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neef's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence
readsandrants's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Well I have to give it to Gillian Flynn, she created a cast of characters that I throughly despised. There were multiple times that I wrote in the margins that I wanted to burn the book because it was just making me feel too many different things that I hated.
There’s a user on goodreads who perfectly explained exactly how I feel about this book but I’ll briefly explain it here: amy is so perfect you want to puke, the couple goes from “I love you” to “I hate you and I’m framing you for my murder” and “I hate you and I’m constantly thinking about killing you”, the couple is just really irritating in general, and the ending makes you want to throw your book at a wall.
I thought the whole time that maybe Justice would be served but we got a baby instead.
And the fact that Amy was so methodical and well planed but suddenly she’s robbed, believes that two faked interviews are real and that her husband loves her, AND is basically held captive by desi (she couldn’t leave the house because he had the password for the gate, but I acknowledge she wasn’t held “captive” in the way she claims).
It was just really frustrating to see how this entire book played out in the end.
Nonetheless, I think this was a good read, albeit a quite frustrating one, but I think that was kind of the purpose of it. I just felt like there was some loose ends that personally I needed to be tied up before it ended.
3 ⭐️
There’s a user on goodreads who perfectly explained exactly how I feel about this book but I’ll briefly explain it here: amy is so perfect you want to puke, the couple goes from “I love you” to “I hate you and I’m framing you for my murder” and “I hate you and I’m constantly thinking about killing you”, the couple is just really irritating in general, and the ending makes you want to throw your book at a wall.
I thought the whole time that maybe Justice would be served but we got a baby instead.
And the fact that Amy was so methodical and well planed but suddenly she’s robbed, believes that two faked interviews are real and that her husband loves her, AND is basically held captive by desi (she couldn’t leave the house because he had the password for the gate, but I acknowledge she wasn’t held “captive” in the way she claims).
It was just really frustrating to see how this entire book played out in the end.
Nonetheless, I think this was a good read, albeit a quite frustrating one, but I think that was kind of the purpose of it. I just felt like there was some loose ends that personally I needed to be tied up before it ended.
3 ⭐️
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cancer, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
featherbrain's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Rape, Cancer, Dementia, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Misogyny, Vomit, and Miscarriage
elizlizabeth's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is an emotional rollercoaster from beggining to end. Not a fan of thrillers but this one will take all the clichés of the genre and throw them off the window.
The writing is done super cleverly, and it gives you tiny critiques and insights on humanity and raise some questions on the way we live now, but it's not in-your-face nor preachy. The plot twists are so cleverly placed that even though they are shocking, it all fits so nicely.
The characters themselves are not very likable and its hard to choose "a side", but overall it's so fun to read about the evil, brilliant plans Amy concocts. Supporting characters are well rounded even though they do only show up for short amounts of time.
Only reason I don't rate it a 5 is because the ending felt a bit anticlimactic and rushed for me, but I'm sure someone else out there might enjoy it.
The writing is done super cleverly, and it gives you tiny critiques and insights on humanity and raise some questions on the way we live now, but it's not in-your-face nor preachy. The plot twists are so cleverly placed that even though they are shocking, it all fits so nicely.
The characters themselves are not very likable and its hard to choose "a side", but overall it's so fun to read about the evil, brilliant plans Amy concocts. Supporting characters are well rounded even though they do only show up for short amounts of time.
Only reason I don't rate it a 5 is because the ending felt a bit anticlimactic and rushed for me, but I'm sure someone else out there might enjoy it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Infidelity, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Miscarriage, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, and Kidnapping
As you can see he book has plenty of CW but no violence of any kind is framed as good or redeemable, and the rest are justified and play important parts in the plot. If you can stomach them, don't let it disuade you from reading a great book.magicalsocks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
(4/24/21)
“Love should require both partners to be their very best at all times. Unconditional love is an undisciplined love, and as we all have seen, undisciplined love is disastrous.”
“You two are the most fucked-up people I have ever met, and I specialize in fucked-up people.”
my god these white people are fucking craaaaaaaaaaaaazy.
devoured this completely within the span of four-ish hours and even with my advance knowledge of all the major plot point and spoilers it fully completely absolutely lived up to and surpassed the hype. 1 star taken off because the pacing of the post-reunion section felt off (personally i would have preferred a more ambiguous ending very shortly after the return - nick (1) genuinely and seriously titling his book “psycho bitch” and (2) genuinely and seriously being excited about bringing an actual child into that relationship fully destroyed my suspension of disbelief).
that said, maybe the first book i’ve read where i can so viscerally hate these characters for their ego and self-righteousness and inner monologue and simultaneously see some of my own flaws reflected within them so clearly. but maybe that’s just because i’m a virgo.
gillian flynn is a GENIUS.
“Love should require both partners to be their very best at all times. Unconditional love is an undisciplined love, and as we all have seen, undisciplined love is disastrous.”
“You two are the most fucked-up people I have ever met, and I specialize in fucked-up people.”
my god these white people are fucking craaaaaaaaaaaaazy.
devoured this completely within the span of four-ish hours and even with my advance knowledge of all the major plot point and spoilers it fully completely absolutely lived up to and surpassed the hype. 1 star taken off because
that said, maybe the first book i’ve read where i can so viscerally hate these characters for their ego and self-righteousness and inner monologue and simultaneously see some of my own flaws reflected within them so clearly. but maybe that’s just because i’m a virgo.
gillian flynn is a GENIUS.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Cursing, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Cancer
Minor: Alcoholism, Incest, and Addiction
lucymeg's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Although the story starts off slow, it really builds over the book until it is properly unputdownable. The characters are so twisted in their own way, and the story is so well constructed, that it honestly is one of my favourite books ever. One of the things I loved the most was the ending, despite what other reviewers have said, as I honestly think that if either one of them had have won the battle to put the other away, it would kinda discredit the rest of the story, as it is telling us that there are no neat endings in life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Blood
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Murder, and Physical abuse
Minor: Cancer, Suicide, Stalking, and Miscarriage
kadtide's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I read the first third of this book many years ago, but it was returned to the library before I got any further and I only just came back to it now. In the years since then the movie came out and I gathered the Big Twist (that Amy faked her death to punish Nick ) but that did not prepare me for the absolutely bone-chilling narrative.
Gillian Flynn is a brilliant author and this book is incredibly well-crafted. I think I need to sit with it for a little while before I can fully find the words to describe it: haunting, terrifying, beautiful.
Here are the thoughts I have collected thus far:
The first part of the book, we follow Nick through his gradual discovered of What Happened to Amy, and we follow Amy through the years of their relationship leading up to this point, as told via a diary. Both of them are unreliable narrators. Nick's perspective is full of lies of omission, which he outright admits to, so we know he's hiding things from us. And yet, in spite of that, his fear and confusion surrounding Amy's disappearance does not feel like a lie- if it is, it's too well-crafted. The signs pointing to him are too obvious for him to be that clever of a killer. And even without the knowledge that Amy faked her death, Diary Amy still feels off somehow. Her descriptions of Nick don't quite match up with the Nick we see, and Nick's descriptions of her don't match up with how she presents herself. It's hard to know who to trust- which one of them is telling the truth?
This is brilliant, because of how directly it plays into the underlying narrative of public opinion.
In the second part, we meet the real Amy and she's nothing like I expected- cold, calculating, and cruel. She has a vision of what her life should be, what she believes she deserves, and she will destroy anything that gets in her way. We meet the real Amy at the same moment that Nick discovers he's being framed- which is incredibly clever. The book repeats over and over that in this kind of story everyone wants to blame the husband- and we the reader are encouraged during the first part to agree! Even if it doesn't quite seem like he did it, he does seem like an asshole, the way Diary Amy portrays him, and enough of those flaws are present in his POV that you don't really like him that much. But ultimately he isn't the villain of the story, he's the victim.
During part 2, we get to see just how far Amy went to frame him. Her confession to the readers parallels his search for answers, so when he makes seemingly outlandish claims of her framing him, we know he's right. Dramatic irony at it's finest. This is where it gets tense: we watch as Nick falls further and further, unable to pull himself out of the hole Amy's dug for him. And we watch Amy watch him, following her deepest thoughts as she considers changing her plan. The buildup is excruciating, but by the end of part 2 a hopeful ending is in sight- we know Nick planned to lure Amy back to exonerate himself, and it looks like it's working. We also know by now just how terrifyingly evil Amy is, and it's finally starting to seem like she might not get away with it.
And then part 3 happens. This is the shortest part, but in many ways the cruelest. Just when we the readers are led to believe there is hope, that Amy's plot will be publicized and Nick will be saved, it is twisted on us in the worst way. Amy is too clever for that. Amy will never be caught. The rules of the game have changed, but only because Amy wanted them to. She changed her mind- Nick shouldn't be convicted and killed, he should be free to live as her husband and one true love, now that he knows she can destroy him.
And the worst part is? Everyone believes her. This is ultimately what makes the narrative so torturously clever: in part 1 we don't really like Nick; in part 2 we learn that Amy is the true villain and we start rooting for him instead; and in part 3 we watch as everyone in the world (who doesn't see what we see, what Nick sees) takes Amy's side.
The book tricks you into siding with Amy at the start, just like she tricked Nick (and Hilary, and Tommy, and Desi). But just like she turned on each of them once they weren't what she wanted or got too close, once we see Amy's true face the book turns on us as well.
Amy wins.
Gillian Flynn is a brilliant author and this book is incredibly well-crafted. I think I need to sit with it for a little while before I can fully find the words to describe it: haunting, terrifying, beautiful.
Here are the thoughts I have collected thus far:
The first part of the book, we follow Nick through his gradual discovered of What Happened to Amy, and we follow Amy through the years of their relationship leading up to this point, as told via a diary. Both of them are unreliable narrators. Nick's perspective is full of lies of omission, which he outright admits to, so we know he's hiding things from us. And yet, in spite of that, his fear and confusion surrounding Amy's disappearance does not feel like a lie- if it is, it's too well-crafted. The signs pointing to him are too obvious for him to be that clever of a killer. And even without the knowledge that Amy faked her death, Diary Amy still feels off somehow. Her descriptions of Nick don't quite match up with the Nick we see, and Nick's descriptions of her don't match up with how she presents herself. It's hard to know who to trust- which one of them is telling the truth?
This is brilliant, because of how directly it plays into the underlying narrative of public opinion.
In the second part, we meet the real Amy and she's nothing like I expected- cold, calculating, and cruel. She has a vision of what her life should be, what she believes she deserves, and she will destroy anything that gets in her way. We meet the real Amy at the same moment that Nick discovers he's being framed- which is incredibly clever. The book repeats over and over that in this kind of story everyone wants to blame the husband- and we the reader are encouraged during the first part to agree! Even if it doesn't quite seem like he did it, he does seem like an asshole, the way Diary Amy portrays him, and enough of those flaws are present in his POV that you don't really like him that much. But ultimately he isn't the villain of the story, he's the victim.
During part 2, we get to see just how far Amy went to frame him. Her confession to the readers parallels his search for answers, so when he makes seemingly outlandish claims of her framing him, we know he's right. Dramatic irony at it's finest. This is where it gets tense: we watch as Nick falls further and further, unable to pull himself out of the hole Amy's dug for him. And we watch Amy watch him, following her deepest thoughts as she considers changing her plan. The buildup is excruciating, but by the end of part 2 a hopeful ending is in sight- we know Nick planned to lure Amy back to exonerate himself, and it looks like it's working. We also know by now just how terrifyingly evil Amy is, and it's finally starting to seem like she might not get away with it.
And then part 3 happens. This is the shortest part, but in many ways the cruelest. Just when we the readers are led to believe there is hope, that Amy's plot will be publicized and Nick will be saved, it is twisted on us in the worst way. Amy is too clever for that. Amy will never be caught. The rules of the game have changed, but only because Amy wanted them to. She changed her mind- Nick shouldn't be convicted and killed, he should be free to live as her husband and one true love, now that he knows she can destroy him.
And the worst part is? Everyone believes her. This is ultimately what makes the narrative so torturously clever: in part 1 we don't really like Nick; in part 2 we learn that Amy is the true villain and we start rooting for him instead; and in part 3 we watch as everyone in the world (who doesn't see what we see, what Nick sees) takes Amy's side.
The book tricks you into siding with Amy at the start, just like she tricked Nick (and Hilary, and Tommy, and Desi). But just like she turned on each of them once they weren't what she wanted or got too close, once we see Amy's true face the book turns on us as well.
Amy wins.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, and Fatphobia
Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Death of parent, Dementia, Miscarriage, and Vomit
This book is very dark. Gaslighting, abuse, violence (physical, emotional, AND sexual) are major parts of the narrative. It does not have a happy ending:lameyloser's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Vomit and Suicide
rosita's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The characters are so unlikeable, i did not enjoy being in their mind set at all. I thought about dnf-ing bc i was so uncomfortable, but the book traps you. I listened to it on audiobook, and every second I was not reading, I was thinking about the book, replaying scenes in my head, wondering what would happen next, I was obsessed.
If you listen to it on audiobook, I recommend listening in 1.3 speed.
If you listen to it on audiobook, I recommend listening in 1.3 speed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Confinement, Dementia, Drug use, and Misogyny
Minor: Miscarriage
diana_barv's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Oh my gods. It was brilliant, in a totally forked up way. You are so gonna hate them but I feel that is what makes the story so compelling. It is not for the light-hearted but damn was it good. I've already recommended to several friends. Beware but do give it a chance
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Self harm, Violence, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Cursing
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Infidelity, and Death
Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Terminal illness, Miscarriage, and Cancer
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