Gone Girl in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jan 08, 2014 Jenny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This gets 5 stars because (and stick with me here) I loved AND hated it so much. I certainly understand the wide variety of mixed reviews. This book contains some of the best writing I've ever read, and I couldn't put it down to see where Gillian Flynn would take things next. I WANTED to hate it but I admired her for writing it too much. The characters are truly awful people, but they're supposed to be. The format of the novel is innovative and perfectly-executed. I find that when I recommend it ...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Maggie Downs rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I devoured this smart, savage thriller in less than 24 hours and found it to be completely satisfying.

Gillian Flynn crafted two relatable, empathetic characters in Nick and Amy -- sharp, smart, funny writers -- a duo I could easily see fitting in with my group of friends. When Amy goes missing, Nick comes under fire and every part of his turbulent marriage is scrutinized by the police, the media and the public.

But Flynn didn't stop there. Oh no. She took the characters way beyond that, all the ...more

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Jul 13, 2013 Cat rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I liked how the first half kept the reader in the dark. You realize that both Amy and Nick are unreliable narrators, but you don't know who to trust. Then, just when I started to feel manipulated by the author, she let the reader in. The contrast between being in the dark for the first half, and then knowing more than the characters in the second half was interesting. Also, I really enjoyed the genre fiction aspects of it. Page turners are really helpful when I have a hundred distractions with a ...more

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Dec 21, 2012 Akilah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014

2.5 stars, rounding up.

The book was easy to read and shocking, but I didn't necessarily like it. (Well-written and well-crafted, to be sure.) It's a character study in psychopaths and super extreme codependency, and, for that, it works well.

My main takeaway: Poor Go. Poor Boney. They are seriously the only two characters I cared about in the end. ...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Jaime rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bookclub, read-2013, thriller-psychological

This book was nuts. I’m going to do my best to discuss it without spoilers.

Amy didn’t care to know my family, didn’t want to know my birthplace, and yet for some reason, I thought moving home would be a good idea.

This was the point at which I knew things were amiss. What sort of spouse doesn’t want to know about your family, your background? All was obviously not how it seemed in Nick and Amy’s marriage. But who, if anyone, was telling the truth?

The book is very well constructed, so much so that ...more

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Jul 22, 2013 Joanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: psychologicalthriller

So, so, so good. Liked the writing. The story itself was not predictable. The characters were so intriguing. Hello crazy, unexpected twist.

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Sep 06, 2012 Jess rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, novel, midwest, marriage

Unfortunately . . . never a good way to start a review, I know . . . I read this book after (1) much eager anticipation and scrambling to get a copy and (2) right after I read Broken Harbor, which treads a lot of the same territory, including a very broken marriage and a very broken economy, much more subtly and deftly. So, my experience suffered somewhat from the dual weight of expectation and comparison.

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Aug 12, 2012 Mary rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: bookclub-neighborhood, format-ebook

Maybe should be only two stars. I read it only because it was a selection for bookclub. Felt like a waste of time. Will give the author credit for imagining two completely worthless characters and writing really well about them!

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