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soyreads's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-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
4.0
A good domestic thriller that got me out of my reading slump.
It was a fairly easy read and it kept me at the edge of my seat. Although I already saw the movie, reading the book gave me more insight about the character's thoughts. Would highly recommend this for those who would love to start reading thriller.
It was a fairly easy read and it kept me at the edge of my seat. Although I already saw the movie, reading the book gave me more insight about the character's thoughts. Would highly recommend this for those who would love to start reading thriller.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
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
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:
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