Book Review: Gone Girl
This post has been two months in the making but it's finally here! When I started reading Gone Girl I was still in college and literally pushing through with everything I had. I would read a chapter here and there, completely addicted but too exhausted or busy to actually get anywhere. Then I graduated a few weeks ago and decided once and for all I would finish this book, even if it killed me. Still, life kind of got in the way until the last week. I finally got some time to myself and viola! I finished the book! Now, less about my boring life and more about this mind trip of a book.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
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 daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.
My Review
This book was split into three parts: Boy Loses Girl, Boy Meets Girl and Boy Gets Girl Back (or Vice Versa). Throughout the entire first part of the novel, I was constantly taking the side of Amy. I felt incredibly sorry for her and Nick, regardless of how the rest of the book turned out, was the biggest tool ever. He was selfish and narcissistic. He only cared about being the perfect guy everyone thought he was and what he wanted in life. Amy seemed like a woman stuck in an unhappy marriage with no where to go. And don't even get me started on her parents!
Here's the deal though, Amy Dunne is really a self-righteous woman stuck in an unhappy marriage and on top of it, her husband is cheating on her with one of his college students. So what does she do? She plans the perfect murder, only no one is really dead. It's during this planning process when we really get to see who the characters are. We see that Nick isn't too far from the person his father was. Except, rather than hating all women, he just had a strong hatred for his wife. And then Amy, well, Amy was an only child who resented her parents for making money off of her after treasuring all the unborn babies before her. She was the child that survived yet she felt the least loved. It made her angry and gave her this need to have to control every thing and everyone in her life. Should anyone not make it to her standards, it was their fault and they deserved punishment of the worst kind.
I'm being purposely vague simply because I just don't want to give away too many details. There are many more characters involved and quite a few twists and turns that leave you screaming "WHAT?!" I consistently resented Nick Dunne throughout the whole novel and even wanted to slap him about a hundred times. I sided with Amy for the most part even towards the end when all I could think was "you are completely out of your mind."
As far as the story was concerned, it was beautifully written. Gillian Flynn did a terrific job keeping you reeled in and wanting to know more. The way she set up the characters in the beginning make you reevaluate how good a judge of character you are. I consider myself pretty good at judging character. I can sniff out fake people and real people pretty easily. However, this book made me second guess all of that. I commend Gillian Flynn on writing a great story but not getting lost in it. It's a fantastic read and I recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery.