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Gone Girl

by Gillian Flynn (Goodreads Author)

3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 · rating details · 246,641 ratings · 46,722 reviews

Marriage can be a real killer.

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...more

Hardcover, US, 415 pages

Published June 5th 2012 by Crown (first published May 24th 2012)

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3rd out of 43 books — 213 voters

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May 11, 2013 Richard rated it 1 of 5 stars

***GONE GIRL CUPCAKES***

*****UPDATE 3/26/2013*****
See bottom of review. I think I need to re-think this oppositional review.
***UPDATE 3/31/2013***
See comment #181 below...not changing my mind about the book, remaining open to the writer's work.

Rating: 0.5* of five

The Book Report: The book description says:
Marriage can be a real killer.
One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time,New York Timesbestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdo...more

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May 02, 2013 Jeanette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-fiction, domestic-and-relationship-fiction, suspense-thriller, creepy-spooky-scary, av, four-star-fiction

Marguerite Yourcenar wrote long ago that "the mask, given time, comes to be the face itself." This can work for good or bad, but the more hideous the secrets, the more carefully that mask is constructed. So what if you discovered after five years of marriage that you'd only seen the mask, and never the real face of your spouse? Once those dark truths were revealed, could you stay married to that person?

Knowledge is power, and never more so than in an intimate relationship.
What if your spouse kn...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Gary McTiernan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-ebooks

Gone Girl is astounding. It is a gripping story of the courtship and marriage of a narcissist and a sociopath. They appear to be experiencing the normal setbacks of life during our recent financial meltdown: job loss, relocation, mounting debt, family illness etc. etc. It is easy to identify with them individually, which makes it harder to know who to root for when the wife disappears on the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary and the husband becomes the prime suspect. Neither seems to be...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Twisty like a pretzel, dark like unadulterated chocolate, and as compelling as a twisted car wreck, this thriller delivers! On their fifth anniversary, Nick and Amy's marriage implodes when Amy goes missing and Nick is hardly as distraught as he ought to be. Too much plot summary would detract from the pleasure of reading the book for yourself. Suffice it to say, this is one psychological mind bender accompanied by witty, incisive, laser beam writing; if you like that type of thriller, this one...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Tatiana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, mysteries-thrillers-horror, chick-lit, why-the-hype

As seen on The Readventurer

I am giving Gone Girl 3 stars, but only begrudgingly. In my mind, any book that takes me 3 months and 20 different tries to read is not worth 3 (i-liked-it on Goodreads) stars, especially a book written by an author I already respect. And I am not kidding, for me the first half of Gone Girl was a PURE TORTURE to read.

Amy Dunn disappears on the day of her 5th wedding anniversary. All gradually uncovered evidence suggests that her husband, Nick, is somehow involved. Did...more As seen on The Readventurer

I am giving Gone Girl 3 stars, but only begrudgingly. In my mind, any book that takes me 3 months and 20 different tries to read is not worth 3 (i-liked-it on Goodreads) stars, especially a book written by an author I already respect. And I am not kidding, for me the first half of Gone Girl was a PURE TORTURE to read.

Amy Dunn disappears on the day of her 5th wedding anniversary. All gradually uncovered evidence suggests that her husband, Nick, is somehow involved. Did he kill her? Was she kidnapped? What happened to Amy? One thing is clear, Nick and Amy's marriage wasn't as perfect as everybody thought.

The first part of the novel is all about the investigation into Amy's disappearance, slow unraveling of Nick's dirty secrets, reminiscing about the troubled history of Nick and Amy's marriage as told in Amy's hidden diary. I strained and strained my brain trying to understand why this chunk of Gone Girl had no appeal to me whatsoever. The only answer I have is this: I am really not into reading about rich white people's problems. You want to whine to me about your dwindling trust fund? Losing your cushy New York job? Moving south and "only" renting a mansion there? Being unhappy because you have too much free time on your hands and you are used to only work as a hobby? You want to make fun of your lowly, un-posh neighbors and their casseroles? Well, I am not interested. I'd rather read about someone not necessarily likable, but at least worthy of my empathy, not waste my time on self-centered, spoiled, pathetic people who don't know what real problems are. Granted, characters in Flynn's previous novels (Sharp Objects and Dark Places) are pretty pathetic and and at times revolting too, but I always felt some strange empathy towards them, not annoyance and boredom, like I felt reading about Amy and Nick's marriage woes.

But then second part, with its wicked twist, changed everything. The story became much more exciting, dangerous and deranged. The main characters revealed sides to them that were quite shocking and VERY entertaining. I thought the Gillian Flynn I knew before finally unleashed her talent for writing utterly unlikable and crafty women. THEN I got invested in the story, THEN I cared.

Was it too little too late though? I think it was. Something needed to be done to make Gone Girl a better read. Make it shorter? Cut out first part completely? I don't know. But because of my uneven experience with this novel I won't be able to recommend Gone Girl as readily as I did Flynn's earlier novels, even though I think this horror marriage story (it's not a true mystery, IMO) has some brilliantly written psycho goodness in it and an absolutely messed up ending that many loathed but I LOVED. I wish it didn't take so much time and patience to get to all of that...(less)

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Apr 28, 2013 Liz rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, fiction

Reading this in first person narrative meant being in the thoughts of 2 very sick people the whole book and it left me feeling yucky. I actually didn't find anything that happened a surprise. The author did seem to understand the mind of a sadistic, narcissistic sociopath. (scary thought)
The story was boring which may have been because I didn't like or care about either of the unrepentant, unenlightened, and self absorbed characters. I just couldn't relate. Even getting some background on their...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Lisa B. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-books

This book was just way too much fun – and I mean that in a good way. I’m taking a leisurely drive down the garden path of the story, when BAM – right in the middle it makes a u-turn and we are on the damn highway doing 90 miles an hour (commonly referred to as a plot twist). Sweet Mother of Mercy!

There is not much to say without the risk of giving up some detail that’s best left secret. Soooo many time I wanted to just take one little peek at the end to see what happens to Nick and Amy. But I di...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Stephanie Sun rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: obama, dead-tree, richard-was-right

I'm pretty selective about new releases, but Gone Girl's opening (about a man studying his wife's skull in bed) and unique alternating POV structure promised a kind of He Said, She Said Crimes and Misdemeanors, a The Secret History with a sense of humor. I did really like the structure, along with some of the zingers, and some of the saucier images, but that's about it.

From the Kushner epigraph to the name checking of Noel Coward on page 68 to the use of Pygmalion as a verb 20 pages after that (...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Emily May rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller-horror, 2013

3 1/2 stars.

This is going to be a hard review to write because I feel so conflicted about my final rating and just how much I actually liked this book. For one thing, I think the second half is a big improvement on the first half and, though this is my least favourite book by Ms Flynn, I can see in some ways why other reviewers see this as her strongest work.

Let me ask this question: is it possible to be objective when writing a book review? Can a book ever be objectively "good", even though some people might not enjoy it so much? To use quite an extreme example, I really struggled to read Proust's Swann's Way and can't say I enjoyed it - but that doesn't make it a bad book. Surely I cannot begin to claim that Proust is anything other than a literary genius? I wouldn't want to try.

I don't think I need to tell you that Flynn is not quite Proust. But some of the same old ideas kept popping into my head while I was reading Gone Girl because I think this is the book that most showcases Flynn's talent for writing. And for exploring the dark depths of psychology. Sharp Objects and Dark Places are wild, gritty, nasty books that pull you in, engage you and poison your mind. You don't devour them, they devour you. I read both of Flynn's previous novels in a day or two. Unlike Gone Girl, which I tried to read about five times and gave up, then when I finally came back to it, I took a week to get through it. To put it in perspective, I read War and Peace in the same time it took me to read Flynn's latest work.

But it's good, isn't it? How can I not praise a book that so cleverly pulls apart the minds of a husband and wife? In terms of writing, creativity, originality... this is her best work to date. In terms of enjoyment... I struggled a lot. Gone Girl is much slower than Flynn's first two novels, which is both a strength and a weakness. It allows for a slow, cleverly-painted picture to build up of this marriage and its many secrets, of Amy and Nick's state of mind. It is intense and brilliant. But I think it all comes down to the fact that I didn't care much about the background story of the couple's financial hardship. I think this is why I found the parts where they whine about how awful their life is - moving from a huge house in New York to a slightly smaller one in Missouri* - quite tedious.

I am used to Ms Flynn giving me the dregs of society, the lowlifes and the majorly-troubled, giving me characters with genuine reasons to complain about life. Spoilt, rich people do not pull at my heartstrings. But, objectively, this is a really great book.

*The trolls have started descending on this review because I got the house sizes mixed up - apparently the house in Missouri was bigger (how this makes a difference other than to further prove my point, I do not know). I'm very sorry if I have influenced you to read/not read this book with false house size information.(less)

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Apr 10, 2013 Megan Baxter rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have a confession to make. One that may make a pariah amongst all right-thinking book readers and reviewers.

I often read the back couple of pages long before the end of the book.

It’s a very old habit, and one that I’ve never been able to entirely break. (And since I read about a study that claimed that people who participate in this shameful practice still get the same enjoyment out of books as those who don’t, I haven’t worried about it too much.)

So, in reading Gone Girl, about 30 pages in, I...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Trudi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: gillian-flynn, crime-mystery, 2012-reads, heart-of-darkness, in-her-own-words, books-i-want-to-marry, rusa-reads, sherwood-picks

I've been completely fangirling over Gillian Flynn since her debut Sharp Objects six years ago. It remains one of my all-time-favorites, along with Flynn's sophomore novel Dark Places. No one writes the inner workings of warped and damaged human psychology better than this woman. With complete conviction I place her in the same category alongside the likes of Flannery O'Connor and Shirley Jackson. Flynn has a devilish, uncanny flair for creating memorable characters and twisty plots that drive d...more

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Jul 25, 2012 karen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mr. Peanut
The Seducer/The Conqueror/The Discoverer
Threats

and now this.

all of them are amazing stories about a wife gone missing or murdered, and the husband's journey through grief and suspicion with a bevvy of unreliable narrators. i'm actually not some sicko who is drawn to stories of murdered women, but these happen to be exceptional books that are strikingly similar in the way they unspool, and - yeah - they all have the same central action.

every single one of them is a twisty-turny narrativ...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Becky rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Becky by: Lisa

Shelves: 2013, challenge-insanity, highly-recommended, mystery-and-thrillers, nook, reviewed, the_south, real-life-bookclub, challenge-1010

That was my immediate reaction after finishing this book. Pretty clearly that's not how it ends. It doesn't END that way. Yet, when I tapped Shadow's screen to turn the page (Shadow's my Nook's name, FYI) - there were only acknowledgements.

And then I thought about it... I gave it just a few minutes' thought, and I decided that I thought the ending was appropriate. Fucked up? Oh my, yes. But fitting too, in a way. We do dig our own graves, don't we?

This book kind of reminded of Lemarchand's Box...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Lou rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: june-2012-read, mystery-thriller

The days that came after Amy's disappearance
her cell phone was to be monitored, her photo circulated, her credit cards tracked. Known sex offenders in the area were to be interviewed. Neighborhood canvassed and her home phone tapped for any forthcoming ransom demands. Routine procedure when a person goes missing in this manner. The eyes of suspicion immediately fell on her husband. The search is on all they need now is her physical person and the guilty. In the search for truth, lies, cheating...more The days that came after Amy's disappearance
her cell phone was to be monitored, her photo circulated, her credit cards tracked. Known sex offenders in the area were to be interviewed. Neighborhood canvassed and her home phone tapped for any forthcoming ransom demands. Routine procedure when a person goes missing in this manner. The eyes of suspicion immediately fell on her husband. The search is on all they need now is her physical person and the guilty. In the search for truth, lies, cheating and more lies are uncovered.

This story i would say has a lot more to do with marriage and love than anything else. When you remove the missing wife and murder. The story goes back to unconditional love and undisciplined love that some couples go through. The story is different from the kind of story her debut was, that was darker and more visceral, this one is more leaning to the psychological side. It reads like a story from James Cain with characters from one of Jim Thompsons novels, the novel as a whole not in the same league as these noir masters but a good attempt. I felt it needed some slight housework done here and there shortening up and tightening of the content. If the story was cut down slightly it would have delivered a better punch and a better read for me and be more effective for this type of story just like the stories of Jim Thompson and James M. Cain.
It is a dark story of human stain displaying how lies, pain and hurt can lead people to do crazy things. Marriage can be true and honest or in another spectrum a stage play were they both are players and actors living a lie a facade of pretense and hoping for one day for things to turn out right. If these two only looked deep into themselves they could have prevented the lies and problems that came to fruition a deadly end.

"Compromise, communicate and never go to bed angry"
Good advice that could prevent any spouse killing the other off.

Review also @ http://more2read.com/review/gone-girl-by-gillian-flynn/(less)

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Dec 07, 2012 Bonnie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-thriller, arcs-read, read-in-2012, adult, seriously-disappointing, netgalley

A copy of Gone Girl was provided to me by Netgalley/Crown Publishing Group for review purposes.

On the day of Nick and Amy's five year wedding anniversary Nick comes home to find the door ajar, the iron still on, but no Amy. Amy's typical anniversary gift to Nick includes a treasure hunt with small personal messages to help lead him to the next location and to the big present. When he finds the first clue she had left for him he begins to follow the clues and realizes that Amy had been trying to...more A copy of Gone Girl was provided to me by Netgalley/Crown Publishing Group for review purposes.

On the day of Nick and Amy's five year wedding anniversary Nick comes home to find the door ajar, the iron still on, but no Amy. Amy's typical anniversary gift to Nick includes a treasure hunt with small personal messages to help lead him to the next location and to the big present. When he finds the first clue she had left for him he begins to follow the clues and realizes that Amy had been trying to fix their fractured marriage, but it may have been too late.

The alternating POV (from present time to a past entry in Amy's diary) absolutely killed this story for me. I've ready stories that were written in this same format before but for some reason this one caused me to develop ADD and I was being distracted by the tiniest things. I think I started and stopped this one at minimum a half a dozen times. Now despite this, I must say that it was an extremely detailed and well-written story, I just obviously lack the patience and focus to truly appreciate it.

As far as the characters go, Nick in particular was a very hard read. I didn't find myself liking him or even feeling sorry for him; however, I suppose that's to be expected as the way it was written made him a very obvious suspect for the reason Amy went missing in the first place. But of course, it's hardly that simple. Once the story picked up, and Nick finally started to follow Amy's clues I got into it a lot more. And once the story hit the midway point and did a complete 180? I was enthralled. Unfortunately that feeling didn't last very long and I felt that the last half of the book was very disheveled and seriously crazy, and not in a good way.

This is a stand alone novel so I expect a wrapped up ending that answers all of my questions and gives some semblance of a resolution for the characters. I'm not asking for it to be all tied up in a pretty bow or anything but at least don't leave me with out big wtf. Well, that's exactly what I got. By the end, the story seemed so unraveled to the point of being undetectable from the story that I originally started reading. Having a story surprise me and go a completely different direction is one thing, but that's not what happened here. Not a lot can be said without giving serious spoilers to the story but suffice it to say I failed to be impressed by the end. I do give this story credit for the intricate build-up even if the resolution was less than satisfactory.

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Mar 06, 2013 Giselle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, adult, contemporary, mystery-thriller

This is probably one of the hardest reviews to write because starting half way--when the story "really" starts, when things get going--is where we begin to get twists that completely change the whole story. Thus, this needs to be kept vague for fear of revealing anything. I can say, however, that this story both enraptured me, making me a huge fan of this author, and at the same time I want it to burn in the deepest fires of hell. I'm being completely honest! This book needs to die, while I pet...more This is probably one of the hardest reviews to write because starting half way--when the story "really" starts, when things get going--is where we begin to get twists that completely change the whole story. Thus, this needs to be kept vague for fear of revealing anything. I can say, however, that this story both enraptured me, making me a huge fan of this author, and at the same time I want it to burn in the deepest fires of hell. I'm being completely honest! This book needs to die, while I pet it lovingly.

Nick and Amy have the perfect marriage. They love each other and everything is all going great until one day Nick gets home to a wrecked living room, and a missing wife. The first half of the book concentrates mostly on this fact. Amy is missing, there are some strange men hovering around town, bizarre circumstances surrounding everything, and of course Nick is a suspect like husbands always are in these situations. We get a lot of investigative mumbo jumbo done while we learn what kind of life they were living. We also get plenty of intel into their lives, established mostly through Amy's perspective which consists of diary entries starting years before, leading up to the present day. Both perspectives are so compelling and distinct. I could truly get into both sides of their relationship and understand how one person saw an event, while the other saw it completely differently. It was fascinating and so well done, also extremely realistic for the average couple. It's fantastically interesting to get both motives, both reactions to the same thing. You get to be inside each characters' heads until you understand both of them--but then, who do you trust? This leads me to the second half of the story.

The second part is filled with secrets, lies, deceit, when you see everything unraveling in a much different direction than you're expecting. Things come at you suddenly, and completely changes the way you look at a certain character--more than once. I was so torn most of the time, not really knowing whose side I was on anymore. Wanting to believe one thing but not knowing if it was only wishful thinking. The thought and planning that went into creating such a complex tale is exquisite and masterful. I was cringing at every turn for what would happen next, but I devoured it greedily. It is a very long book and some parts I found slow moving, but I greatly enjoyed every minute of it. The writing is rich and so... powerful, yet elegant.

…Except maybe the ending. Don't get me wrong, though, the ending is both shocking and heartbreaking, realistic, but I promise you, it WILL PISS YOU OFF! Although, I also secretly loved it. I think. Maybe. It's the type of ending to a story that will leave you thinking about it for days, weeks, months. Wishing. Hoping. Burning your temper. I will likely never forget what I read in this book. And what's even more thought provoking, is how this is not inconceivable. This whole messed up psycho story could be seen in the news in our day and age.

A masterfully woven tale of love, lies, and betrayal, Gone Girl is one read I highly recommend for fans of thrillers, mysteries, and all around effed up shit. For those who enjoy audiobooks also, I have to applaud the narrators they were both very talented and perfect for the characters.

--

For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads

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Jun 25, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, thriller, mystery

I’ve been trying to review this book for a while now and it has become a real struggle. I don’t want to give any spoilers for this brilliant book so I will try my best, advanced warning; this review may have spoilers or turn out incredible vague. When I first saw this book I kept thinking this was just another YA novel but then I noticed this book kept popping up everywhere so I thought I better read what this is about and when I did; I had to read it right away.

When Amy disappears in suspiciou...more I’ve been trying to review this book for a while now and it has become a real struggle. I don’t want to give any spoilers for this brilliant book so I will try my best, advanced warning; this review may have spoilers or turn out incredible vague. When I first saw this book I kept thinking this was just another YA novel but then I noticed this book kept popping up everywhere so I thought I better read what this is about and when I did; I had to read it right away.

When Amy disappears in suspicious circumstances all eyes fall to her husband as the primary suspect. Nick claims he is innocent but the evidence is not in his favour. Did Nick kill his wife? As this novel progressed any ideas of what happened will be shattered, any presumptions you’ve made about the characters will be wrong. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is a dark and twisted journey with so much unpredictability that you will be up all night trying to find out what really happened to Amy.

What I loved about this book was that you never really know what to expect. The book is told from the prospective of Nick and Amy, the diary of Amy tells the back story of their lives while the alternative chapters told from Nick takes the story from the disappearance. Slowly the pieces start to fall into placed but there is always another curve ball just around the corner. The dark and psychological aspects of this novel remind me of something Jim Thompson would write but then the thriller and suspense of this book reminds me a lot of books like Before I Go to Sleep or Into the Darkest Corner.

Flynn did a brilliant job with this novel, it kept me up at night, made me want to skip work to read this book and in the end any spare time I had I was back in this book trying to find out what really happened to Amy. I wasn’t sure what I was in for and I didn’t know who to believe but in the end I enjoyed the ride. On reflection this book seemed incredibly basic with its plot but writing in a brilliant way that while reading you never have enough pieces to solve this puzzle. Highly recommend this book to any lovers of mystery and suspense. (less)

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Sep 17, 2012 Kaethe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: age-adult, cats, contemporary, creepy, domesticity, feminism, fiction, format-ebooks, gender, movies, mystery, noir, romance, suspense, usa

Last night I put the book down because I was too sleepy to comprehend another word, but then I didn't fall asleep for a while. Instead, I thought about noir. About how much pleasure I derive from reading stories about miserable, unhappy people. Nor do I think of myself as a big noir fan, but this is the third book I've picked up within a week, so, if the book fits...

These are some miserable people, that's for sure. Nick and Amy were the perfect hipster couple, beautiful, living in their own Broo...more

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Jun 05, 2012 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars

The soundtrack to Gone Girl will vary greatly, depending on your mood, your ear, your sensibilities. I've no idea what tunes you'll hear, but I'm betting everyone's going to be dancing to this one. Flynn's novel is a glorious entertainment, yet gleefully dismissive of the niceties that often carefully manage (and contain) the disruptive energies of a plot entangled in domestic abuse, stalkers, grifting, a murder or two, bad parenting, and pervasive narcissism. It's the kind of nasty piece of wor...more

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May 21, 2012 Blair rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller-etc, read-on-kindle, via-netgalley, 2012-release

Gone Girl is a tense and fast-paced psychological thriller centred around a damaged, destructive marriage. It opens as Nick Dunne has just discovered his wife, Amy, has disappeared in strange circumstances on the couple's fifth wedding anniversary. As Nick looks back over the history of his relationship with Amy, the narrative switches between his perspective and Amy's diary entries, which paint a very different picture, particularly of recent events. It quickly becomes apparent that all is not...more Gone Girl is a tense and fast-paced psychological thriller centred around a damaged, destructive marriage. It opens as Nick Dunne has just discovered his wife, Amy, has disappeared in strange circumstances on the couple's fifth wedding anniversary. As Nick looks back over the history of his relationship with Amy, the narrative switches between his perspective and Amy's diary entries, which paint a very different picture, particularly of recent events. It quickly becomes apparent that all is not as it seems - Nick, who is immediately the prime suspect, admits he is lying to the police; Amy's diary grows darker and darker. Has Nick murdered Amy? If she is still alive, then where is she? And does anybody know (or, indeed, tell) the truth about the pair's stormy, passionate relationship?

Beyond the above, it's incredibly difficult to discuss what happens plot-wise, because there are so many unexpected twists, and I really do think this is a book that wouldn't be anywhere near as good if you were to read spoilers beforehand. I'm very glad I didn't know what was going to happen - it made the whole experience so much more thrilling. Flynn plays with the reader's perceptions brilliantly, making you constantly switch sides, question the veracity of both Nick and Amy's accounts, and try to second-guess the characters.

Amy: what an utterly, utterly brilliant character. I loved and hated her in equal measure and was fascinated by her every action. I started off disliking her - (view spoiler). Then, as (view spoiler). I could barely stand the tension in most of her chapters and had to restrain myself from skipping to later parts of the book to see what would happen.

Nick: oh, how I HATED Nick. I loathed him from the beginning and this feeling only intensified as the story progressed. It's a great credit to the author, however, that I still found his strand of the narrative compelling and readable, and never wanted to skip over his chapters. Still, he is a straight-up, pure-and-simple misogynist, despite all his protestations. He spends the entire book hating and belittling women and I desperately wanted him to get his comeuppance. That said, his characterisation raises some interesting moral questions - he may be a contemptible human being, but does he deserve to be reviled for things he hasn't done?

The ending: all-round fantastic. Things are wrapped up perfectly for these two characters. Ultimately, when all is said and done and the truth of events is revealed, they both get the endings they deserve... and that's all I'm going to say.

Minor negative points: I'm not especially keen on the title - there's got to be a better description of this story than 'Gone Girl', surely? She isn't a girl, for a start, she's in her late thirties! Also, although I find the cover design aesthetically pleasing, I don't feel it does anything much to communicate what the book is about. If I'd seen this in a bookshop, I would probably have assumed it was a young adult novel, and wouldn't have picked it up.

It's been a while since I read a book I liked this much that was also so entertaining and readable. Gone Girl is an easy read, and you don't need to be concentrating on every tiny detail to understand what happens, but it's still very well-written and ingeniously put together. It's a superior example of the mystery/thriller genre and the word 'compelling' doesn't do it justice. As long as you don't mind reading about deceitful, tricky characters who you will dislike at least some of the time, this is a highly recommended read.(less)

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Jun 03, 2012 Melissa Rochelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, mystery-suspense, marriage, read-2012

I was hesitant to snag this prepub out of our box at work because I didn't have a good Gillian Flynn experience the first time around. I read Sharp Objects a few years ago and I didn't like the main character. She was a little too dark and twisty for my liking. But I've heard nothing but AMAZING things about Gone Girl for a couple of months now so I finally snagged it and...well...wow.

This book is one of the best psychological thrillers I've ever read. I'm not terribly attracted to all of those...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dark, all-time-favourites, suspense, crime-mystery-thriller, fun-read, fave-writing, fave-females, fave-men

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It's been so long since I read this book, I still think about it though. So I suppose I should try and write a review.

Absolutely loved it! Madly Deeply Crazy in love with this book, I remember reading then phoning my mum telling her how mad I was at certain characters because I couldn't keep it to myself.
Anyone else do that? Like NEED to tell someone about what you've just read that second? I was a mad woman with this book.

There is s...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: ID channel addicts ;)

Recommended to Megan by: Katherine

Shelves: favorites, mystery

I can't gaurentee this review will be spoiler free but I will flag the major spoilers so if you have any thoughts of reading the book DON'T LOOK AT THEM! Trust me this is a surprise you don't want ruined!

On the day of their 5th anniversary Nick's wife Amy goes missing. As with any crime where sometime happens to the wife suspicion quickly lands on Nick who looks anything but guilt free. The story is broken up between Nick's narrative which starts the day of the disapperance and Amy's diary which...more I can't gaurentee this review will be spoiler free but I will flag the major spoilers so if you have any thoughts of reading the book DON'T LOOK AT THEM! Trust me this is a surprise you don't want ruined!

On the day of their 5th anniversary Nick's wife Amy goes missing. As with any crime where sometime happens to the wife suspicion quickly lands on Nick who looks anything but guilt free. The story is broken up between Nick's narrative which starts the day of the disapperance and Amy's diary which starts from their first meeting to around the time of their anniversary. This book is intense and a real page turner!

I had seen this book when wandering the book store many times but kept deciding to skip it, then I saw it in the used book section for 5 bucks! 5 bucks! It hasn't even been out a year! My roommate read it over the summer and said it was amazing so I decided to give it a shot and I'm so glad I did!! I love a good mystery and this novel didn't disappoint. To me it was like reading an ID channel special, it instantly sucked me in as I frantically tried to piece the clues together.

THE CLUES! That was part of what made this book great. Those little clues, or not so little clues, that pointed to one thing but then are suddenly overturned and you aren't sure what to believe. Every clue could be a red herring so what do you choose to believe and what do you choose to believe is a lie?! I love the fact that the book has a dual narrative giving you different insight on events and how 2 people can see things completely different. Yet both narratives aren't all together trustworthy which causes so many twists and turns in the narrative that seem to totally turn you in a different direction then you actually thought.

While I slightly saw the big twist at the second part of the novel coming it still surprised and outraged me. This book is frustrating, but in a good way. It doesn't give you all the answers right away, it is slow to deliever them making you dwell on them long enough to mess with your head, which is exactly what you want from a psychological thriller! I flew through this book, I needed to know how it was going to end. I ended up needing a lot of coffee today because I stayed up late finishing it. This book makes me realize how absolutely crazy people can be and how smart and clever those crazy people can be! I mean what sane person thinks of all that stuff. (view spoiler)

I became totally engrossed and invested in this story. I cared about the characters, a lot. Even when my views on them did a complete 180 I cared about them. Those diary entires I mean some of them just pull at your heart! This book makes you realize how knowledge is power and when you know someone so well that you can perdict their movements and actions you can pull their strings any way you want.

The ending itself is just crazy, I loved it. The book itself was frustrating that I would have been extrememly disappointed if it ended any other way. I wanted to yell and scream and arrest people or hope an accident happened that killed a character. (view spoiler)

Honestly just read this book it is a super fast read, you will need to know how it ends, and I would highly recommend it. (less)

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Nov 16, 2012 Christina White rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, favorites, 5-star-reads

"AMAZING" is the perfect word to describe this book.

This book makes my short list of favorites. The book starts off with a light and witty tone that leads you to believe you are in for a humorous version of some Lifetime drama....Shallow, but very enjoyable. Then suddenly you are in shock and caught so completely off guard that you can't do anything but turn the next page as fast as you can. The tone of the story changes and everything you read before turns into something so completely insane yo...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Allison rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This has spoilers. So read at your caution....
Honestly, I had a lot of thoughts about this novel and very clever ideas about how to write this review but they aborted on launch. I thought about comparing Gone Girl to American Psycho. What Brent Easton Ellis was saying about materialism and shallowness of the '80's in America was a dark cousin to what Flynn was trying to say about Gen X Uberhipsters. What happens when you're too self indulgent and too clever for your own good? Abort!

You know why,...more This has spoilers. So read at your caution....
Honestly, I had a lot of thoughts about this novel and very clever ideas about how to write this review but they aborted on launch. I thought about comparing Gone Girl to American Psycho. What Brent Easton Ellis was saying about materialism and shallowness of the '80's in America was a dark cousin to what Flynn was trying to say about Gen X Uberhipsters. What happens when you're too self indulgent and too clever for your own good? Abort!

You know why, because this novel doesn't stand up to a real literary critique. In pieces, the novel is brilliant. BRILLIANT!!!!! Gillian Flynn can turn a phrase. Period. She is such a great writer when 'writing as a craft' is the topic of discussion. She really is fabulous. I could list at least ten descriptions from this book that would crack you open. Moments when you think you are reading your own thoughts. (Or what your thoughts might be if your were a vacuous apathetic man or a narcissistic sociopathic woman.) Honestly, Gillian, Bravo.

But I'm less enthralled by the story. Granted it's one of those stories of antagonists. (American Psycho) No one is likable and only a few are moderately pitiable in the end. These are just bad, black souled people. But what's worse. They didn't taste truthful. These characters are fake -- their actions don't hold water when actual physics, or their own backstory, is applied to them.

I'll pull out one of hundreds of examples and carve it up for you.

Amy sets up an elaborate plot to frame her husband for her murder yet is unaware that she is being rooked by the clerk at the grocery store when he charges her $10 (for posterity's sake it should be $3 max) for a gallon of milk. I know this because, it's one of Flynn's little darlings, her grand commentary: Amy's perfect plan is thwarted by the simplicity of stupidity...Vomit...But wait! Sorry Gillian... Even a phony 'expert' crepe maker has to buy milk a time or two in the practice of making perfect crepes...remember the crepes....You can't have it both ways.

The truth is that there are hundreds of those little flaws. Enough at least that I couldn't fall into this world. It was too contrived.

In the end.......you fold over the back cover with a quizzical arch to your brow. It's an ending-nonending. Big fucking surprise....A last stab of hipster irony. The book is too clever to acknowledge the action has not resolved but leaves you 'to wonder' what might happen. I hate these types of endings too. They are fake and phony, and worse -- lazy.

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Aug 02, 2012 Nicholas Sparks rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nicholas-recommends

Quite simply, this is one of the best novels of the year. It's a thriller in the best tradition of Alfred Hitchcock and layered with brilliantly written characters; it's the kind of book that's nearly impossible to put down. The surprises and twists keep the reader guessing up until the final page, and my first thought upon finishing the novel was that I wanted to read it a second time.

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Jan 30, 2013 Mikela rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-suspense, books-read-in-2013, female-author

On their 5th wedding anniversary Amy disappears and a cloud of suspicion falls over her husband, Nick. To all appearances, this is the fairy tale marriage of two smart, good looking prosperous people...now we learn the truth behind the public perception. We are told the story from Nick’s perspective as the search for her progresses, as well as Amy’s, using the diary she has maintained covering the last seven years of their relationship. The tension builds as clues are uncovered, all pointing to...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Camilla ~ ♥Qhuay At Last♥ ~ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, epistolary

Huh…

I’ve been sitting here looking at the screen for a couple of minutes, trying to start this review, and I don’t know how to do this..
I have a feeling this will end up being nothing that even resembles an actual review, but I will try. I promise..

So this is a book.. (Good start, right?) And it’s about Nick and his wife Amy. Nick is a writer who loses his job, and Amy is a writer who loses her job. They end up moving to Nick’s hometown, to take care of his mother who is ill..

Honestly, I can’t e...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Regina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-authors, mystery, psychological-thriller, arc-publisher-netgalley, dissapointing

Okay, here is the thing. I like dark and twisted stories. The twisted plotlines and authentically scarred characters pull me and I am hooked. Gillian Flynn wrote such a story line very well in Sharp Objects. That story is messed up but beautiful all the same. Donna Tartt and Tana French are other authors that know how to write about those dark places in the human soul. But it isn't just darkness in these stories that I love, there is also intensely developed characters and character driven plot...more Okay, here is the thing. I like dark and twisted stories. The twisted plotlines and authentically scarred characters pull me and I am hooked. Gillian Flynn wrote such a story line very well in Sharp Objects. That story is messed up but beautiful all the same. Donna Tartt and Tana French are other authors that know how to write about those dark places in the human soul. But it isn't just darkness in these stories that I love, there is also intensely developed characters and character driven plot lines but the presence of a very smart and impressive plot as well. Gone Girl was on my list of books to by for close to a year before it was released. There are very few authors who can do this genre well.

Gone Girl in the end is a decent read. It is completely unpredictable, it is dark and the characters are twisted. The story is told from the alternating point of view of a wife and husband. The story pulls you in and you think that you know what is happening, you think you know the characters and then BAM. Seriously BAM. I don't want to write more about the surprises and plot twists because it will rob readers of the experience. I thought the twists were amazing and well done. Though admittedly, I was mad at the first major plot surprise. I had to put the book (okay my kindle) down and walk away from the story for a short period of time. But in the end I realized that Flynn was brilliant. She made me buy in completely to a certain idea of what the couple and the story was about.

Issues of gender and economics are themes that Flynn touched on in Sharp Objects and she does that in Gone Girl as well. The main characters are without jobs, frustrated by the economy and have moved to a small dying midwest town. Concepts of what make a woman appealing and what is expected from a woman are consistently but subtly danced around in both Sharp Objects and Gone Girl. Family ties and relationships are unwound and what remains is not all that pretty.

In the end, though, the characters were too far down the unlikable path for my taste. They were not redeemable. I like my characters flawed and hurting, thank you very much. But to have nobody in the story be someone I can attach to? To have only the side characters be the sympathetic ones? That is a challenge for me. There are certain scenes and phrases that one of the characters will say when he/she is mad (trying to be vague here ....) to describe other characters. I felt it was just too shocking, that Flynn's goal may have been to push the boundaries and make readers uncomfortable just because rather than contributing to the storyline. Now vulgar doesn't usually bother me and it really didn't bother me here, I just thought it was too much.

So if you like dark, you like twisted and you enjoyed Flynn's other books then I suggest you read this. Flynn's works tend to be shorter than Tana French's and Donna Tartt's. They are definitely less involved and the characters, while rich in description, are not as complexly written.

I'll leave you with an excerpt that will not spoil the story for you, but demonstrate that while this may not be Flynn's best work it is still good and she has an amazing ability to make brilliant observations about human beings in our modern world:

"Being the cool girl means I am a hot, brilliant, funny woman who adores football, poker, dirty jokes and burping, who plays video games, drinks cheap beer, loves threesomes and anal sex, and jams hot dogs and hamburgers into her mouth like she's hosting the world's biggest culinary gang bang while somehow maintaining a size 2 ... hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry ...."

Read this review and more at Badassbook Reviews
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Jul 27, 2012 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, unreliable-narrators

In an interview, Flynn mentions that she thinks mystery is a great way into a character study. That's what this book is: a study of the real, flawed, weird people lurking under the facades of everyone we know. Even the ones we really know. And then there's a mystery to dress it up, and it's maybe blown up a bit large to make it fun. We all have secrets; most of us aren't total sociopaths, the way at least one of the characters in this book is.

I like this kind of study, because under my charming...more In an interview, Flynn mentions that she thinks mystery is a great way into a character study. That's what this book is: a study of the real, flawed, weird people lurking under the facades of everyone we know. Even the ones we really know. And then there's a mystery to dress it up, and it's maybe blown up a bit large to make it fun. We all have secrets; most of us aren't total sociopaths, the way at least one of the characters in this book is.

I like this kind of study, because under my charming, hilarious, intelligent persona, I'm pretty much just a creep who masturbates to clown porn. Hi mom!

I had a blast with the first half of this book; was entertained by the third quarter; thought it went off the rails a bit by the end. Flynn couldn't quite keep those last plot developments in the barn. I understand why she went where she went, but I didn't buy it.

(view spoiler)

I didn't love this, but I liked it. It's cool.

For those of you who are friends with the Bookish crew, we had a discussion of the book over at Casey Josephine's house.

For those wondering what Jennifer is laughing about below, my original comment on this book was that I was reading it solely because Gillian Flynn's favorite book is my beloved Flowers in the Attic, which Flynn is actually ballsy enough to defend unironically. Which I respect but also don't.(less)

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About Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn is an American author and television critic for Entertainment Weekly. She has so far written three novels, Sharp Objects, for which she won the 2007 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the best thriller; Dark Places; and her best-selling third novel Gone Girl.

Her book has received wide praise, including from authors such as Stephen King. The dark plot revolves around a serial killer in a Mi...more

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Quotes from Gone Girl

“Men always say that as the defining compliment, don’t they? She’s a cool girl. Being the Cool Girl means I am a hot, brilliant, funny woman who adores football, poker, dirty jokes, and burping, who plays video games, drinks cheap beer, loves threesomes and anal sex, and jams hot dogs and hamburgers into her mouth like she’s hosting the world’s biggest culinary gang bang while somehow maintaining a size 2, because Cool Girls are above all hot. Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry; they only smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let their men do whatever they want. Go ahead, shit on me, I don’t mind, I’m the Cool Girl.

Men actually think this girl exists. Maybe they’re fooled because so many women are willing to pretend to be this girl. For a long time Cool Girl offended me. I used to see men – friends, coworkers, strangers – giddy over these awful pretender women, and I’d want to sit these men down and calmly say: You are not dating a woman, you are dating a woman who has watched too many movies written by socially awkward men who’d like to believe that this kind of woman exists and might kiss them. I’d want to grab the poor guy by his lapels or messenger bag and say: The bitch doesn’t really love chili dogs that much – no one loves chili dogs that much! And the Cool Girls are even more pathetic: They’re not even pretending to be the woman they want to be, they’re pretending to be the woman a man wants them to be. Oh, and if you’re not a Cool Girl, I beg you not to believe that your man doesn’t want the Cool Girl. It may be a slightly different version – maybe he’s a vegetarian, so Cool Girl loves seitan and is great with dogs; or maybe he’s a hipster artist, so Cool Girl is a tattooed, bespectacled nerd who loves comics. There are variations to the window dressing, but believe me, he wants Cool Girl, who is basically the girl who likes every fucking thing he likes and doesn’t ever complain. (How do you know you’re not Cool Girl? Because he says things like: “I like strong women.” If he says that to you, he will at some point fuck someone else. Because “I like strong women” is code for “I hate strong women.”)” — 390 people liked it

“There’s something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold.” — 146 people liked it

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