Are you craving more Gillian Flynn, but have already seen the movies and read all of her books? Me too. So when I saw she had a new book out, I was pretty excited. Unfortunately, this book is only 60 pages long. It is kind of like dangling a mouse in front of a cat, and then only letting the cat lick the mouse, getting hardly any of the delectable taste.

The Grownup is creepy. It is short. It left me feeling like I had missed something. The cover is eye-catching. I think everyone who knows about Gillian’s blockbuster books will want to read it, but in my opinion, it is nothing special. One good thing about it is that it only takes about half an hour to read, which would be awesome for someone who is short on time.

Ms. Flynn might be trying her hand at a little bit of the paranormal, but I’m not sure. As I mentioned, the story seems a little unfinished, so it was hard to really grasp what was happening. I might even have to re-read it to be sure I caught everything. Maybe the second time around it will make more sense.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  2 religious exclamations; 1 mild obscenity; 4 derogatory names; 3 anatomical terms.

Violence/Gore: Third degree burns are mentioned; a violent drawing is described briefly; a woman is mentioned to have died in childbirth; death threats are made; a child is mentioned to have been found dead; a child is mentioned to have blood on him.

Sex/Nudity:  A woman gives hand jobs to men as an occupation, this is the subject of a few partial pages at the beginning of the book; hookers are mentioned; sex work is referred to; a character is referred to as “sexy”.

Mature Subject Matter:

Sex work, death, violence.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Adults drink; drug problems are mentioned.