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149 reviews
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
4.0
Over the past few years, I have seen many books of many genres that I told myself I would read eventually. I didn't read any of them. However, as I started this year of school, I thought to myself that I should read some of those books that I always wanted to read but never got around to reading. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was the first book that came to my mind, and from there, I started it.
Nick and Amy Dunne have a seemingly stable and happy relationship, having been married for five years. The two were almost opposites - Nick lived his whole life in the shadow of his twin sister Margo with two parents who never got along, and Amy lived as an only child of two happy parents and as the star of a book series. When the two met, they felt as though they had a connection, lost touch, found each other again, and later married. On their anniversary every year, Amy would create a treasure hunt that would lead Nick to his gift. However, on their fifth anniversary, Amy goes missing - leaving behind clues for her husband, as well as signs of a struggle. Soon, their families, their friends, and the police start to get involved, each set pointing fingers at different people and different possibilities, until they all begin pointing their fingers at the same person. And although this person claimed their innocence the entire time, nobody changed their minds until something very unexpected takes place.
The story itself was put together very well, especially the second of three parts. The buildup caused me to be unable to put the book down. I began to realize how different Nick and Amy really were from the people they were portrayed as in the beginning. At first, Nick explained his experiences starting from the day of Amy's disappearance, whereas Amy explained hers from a series of diary entries leading up to her disappearance. Seeing things from both perspectives filled in gaps that were opened by one character and explained by the other, and that was very helpful.
The only things that I did not enjoy about this book were the beginning and the end. The first part went by incredibly slowly because of the two different perspectives given, but it did help my understanding of what was going on. I did not like the third part, because I felt it was very anti-climactic and nothing really resolved. There wasn't of a cliffhanger, but the outcome was not what I had hoped for. I loved who Nick and Amy turned into, but nothing fixed itself - or fell apart - when they became the people they became.
I did really like this book until the end. The beginning was slow, but I read the second and third parts in one weekend in order to see how the story would end. I was, though, disappointed by the ending and where Nick and Amy ended up. If you're looking for a story of two people who think they have their lives figured out, but completely change by the end, read Gone Girl. It will be worth your time.
Nick and Amy Dunne have a seemingly stable and happy relationship, having been married for five years. The two were almost opposites - Nick lived his whole life in the shadow of his twin sister Margo with two parents who never got along, and Amy lived as an only child of two happy parents and as the star of a book series. When the two met, they felt as though they had a connection, lost touch, found each other again, and later married. On their anniversary every year, Amy would create a treasure hunt that would lead Nick to his gift. However, on their fifth anniversary, Amy goes missing - leaving behind clues for her husband, as well as signs of a struggle. Soon, their families, their friends, and the police start to get involved, each set pointing fingers at different people and different possibilities, until they all begin pointing their fingers at the same person. And although this person claimed their innocence the entire time, nobody changed their minds until something very unexpected takes place.
The story itself was put together very well, especially the second of three parts. The buildup caused me to be unable to put the book down. I began to realize how different Nick and Amy really were from the people they were portrayed as in the beginning. At first, Nick explained his experiences starting from the day of Amy's disappearance, whereas Amy explained hers from a series of diary entries leading up to her disappearance. Seeing things from both perspectives filled in gaps that were opened by one character and explained by the other, and that was very helpful.
The only things that I did not enjoy about this book were the beginning and the end. The first part went by incredibly slowly because of the two different perspectives given, but it did help my understanding of what was going on. I did not like the third part, because I felt it was very anti-climactic and nothing really resolved. There wasn't of a cliffhanger, but the outcome was not what I had hoped for. I loved who Nick and Amy turned into, but nothing fixed itself - or fell apart - when they became the people they became.
I did really like this book until the end. The beginning was slow, but I read the second and third parts in one weekend in order to see how the story would end. I was, though, disappointed by the ending and where Nick and Amy ended up. If you're looking for a story of two people who think they have their lives figured out, but completely change by the end, read Gone Girl. It will be worth your time.
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
5.0
Realistic yet unrealistic, nightmare-worthy yet not, this book sent shivers down my spine. After hearing about the well-known book "The Silence of the Lambs" by Thomas Harris, I decided it would be a great idea to start this series. As a fanatic for horror and crime novels and movies, as well as someone who thinks that becoming an FBI detective would be really, really cool, Red Dragon fit right in with other books I have recently read.
The kicks off with Will Graham, an FBI agent from the Behavioral Sciences Unit, heading into the home of a family of five who was killed together in the place they were supposed to feel most safe. The Leeds family lived peacefully, but did not go in that way. Although it was quick for most of them, Mrs. Leeds suffered the most pain, including having peculiar bite marks scattered all over her body. As Graham profiled their murders, he came to the realization that this killer has struck before, but a long way from where the Leedses lived. However, Graham could not figure out this puzzling cases with only the help of other investigators. He turns to Hannibal Lecter, M.D., who was residing in a psychiatric hospital at the time. With letters from a fan who called himself the Red Dragon, despite the press calling him the Tooth Fairy, Graham used Lecter's help to try to track down this killer once and for all. Unfortunately, after being dragged down different roads and believing that the killer was the next victim for some time, the case only got more puzzling and harder to solve.
I really enjoyed this book. The deeper into the story I got, the easier it was to understand and stay along with. It switched between the third-person point of view of Graham to the third-person point of view of the Red Dragon himself. Also, it explained very well how the FBI profiled him and what drove him to kill. In this case, childhood trauma was the largest factor that drove the killer to kill. As someone who is a big fan of the TV show Criminal Minds, this process was something I had seen countless times on that show and led me to understand what was going on more.
The only thing that I didn't like about this book was how quickly it dove into things at the beginning. I was unsure if I was reading the first book in the series or the last because it provided very little background as to what was going on or what Lecter had to do with anything. I did believe that Lecter was going to be more of a focus throughout the story than he really was, which left me kind of confused at the beginning. However, once I got past that, it was incredibly easy to understand and quickly became a very enjoyable book.
Overall, I give this book five stars and stand by that. I thought that the story was incredible, and that the writing itself was incredible, despite having some confusion at the beginning. I really can't wait to read the rest of the series. Hopefully the other books can top this one!
The kicks off with Will Graham, an FBI agent from the Behavioral Sciences Unit, heading into the home of a family of five who was killed together in the place they were supposed to feel most safe. The Leeds family lived peacefully, but did not go in that way. Although it was quick for most of them, Mrs. Leeds suffered the most pain, including having peculiar bite marks scattered all over her body. As Graham profiled their murders, he came to the realization that this killer has struck before, but a long way from where the Leedses lived. However, Graham could not figure out this puzzling cases with only the help of other investigators. He turns to Hannibal Lecter, M.D., who was residing in a psychiatric hospital at the time. With letters from a fan who called himself the Red Dragon, despite the press calling him the Tooth Fairy, Graham used Lecter's help to try to track down this killer once and for all. Unfortunately, after being dragged down different roads and believing that the killer was the next victim for some time, the case only got more puzzling and harder to solve.
I really enjoyed this book. The deeper into the story I got, the easier it was to understand and stay along with. It switched between the third-person point of view of Graham to the third-person point of view of the Red Dragon himself. Also, it explained very well how the FBI profiled him and what drove him to kill. In this case, childhood trauma was the largest factor that drove the killer to kill. As someone who is a big fan of the TV show Criminal Minds, this process was something I had seen countless times on that show and led me to understand what was going on more.
The only thing that I didn't like about this book was how quickly it dove into things at the beginning. I was unsure if I was reading the first book in the series or the last because it provided very little background as to what was going on or what Lecter had to do with anything. I did believe that Lecter was going to be more of a focus throughout the story than he really was, which left me kind of confused at the beginning. However, once I got past that, it was incredibly easy to understand and quickly became a very enjoyable book.
Overall, I give this book five stars and stand by that. I thought that the story was incredible, and that the writing itself was incredible, despite having some confusion at the beginning. I really can't wait to read the rest of the series. Hopefully the other books can top this one!