Busy Brunette's Bookshelf: Book Review: Gone Girl

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. 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?

What can I say about this book that hasn’t already been said? Gillian Flynn is an amazing writer and WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL OF MY LIFE?! Gone Girl caught my full attention from the first pages until the very last and I read this entire book within days. It was exciting and definitely kept me guessing, never quite being able to see what was coming next, which is an awesome feeling to get from a mystery.

I loved that the book was told from both the husband’s and the wife’s, Nick and Amy, points of view and that they didn’t reveal everything to you right up front; they sometimes lie to the reader, as well. I thought this was a fascinating idea because it truly keeps you on the edge of your seat and the book is always one step ahead of you, never allowing you to figure out what is going to happen. The characters are destructive and damaged, but that makes them all the more intriguing and you want to try to understand them, even if their reasoning and logic don't make sense at times.

As soon as you begin to feel smart and you think you've figured it all out- BAM!- plot twist. Everything gets all flipped on you and you suddenly can't even remember your own name because Gillian Flynn just messed with your mind that much. Am I being a little dramatic and yet totally unrevealing about all of this? Good.

And now to talk about the most controversial part of the book- the ending. If you look up anything about Gone Girl, I'm sure you will notice that everyone talks about and discusses the ending of the book and if they agreed with it or not. I would like to say that while I was surely surprised and pretty mad the first time I read it, the more I reflected upon it I decided, could it have ended any other way? Realistically, no. I can't say much more to defend my opinion but shoot me an email when you are done reading and I would love to talk about this point with you.

Overall, this is an excellent thriller that keeps you guessing and thinking until the very last page. Even if you consider yourself to be good at figuring out mysteries, Flynn has created complex, multi-layered characters with a plot and twists that will make you question how someone could have thought of that. This is a book that you will want to re-read as soon as you are done and will instantly want to talk to someone about, whether you loved it all or hated it.

Take a chance- read the whole book. Even if you don't like it you can't deny, Gone Girl has got style and is definitely making people talk.

-Busy Brunette