Publication Date: May 24, 2012
Publisher: Broadway Books
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 415
Dates Read: June 9-23, 2019
Format: eBook & Audiobook
Buy on Amazon
My Goodreads Review
GOODREADS SUMMARY
📖 “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 from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. 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 the 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?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.
One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.” 📖
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
3.5 STARS
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
I have such conflicting feelings on this novel and what I want to rate it 🤦🏻♀️ It is floating somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. I also couldn’t write this review without some spoilers, just because it’s the only way to thoroughly express my feelings on it.
When it comes to originality, creativity, and good stories… it was great! But when it came to enjoyment?…. I struggled HARD. This book took me 2 weeks to read. I eventually had to listen to the audiobook to finish it 🤷🏻♀️
Summary:
This is the story of Nick and Amy- a couple who have been married for 5 years and have recently struggled. On the day of their 5th anniversary Amy goes missing, and it looks like foul play. Pretty soon Nick finds himself a prime suspect as all clues lead to him.
So this was told from different POV:
-Nick in the present
-Amy through her journal (7 years prior to present)
Nicks POV at first makes him come off as the ‘Nice Guy’, with everybody-loves-Nick vibes, although he obviously can’t stand his wife. 🙄
Amy’s diary entries tell of “Amazing Amy”. A rich girl who’s parents based their best-selling books on, who can’t live up to their ideal of their “Amazing Amy” these entries also make her out to be pathetic and weak. She basically comes off as a girl everyone can walk all over. Until the second half when we start getting present Amy’s POV and realize that everything was a lie and she is a complete sociopath.
Both Amy and Nick’s POV stories start clashing and you start to see that one of them-or both-cannot be telling the whole truth. These parts of the story are exciting, like a ticking time bomb that you know is about to explode. This made the first half of the book MUCH more enjoyable to read.
The first half was disturbing and intriguing at the same time.
The second half?….. was disappointing to put it mildly.
I felt that the characters change in the second half for the worse. The only way I can describe it is that it feels like Flynn molded the characters in order to get the outcome she wanted.
Amy-a brilliant sociopath who planned everything to “perfection” for over a year- now turns into a pathetic child who comes crawling back to Nick because of his ‘heartfelt plea’ on TV. Then once she is back with him can resume the role of evil genius? Huh? It doesn’t make sense.
Nick- Who we actually see is selfish and pathetic, quickly and annoyingly becomes the “self-sacrificing” Nice guy once Amy becomes the “villain”.
It all started coming together way too conveniently and then…. BAM that horrible ending 🤦🏻♀️🙄
Like all I could think in the end was that they were both horrible human beings and they deserved each other.
(And maybe that was the point? 🤷🏻♀️)
It would have been much more enjoyable if Amy got what was coming for her, or we got to see a glimpse at what happens after they have the baby. The way it ended just left more questions unanswered and that bothered me in this novel.
Overall I think that Gillian Flynn has a brilliant mind and has a great way of telling a story, but the second half of the novel made me question whether or not I want to read any of her other novels.
Content:
Language: Severe throughout–language turned crude and gratuitous toward the end
Violence: Talk of murder and some minor domestic violence
Religious: No
Other: A few minor sexual scenes, and an affair is depicted
Alicia Reads It 