Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Gone Girl

A heavy psychological domestic thriller, emphasis on psychological. Flynn's ability to capture the mind of the twisted and wounded that's grounded in reality based psychology instead of caricature is mind-blowing and emotionally heavy.

I had to put the book down after almost every chapter because of how much it affected me, in a good way, and I already read this book once before! And seen the movie! I knew what happens, but on my first read through as a teenager I didn't understand it the way I do now as an adult. I recalled it being boring and slow paced, but that is so far from the truth. Flynn's writing left me in awe. The way it's structured, the foreshadowing, the double meanings, the parallels - chef's kiss. I'm still thinking about it after completion as it left me with a lot to chew on. That's one of the hallmarks of a great book, in my opinion.

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deshanejt's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

Top notch thriller... Genuinely. Some thing I could have lived without were all the fat-phobic, ageist and sexist remarks; The overly redundant obsession with reminding the reader "men suck/women suck".

Nick and Amy were genuinely raw and unfiltered, both awful people in their own respects- yet I found unnecessary observations made about people's bodies..... On one hand it did help grind home your loathing for Nick and Amy, but c'mon. The descriptions were a little borderline and niche for my taste, which is sus if you ask me. 🤔

So much of this book centered around the internal monologue of someone trying to convince the reader why the opposite gender is trash... After the first couple hundred pages of that- we get it, the characters are sexist a**holes, now you're beating a dead horse.

At any rate, a stellar plot/storyline, just a little too much humdrum for me. 😅 Oddly enough, I would still recommend it. 🥴🤷🏻‍♀️

Content Warnings

fuzzygazelle's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

An incredible thriller. The character work is astounding, Gillian Flynn really nails it with the different ways the characters highlight the traits in one another. Despite most of the cast being incredibly flawed you cant help but be captivated by these flaws and how they affect each person's relationships with one another. The tension is incredibly well handled and the plot keeps you guessing the whole way through. The social commentary is incredibly well written with its commentary on gender, feminist ideology and the role of the media and public opinion in the judicial system.

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justwordsandink's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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imaginedaisies91's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

This book was a masterful work of deception. Presenting characters in a way that skews the readers’ perceptions of their actions allows for a hell of a twist that keeps you guessing what really happened.

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