman eager to give her lovely life a drama injection. However, when the "psychic" visits the eerie Victorian home that has been the source of Susan's terror and grief, she realizes she may not have to pretend to believe in ghosts anymore. Miles, Susan's teenage stepson, doesn't help matters with his disturbing manner and grisly imagination. The three are soon locked in a chilling battle to discover where the evil truly lurks and what, if anything, can be done to escape it.

My reaction to this novel...

Gillian Flynn is one of my favorite authors of psychological thriller. I read her Gone Girl, which was the beginning of it, and I became a devoted reader of psychologically twisted literature. I don't know why, but it's kind of exciting to keep speculating on whodunit all the way to the book's conclusion. I also felt that part of her book was excellent. You'll remain uncertain up to the very end.

The short stories in this book may all be read in one sitting. I find this one to be a little peculiar. You'll be curious about this book after reading the first page. I really read the first paragraph multiple times because I thought I was misreading it, but eventually I realized I was wrong.

Anyway, when I read the chapter about Susan and Miles, I was terrified. Because it was so terrifying, I just took a 30-minute rest before resuming. It was so creepy that I kept thinking about the entire event. I was shocked and confused when Miles eventually confessed everything. I was perplexed, and I'm still dubious about the true meaning of this work. The tale wasn't long enough, and I wanted to know more about what happened to the main character, so I simply wished that this book wasn't so short.

Despite the novel's short length, I felt a connection to the characters. It was an odd little story that was quite evil. She could build a future supernatural or horror-themed fiction on this. She tells stories in a unique way, and I hope she keeps writing stories like this. I've read every one of her books, so I'm looking forward to what she writes next.

I really want to recommend it to everyone, especially if you appreciate at least one of her works or if you enjoy reading about imperfect characters in challenging situations.

My Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐(4/5)

“Feeling sad means having too much time on your hands, usually.”

This is real because if you have too much free time or are not engaged in activities that will keep you occupied, you will experience all the sadness you are currently experiencing because you will have plenty of opportunity to reflect and think about things that will make you unhappy. Because of this, the majority of individuals make a point of acting on their sadness. They keep themselves occupied so that they don't have time to reflect on the awful things they are going through.