Reviews with content warning for Gore - Gone Girl

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Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

28 reviews

deviya's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

i—

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david_slack110507's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

You know a book is good when even a reading slump and an admittedly slow and uneventful first part of the book can't take away from your overall enjoyment and still leaves you with the decision to rate it 5 stars. It took me a while to finish this once started for two main reasons, 1) As mentioned earlier I was in a major reading slump, so I struggled to be even interested in some amazing other books I was reading at the time such as the AGGGTM series and 2) The first part of the book was really slow and difficult to get into.

Gillian Flynn's writing is brilliant and feels much more complex than some of the other writing I've read before, the way she writes both Nick and Amy but particularly Amy is amazing (Pun intended). She makes sure that they are presented as awfully complex and toxic people yet gives them many layers that the reader can both love and hate them at the same time. I will admit that the supporting cast of characters isn't really developed beyond bits and pieces of detail, but they don't really have to be, this is a story between Nick and Amy and their complexities as characters.

The book really hits its stride when it begins its second part, reading about Amy was much more fascinating to me because she's written with such brilliance that she genuinely believes that the things she is doing are a reasonable reaction to what Nick has done. She's a well-written example of a morally complex and grey female protagonist/character. I didn't expect this book to go into such gritty detail about Amy's plan, but it made her all the more interesting in how she rationalises her behaviour whilst Nick's perspective is also intriguing as he goes from loving his wife to hating her and planning to kill her within a second's notice.

I'm really glad that I read the book rather than watch the movie first (which I will be doing soon hopefully) as I feel like I wouldn't have had the motivation to read this if I already knew what happens and if I knew how long it would take me to finish it. Looking forward to potentially reading more of Flynn's novels in the future and seeing how their adaptations fare in comparison to the source material.

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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I have had this book on my radar for YEARS, but I finally decided it was time to read it because 1) I found a great copy at a library book sale and 2) it is a great thriller for spooky season. I was utterly blown away by this story and once I picked it up, I could not put it down.
"Gone Girl" follows Nick Dunne, a man whose wife, Amy, goes missing the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary. We know that Nick is hiding something, but did he murder his wife? In between the chapters we get Amy's perspective through letters that shed a lot of light that perhaps this marriage is not as great as we were led to believe.

I was really enjoying this story until it is revealed that Amy is still alive. She staged her death and framed her husband so that she could escape her life because she feels like everyone is leaching off of her. I had heard from other people that they really loved Amy because she is such a "boss bitch", but I did not get that vibe from her at all. Amy really infuriated me as a character because she is such a toxic person. Nick is not a terrible person, and he does not deserve to be framed and sent to prison for a crime he did not commit. Yes, he cheated on Amy and had an ongoing affair, and that is inexcusable, but there is NO justification for Amy to behave as she did. She came across as an entitled woman who threw a hissy fit when things did not go her way. She is a highly unlikeable character, and I disliked her so much that I ended up empathizing with Nick for most of the novel.
Amy aside, I really enjoyed this story. The writing and prose are so beautiful and poetic. Nick is a writer, and his inner dialogue is enchanting to read. Gillian Flynn knows how to write the perfect prose that is not too flowery but still so eloquent and captivating. This mystery was also riveting. We know very early on that everyone has something to hide, but it takes a while to peel back all of the layers and uncover what the truth is. I have really grown fond of domestic thrillers and this one set the bar high.

This was the perfect thriller for me, and ultimately, I only subtracted half a star because of how much I disliked Amy.

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readwithsophsx's review

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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? Yes

2.5

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k_galloway's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

5.0

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optimisms's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

This book is hard to review. There's a lot of competing factors in my mind when it comes to how I feel about this book. First, I watched the movie before reading the book; it was actually the reason I read the book, and I think it's such a fantastic adaptation that I would rather rewatch the movie than reread the book. Second, even if I hadn't watched the movie, I've watched enough Youtube video essays on feminism in film to know the big twist, so there was very little shock factor for me. And third, while I think this book was written extremely well, I don't really...love it. I can't put my finger on why – there was nothing that jumped out as being completely contrary to my tastes. It's an undeniable page turner, and even knowing what would happen, I read 95% of it in one day. I think the writing is phenomenal, and it feels like we're reading the inner thoughts of two distinct but intelligent writers. The characters are detestable but they are both so unique and complex to remain interesting no matter how much they disgust you. The pacing is a bit slow but everything feels deliberate, every new bit of information or small twist coming exactly when it was needed. Even though I knew the twist, I still felt the tension building and wanted to keep reading to see how it all fell apart, and I imagine that if I didn't know what was coming, I would've been completely torn about what to believe and expect. It was truly a great book! But I can't bring myself to rate it higher than 4 stars because there's just something about it that didn't completely do it for me. (I still plan to read more Gillian Flynn, though, because wow, can she write!)

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