Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl
By Gillian Flynn

Published: April 22, 2014
Read: February 1-8, 2017
Genre: Thriller

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and media—as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? (Amazon)





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Why did you read this book?
Despite all the hype (which usually makes me want to read a book, just to quench the curiosity that results from the aforementioned hype), I had never planned on reading this book. It “wasn’t my genre”. And it’s true, I generally don’t read thriller/mystery books. However, one of my roommates recommended it to me and I trust her opinion. Also, she bought the book while we were used book shopping, so she was able to lend it to me.

What did you like about this book?
I loved the structure and the writing style of this book. Sometimes when a book switches between points of view, especially when it’s in first person, it’s easy to mix the characters up. However, in Gone Girl, Nick and Amy have two very different voices. It also helps that their points of view also follow different timelines. Amy’s is told in the past through diary entries and Nick’s takes place in present time. And the writing is fantastic. Gillian Flynn made these character believable, relatable, and three dimensional. You could hate them and relate to them on the same page. This is a book where most of the story occurs at the climax, so before that it’s a very slow build up. Even though there were parts where nothing seemed to be happening, particularly in the first half, I was still entertained simply by the voices of the characters. And Amy. Freaking, crazy Amy. She's nuts. But she was my favorite character for most of the book mostly because she was so entertaining (in a psychotic way).

What didn't you like about this book?
As I said, thriller/mystery isn't really my genre. I was kind of bored with the story because it took so long for things to happen. I didn't start to really enjoy the book until about two thirds of the way into it. As impressed as I was with Flynn's writing, I did take issue with Amy's diary entries. I liked reading those parts, but they didn't read as diary entries. I understand why it was written that way, but I think Flynn could have done a better job giving it a diary feel. And the end. It felt rushed. It had that summary feel to endings that I don't particularly enjoy. It summarized and the points of view got shorter and shorter. And then it just ends. I don't know, I think it could have been more thought out and overall a better ending.

Bottom-Line:
It wasn't a fantastic book, it wasn't a horrible book. It was a good book that I would recommend to the right person, but probably won't read again. I think part of my problem with it is I just don't enjoy mystery books, even with the thriller element because all of the action occurs at the climax. I prefer the realm of science fiction and fantasy (and yes, romance). I am curious to see the movie, although I've heard from fans of the book that it was pretty terrible. Actually, I've heard from people that didn't read the book that the movie kind of bombed. However, with my expectations this low, how bad can it be?




"I felt a queasy mixture of relief and horror: when you finally stop an itch and realize it's because you've ripped a hole in your skin." -Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn