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ohsocoolkat's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
luminous's review against another edition
4.0
Really good! Part One is too long. I would have DNF'd if the book had remained that way. Blah blah Nick blah blah. But yay, we have Part Two, which saves the day! Highly readable. I always wanted to keep going. The writing is smart but not pretentious. I absolutely adored the details Flynn includes that make her world so real and, if you know you know, relatable. Flynn gets what it's like to live in economically depressed areas and it shows. She perfectly captures all the little changes and tragedies wrought by the Great Recession and its aftermath. She also captures the demise of print media and its fallout as well. I found myself nodding in recognition at so many of her observations, like about the printer that only printed blue books going under and all its now-unemployed pressmen no longer having the income to support their drug and alcohol addictions. Even the Dunnes' home, the rented McMansion, is precisely rendered as part of the world of economic collapse. I got a solid sense of place from this book and I loved that.
In fact, I think the setting overshadows the characters. The characters are not badly done. Making both POV characters unlikeable worked well and didn't diminish my enjoyment of reading their ups and downs and batshit crazy experiences. The side characters were good, too. I can still picture them all as distinct personalities.
And of course, the plot, with all its plotting by the characters and plans and deviousness and manipulations! Oh —it's great that Flynn let Amy be naive in some ways. I do think it stretches plausibility that she would do such a great job planning, including taking out all those credit cards in Nick's name, but she wouldn't set up a new identity for herself and get a credit card in that name? I think the Amy we are shown probably would have done that. But it's not terrible that she makes such a serious flub. Nobody is perfect, and we all know she had a LOT on her mind lol. I love how she got a reality check that made her realize she'd lived a sheltered life.
I dunno. I wrote so much it should maybe be a 5 star read for me. I'll have to think on it.
In fact, I think the setting overshadows the characters. The characters are not badly done. Making both POV characters unlikeable worked well and didn't diminish my enjoyment of reading their ups and downs and batshit crazy experiences. The side characters were good, too. I can still picture them all as distinct personalities.
And of course, the plot, with all its plotting by the characters and plans and deviousness and manipulations! Oh —it's great that Flynn let Amy be naive in some ways. I do think it stretches plausibility that she would do such a great job planning, including taking out all those credit cards in Nick's name, but she wouldn't set up a new identity for herself and get a credit card in that name? I think the Amy we are shown probably would have done that. But it's not terrible that she makes such a serious flub. Nobody is perfect, and we all know she had a LOT on her mind lol. I love how she got a reality check that made her realize she'd lived a sheltered life.
I dunno. I wrote so much it should maybe be a 5 star read for me. I'll have to think on it.
sammelito's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
devonforest's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of the few times that I had actually seen the movie before reading the book. So in that regard I already had an jade of what was going to happen, but it didn't stop me from loving it. It was dark and twisted just like I expect from Gillian Flynn. This might be my favorite of her books.
aceinit's review against another edition
4.0
The novel falls flat in the third named part (which covers around the last 15% of the story...and knocks the book down a notch from the 5-star rating I'd been prepared to give it). However, the ending, though unfulfilling, is equally inevitable given the course of the story that precedes it. Still, Gone Girl is surprisingly riveting read that, just as soon as you start thinking things can't get more outrageous and fucked up than they already are, goes and proves that yes, yes they can.
mahovina's review against another edition
4.0
I wrote an entire review, but fuck this mobile ap aghhhhhh