This book truly did take me to some very "dark places." But this was a good thing, because when I read the first paragraph on the description of the book, I was immediately hooked and knew I wanted to go investigate this dark place. There were a few parts that were so truly chilling and disturbing that I had to grit my teeth and brace myself moving forward. For me though, just that there are stories like this that can take me on such a journey and feel this way, these are the kind of books I enjoy. I will also say that some of the dark themes in this story actually ring true to personal events and experiences in my own life, some from my past and some reflecting things that are actually taking place right now in my life with my own family. So that element of this story "hitting home" solidly pushed my rating up to 5 stars, and I'd honestly recommend this book. This is my second G. Flynn book after reading GONE GIRL last year. I loved that book too and so I had a good feeling this one would equally deliver, and it did! 
 There is a film version of this book that just came out on Dvd so I plan to rent it asap.