Gone Girl in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jul 05, 2014 David Abrams rated it really liked it

This is one of the worst books ever written.

And I loved it.

I say "worst" because while you're reading GONE GIRL, you don't want anybody to talk to you about it, and when you've finished reading GONE GIRL, you can't talk to anybody about it.

This is one of those rare books which you must keep entirely to yourself. It's not a book club book...unless all members have sworn they've actually read it, pricking their thumbs with needles in a blood pact. It's not a book for which booksellers can give rea ...more

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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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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 16, 2014 Terri rated it it was ok

Shelves: read2014

I nearly gave up on this book so many times, but kept plodding on because everyone seems to love it so much and I thought it had to get better!

Two extremely irritating, horrible, unlikable characters, ridiculous plot - what was all that hype about?! This one was not for me ... this may be an unusual case of the film being better than the book, though I won't be rushing out to see it! ...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Alice rated it liked it · review of another edition

Good, but far too long and slow-burning for my liking.

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

Shelves: fiction, midwest, novel, 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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