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A review by yevolem
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
5.0
reduced from overall thoughts from a group discussion
I enjoy how she writes. It was odd reading this because although I very much enjoyed myself, it felt insubstantial because I had already seen the movie. I surprisingly quite possibly liked it more this time. I'll have to read her two earlier novels and then maybe the TV series. I've already read “The Grownup,” which originally appeared as “What Do You Do?” in GRRM’s Rogues anthology.
I believe the overall theme to be a satire of marriage and relationships in general. Probably most find this to be depressing and/or enraging, though still enjoyable. My overall sentiment is that it's more darkly humorous than anything else. Certainly not depressing or enraging for me at all, but I'm detached from the ways it would be.
Some people probably have issues with this book, and by extension others of a similar sort, by deriding it as an example of "inclusion in the atrocious". While I believe this is a real life concern, when it comes to fiction I'm not concerned. I would explain more, but it is a tangent.
A sequel would be interesting, but doesn't seem to be forthcoming, so it suffices as is.
I find it interesting that on GR, 1-3 stars are 21% of the ratings, but 70% of the top 10 liked reviews are. 1 star ratings are 2%, but 30% of the top 10 reviews are. Usually it seems to me that for most books the top reviews are higher than the average review of the book. Makes me wonder whether if this is caused by people who didn't read the book but liked reviews hating on it as a form of signaling. I've seen a few other books where the top reviews are significantly divergent from the average rating. It could be simply that a far larger group simply bounced off the book and this was the only evidence of their engagement with it. Some people rate 1 stars for this. I put such books as dropped. Could be both or neither.
It's listed as having been nominated for or won so many awards, including the GR book award. I can't find myself disagreeing with them.
I don't really have anything at all I want to complain about it, though I believe that isn't uncommon when I rather enjoy something because I don't want to send myself into a spiral of criticism and ruin my enjoyment.
This book in particular is much more about how it makes the reader feel than anything else, for me at least, and everything else is secondary concern, similar to Amy and Nick's relationship, so I can certainly understand how people could object to it on both a personal and technical basis.
I enjoy how she writes. It was odd reading this because although I very much enjoyed myself, it felt insubstantial because I had already seen the movie. I surprisingly quite possibly liked it more this time. I'll have to read her two earlier novels and then maybe the TV series. I've already read “The Grownup,” which originally appeared as “What Do You Do?” in GRRM’s Rogues anthology.
I believe the overall theme to be a satire of marriage and relationships in general. Probably most find this to be depressing and/or enraging, though still enjoyable. My overall sentiment is that it's more darkly humorous than anything else. Certainly not depressing or enraging for me at all, but I'm detached from the ways it would be.
Some people probably have issues with this book, and by extension others of a similar sort, by deriding it as an example of "inclusion in the atrocious". While I believe this is a real life concern, when it comes to fiction I'm not concerned. I would explain more, but it is a tangent.
A sequel would be interesting, but doesn't seem to be forthcoming, so it suffices as is.
I find it interesting that on GR, 1-3 stars are 21% of the ratings, but 70% of the top 10 liked reviews are. 1 star ratings are 2%, but 30% of the top 10 reviews are. Usually it seems to me that for most books the top reviews are higher than the average review of the book. Makes me wonder whether if this is caused by people who didn't read the book but liked reviews hating on it as a form of signaling. I've seen a few other books where the top reviews are significantly divergent from the average rating. It could be simply that a far larger group simply bounced off the book and this was the only evidence of their engagement with it. Some people rate 1 stars for this. I put such books as dropped. Could be both or neither.
It's listed as having been nominated for or won so many awards, including the GR book award. I can't find myself disagreeing with them.
I don't really have anything at all I want to complain about it, though I believe that isn't uncommon when I rather enjoy something because I don't want to send myself into a spiral of criticism and ruin my enjoyment.
This book in particular is much more about how it makes the reader feel than anything else, for me at least, and everything else is secondary concern, similar to Amy and Nick's relationship, so I can certainly understand how people could object to it on both a personal and technical basis.