Gone Girl

read for summerween 2022

this book for me i think is actually a 3 star just because of how slow and long it is but there was so much nuance added in the twists and characters that i have to raise the rating. i can also appreciate that this book set the stage for domestic thrillers which makes me give it a higher rating as well. 

the entire time i was reading, i had an itch to just get to the end and find out what happened. it wasn't so...mindfuck? like i kind of guessed that she faked her own death to frame her husband. that much was obvious. the only shock i received was that the diary was fake. i knew she would come back. the ending sucked, like, it was twisted and fucked up. the characters were really terrible, like so well written that you couldnt help but hate them

I know I am supposed to say my mind was blown and that the book “got me” at the end, but that would be an understatement. I feel as though I was manipulated throughout. It's scary because you are thinking about what you would do in that messed up situation, and that is not a mind space you want to be in. That is how the book grabs you and does not let go. It's hard to not talk about the ending, but I feel dirty about how it “ended” up. We always say we want a clean-cut, satisfying ending, but we are not given that luxury. 

Yikes, I need a shower. 

Part 1: Started interesting, then quickly became exhausting and remained that way.

Part 2: Big twist out of nowhere, reminiscent of BBC Sherlock in that no indication is made beforehand in an effort to make the book look clever when it isn't. Shenanigans ensue.

Part 3: I honestly just waited for it to be over. I was listening to the audiobook, so at least the narration by Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne were consistently great.

It was interesting as hell and Amy .........

The suspense was killing me! Once I really got Gone Girl, I couldn't stop reading it. To use one of my favorite bookish terms, a great deal of this book was absolutely unputdownable. I had high hopes for Gone Girl—given my love of thrillers and the book's popularity—and it did not disappoint!

Nick and Amy as narrators truly made the story. I say it all the time and I'll say it again: I love a good complex character, and Nick and Amy are certainly that. I find it far more fascinating when

I didn't know how this book would hold up going into it having already seen the movie, but I had fun. Each (awful) character has a unique voice, and going into it already knowing what's going to happen made me appreciate the careful way the first section was crafted. Unfortunately, after the “reveal” the book drags most of the way through the middle section (way too much mundane day-to-day stuff), and parts of the final third were a little too convenient for me, but I thought the ending was great. 

An incredible second half marred by a boring first half

I haven't been as engaged with a thriller book like this in a long while. I was listening to this via audiobook as I drove for half a day to go on vacation, and then when I arrived I kept sneaking in time to listen to more because I wanted to see what would happen next. The format of bouncing between the husband's perspective and missing wife's journals probably isn't really a new idea, but works well here to build tension and keep the reader guessing. These characters are really interestingly drawn as well, early on I thought some of the writing was a bit pretentious or eye-rolly, but quickly realized that was intentional characterization.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but unfortunately I kind of suspected some plot points just based on little comments or whatever that I have read about the movie unintentionally, I wish I had zero knowledge going into this, but it was still fun to second guess myself a bit and try to figure out how things would get to where I thought they were going.

3.75 stars :)

the start was soooooooo slow, I started this book 5 times over the years but couldn't get past 50 pages but I finally pushed through (because I want to see the movie lol) and im glad I did!

I was spoiled but everything still took me by surprise!

I hated every character. It was so good.

In this one, Flynn finally develops her themes instead of just kind of presenting them. She also gets better at pacing, though the end of the book drags a little (I'm not sure that'd be the case if you hadn't already seen the film, though; at least this book didn't just suddenly come to an abrupt ending at the second half of the last chapter with a tacked on happy ending paragraph).

I think Flynn's books might just not be for me, because while this is inarguably her best written book, it was also, for me, the least enjoyable. Again, though, that could have been due to having seen the film first (but, admittedly, I was spoiled for the twists in Sharps Objects and Dark Places and didn't find those as much of a drag, so ???). Great job me, coming to this conclusion after reading three books by her. I'm kind of a bozo.

I feel like this book leads you in a very specific direction to make you truly believe the whole thing and then, by half of the story, its meaning totally changes and starts to get really exciting. I wasn't loving it at first but I think it gets quite thrilling towards the end.
This is the most accurate - and extreme - representation of a marriage gone wrong. Also, one of the main characters of this book is pretty strong, which I loved.
Film is pretty good as well, it sticks completely to the story from the book.

A true love, but not a love at first sight. Book took me a minute to get into but was for sure a personal favorite.

Part 1 slowly started to burn. I was like mostly how's Amy going to plot this!??
But i felt that from Part 2 to Part 3 was rushed. It was tiny tiny weird that how quickly Amy changed her mind to run back to Nick if she steadily and strongly planned her ghosting plan for a whole year.

But writing wise, i enjoyed Gilian's way of story telling. I was well traveled with each character's mind. The ambience of psychological thriller was so so so good. I learnt so many vocabularies and new words.

This is a 3-star book that I wanted to knock down to 2 because it includes a female character lying about being raped, a lot. I'm not okay with fictional stories including the narrative that women can easily make false rape accusations. But I'm going to stick with 3 stars after a day of waffling, mainly due to the intent of the author.

The rest of the book was okay. All the characters are unlikable, which works for the story. It was pretty predictable and unsurprising (which I was disappointed by) and the last half was a bit boring and uneventful. I kept waiting for a second twist that never came. I was intrigued enough throughout the story though, so that's why I lean toward 3 stars. It just wasn't as exciting as I was hoping it would be.

I get that this book is supposed to pit the misogynist against the misandrist. However, I didn't find the characters particularly complex, so this battle fell very flat for me. Instead, it landed in a weird spot that dangerously resembled fuel for misogynists. Maybe it's because cheating husbands and misogynists are less villainized in society, especially compared to women who lie about rape or “trap” a man with pregnancy. There was not enough discussion on these points to prevent it from easily fulfilling a misogynist's wet dream of a “feminazi” or evil women. Couple that with Nick being a mostly-innocent, framed husband whose only crimes were cheating and calling his wife names in his head. It's not hard to see which character is more “right” and sympathetic, at least on paper. When the goal of the book is to portray the clash between misogyny and misandry, but the misogynist commits lesser and fewer crimes, there's a foregone conclusion. Combine this with Amy's own internalized misogyny, plus other flat female characters, and I ended up very frustrated. I just needed much more complexity than there was, instead of walking stereotypes.

Like I said, these unlikable characters worked for the story, and I would be fine with Amy doing all the stereotypical “evil woman” things if there was more commentary on it. Same with Nick and his stereotypical “bastard husband” behavior.

Finally, I understand the love for the “Cool Girl” speech Amy writes and how women identify with it. I think it resonates strongly with a lot of people, and not many excerpts from thrillers accomplish that.

I hate both of these characters but I am seriously in awe of amy

It was a roller coaster ride. I actually enjoyed the book as it is - for the writing, rather than the plot.
The plot had a really nice body but no head and tail.
Attention to detail is fascinating, the author is, no doubt, a genius. Parts I and II are thrilling, but the third one was bleak. When I was near the end of part I, I wondered why Fincher would make a movie out of this. When part II gets over I realized it's a pretty good thriller but not Fincher yet. Part III made it pretty clear.
‘That's the way to do it!'

4.5

Love love it! it's the kind of book that you can't stop reading. Some people didn't like the ending but I found that the ending was just right.

so um psycho bitch.... yes that's absolutely correct

I've never read a book where I've disliked every single character before. it was an interesting read, especially with the format. the ending felt weirdly satisfying. the section with the travellers felt frustrating, but it makes sense as a plot device. pretty unrealistic.

I absolutely loved this book! The plot makes it impossible to put down. I had seen the movie a few years ago and I remembered the general ending, but no details. This didn't spoil the book for me at all, the story is woven with such detail you cannot stop reading even if you have guessed what is going to happen next. I enjoyed how richly the main characters were painted, how deep were their emotional portraits.

I can highly recommend the audiobook, narrated by Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne.

Story: 6.5 / 10
Characters: 10
Setting: 7
Prose: 7

Absolutely loved the movie, but sadly am quite uncertain about the novel. Starts off quite slow and very gradually improves until one of the best endings I can remember. Cannot wholeheartedly recommend the book, especially not for those unlikely to struggle through the first 40%.

Wow. This book blew me away. I've been meaning to read it for so long and just finally got around to it. I've even put off watching the movie (which my Mom boasts is amazing) in order to enjoy the book first. I'm so glad I did because this book took me for a ride. I don't want to give anything away so I'll be brief. I loved this book and I loved the way it was written with past diary entries from the Missing Wife, Amy alternating with more current moments in the viewpoint of the husband, (who's suspected of murdering her) Nick.

The ending really makes this book for me (and will keep me thinking about it for months), even though I know some readers will hate it!

I probably put off reading this for so long due to the hype but in this case the hype did not disappoint.

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So I originally rated this a 4 but I came back and changed it to a 5 because it's been months and I really am still thinking about how crazy this book is! ...I'm not going to lie it kind of haunts my dreams...