Gone Girl in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Oct 09, 2012 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, book-club

I am torn about what to think or say about Gone Girl. It's a thriller, which is not a genre I have read widely in, but it seems like it's the nature of the genre to be something you get sucked into and want to read quickly, and that's certainly the case with Gone Girl.

The story details the slow unraveling of the marriage of Nick and Amy, two magazine writers who met and married in New York and then moved together to Missouri when Nick's mother fell ill. When Amy goes missing one day, the signs I am torn about what to think or say about Gone Girl. It's a thriller, which is not a genre I have read widely in, but it seems like it's the nature of the genre to be something you get sucked into and want to read quickly, and that's certainly the case with Gone Girl.

The story details the slow unraveling of the marriage of Nick and Amy, two magazine writers who met and married in New York and then moved together to Missouri when Nick's mother fell ill. When Amy goes missing one day, the signs keep pointing to Nick as the guilty party; he maintains his innocence, but has a terrible alibi and is weirdly unaffected by Amy's absence. Gillian Flynn does an impressive job of keeping the reader guessing whether one of the spouses was up to no good, or whether Nick's cruel, senile father was involved, or whether any of a number of distasteful people from Amy's past had resurfaced.

Nick and Amy are both thoroughly unlikable people, and it's to the book's credit that you want to keep reading in spite of hating both of them. No matter what was going on, it's clear their marriage was in a bad place and that neither one had been willing to compromise.

Without spoiling the ending, I'll say that it made me very angry and left me with a lot of conflicted feelings about the implications of the final scene. In a lot of ways this is a two-star book - it gets cliched; the only characters you can sympathize with at all are barely-fleshed-out secondary and minor figures; the ending is designed to piss you off. However, the fact that I kept thinking about the ending for days after finishing the book is what makes me think it succeeded at what it was trying to do and caused me to be generous with the stars. It's not a great book, but if it's a page-turner that sticks in my head for days, it must have done something right.

I wouldn't recommend Gone Girl, exactly, but it's a solid choice for reading on an airplane (like I did) or at the beach or in some other kind of situation where you want a quick read that will suck you in for a few hours. Also, it would be nice to have someone to rant with about the ending. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Oct 02, 2012 Abby Johnson rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: grownup_books, audio

Okay, I am officially DNF-ing Gone Girl. I've made it about 2/3 of the way through the audiobook and you know what? I'm just not really enjoying it. It started slow and I kept with it because everyone is raving about it. I got to the first of the twists and it got interesting for awhile, but I honestly don't care about Nick or Amy. I guess I need to identify with or root for a character to really enjoy a book and that's not happening here.

The audiorecording is nicely done with two stellar narrat ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 07, 2013 Cheryl rated it liked it · review of another edition

It's hard for me to rate this book.....this is a genre (thriller/mystery) that I don't typically read and I try to rate books according to their genre I guess. You know 5 stars for Goodnight Moon is different than a 5 stars for Catcher in the Rye or 5 stars for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I have to give this book one thing. I was compelled to read it from all the things I heard about it to the author pulling me into the suspense of the book - what happened to Amy? Then, what becomes of Amy and Nic ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jun 06, 2012 AJ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I still can't stop thinking about a lot of the twists in this book, so fascinating & unpredictable. I've never read a book where my opinion of the characters changed so strongly throughout the story - I found myself rooting for a character I absolutely hated 100 pages before, & hating a character I had previously found sympathetic. The writing style is harsher & more crass than what I usually read & some of the characters border on unrealistic, but the writing is excellent & I really enjoyed thi ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 26, 2012 Rae rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, suspense-adventure-thriller

A wife disappears under suspicious circumstances and her husband, of course, is seen as the person of interest in the case. Nothing is quite as it seems in this intriguing plot. The story is told from the point of view of both the husband and the wife.

I loved a few things about this book--including a rather fresh plot that I thought I had figured out, but didn't--but the reading experience was pretty much ruined for me by the massive amount of vulgarity and sexualized narrative the author includ ...more

Like · see review

Jun 08, 2012 Ally rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I know that the whole premise of this book is that it zags when you think it will zig, but man, it really ZAGS. A creative concept that still feels satisfying at the end, despite the lingering feeling that the author lost a little steam on how to wrap it up.

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 19, 2013 Carolyn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: recommended

I don't even know where to begin. It was quite the page turner and I was so interested in the story that I couldn't put it down. But I couldn't like Nick or Amy. Reading it felt a lot like watching a crime slowly unfold on a morning news show. It felt so invasive. The back and forth bothered me a bit, but that's a personal style preference. The end about killed me. I stayed up late reading it and put it down thinking "What did I just read?" and concluding that Nick and Amy deserve each other. ...more

Like · see review

Apr 01, 2013 Jennifer Kronk rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle

There's a monster at the end of this book. One of my favorite childhood books, now come to life! But this time there really is a monster at the end. Well, technically, the monster is revealed somewhere around the middle but you get the picture. This was a delicious read, engrossing, campy, mustache twirlingly villainous. I am so glad that I read this. ...more

Like · see review

Sep 22, 2012 Monica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

I'm not sure what to say about this that hasn't already been noted by a million other folks. The twist is twisty, the writing is solid, the characterizations are fun. One of those terrific books that can inspire you to blast through in 24 hours.

Also, just realized that Gillian Flynn was one of my favorite Entertainment Weekly columnists back in the day. This makes me so happy for her. ...more

Like · see review