I haven't read this book since elementary school and it still was a fun read. It's definitely something that I can see myself reading with the kiddo that's currently on its way at some point in the future. That being said, if I had read this for the first time at 30 I would probably have rated it 3 stars.
If Gone Girl wasn't on Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime, which I'm reading through with my wife, then I would have quit about 50 pages in. The first 50 pages are full of so much navel gazing that it was painful to read.I will admit that I did chuckle a bit when later in the novel one of the two main characters actually admitted as such. That bit did get a bit better, but the characters have zero redeeming qualities and the twist happens halfway through the book. The cards had been laid on the table and there was still half a book to get through. The only characters that aren't completely terrible are Go and Rhonda. But Rhonda doesn't even get any sort of personality until the novel is wrapping up.
I could see it coming but I was still pissed at the ending. This is it? Seriously?
Simply Fantastic. It's one of those books that you'll be thinking about for long after you've read it. The author describes this on his blog as Lord of the Flies meets Alien. I don't know how much I agree with the alien part but it definitely is very similar to Lord of the Flies. Except, while not a huge fan of Lord of the Flies, I absolutely loved this book.