Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) Book Review

2017 Reading Challenge

28. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
      Prompt: book with an unreliable narrator

Synopsis:

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

My Review:

I saw the movie version of this a couple years ago and of course, I wanted to read the book. Yes, I'm one of those who believes that the book is always better than the movie. There are some rare exceptions, though. I ended up being disappointed and underwhelmed with both. Originally, I was interested in  Gone Girl because of all the hype about it, but I didn't feel that it lived up to the expectations in either version. I will say however that the book was slightly better than the movie.

I did like the aspect of reading from the perspectives of both Nick and Amy. I thought that was a clever idea of Gillian Flynn to incorporate. If it had only been Nick's point of view, it probably would have sufficed. Amy's diary entries were indeed interesting to know what was going on inside her head. It also led me to believe that there was something wrong with her. Could she have had a mental disorder? Maybe so, maybe not. It does take a lot of cleverness and cunning skills to devise your own disappearance and murder, in addition to the clues she left framing Nick. Even though Nick wasn't innocent in all that went on since he started fabricating lies as well, I found myself on his side for the most part. And if there's one thing I learned, it would be not to be evasive or lie to the police or detectives, making you look even more suspicious, like Nick did. 

I liked the concept of the scavenger hunt. You don't usually find a lot of books like that and I thought it was different. Scavenger hunts can be fun while you're figuring out the clues that lead to a great surprise or prize at the end. It obviously wasn't like that in this story since there was a little twist involved. 

Note: I am almost finished with the book reviews for the books that I read in 2017. I believe I only have three or four more to go before I do my 2018 Book Awards for all the books I read last year and before I start posting the book reviews for this year.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

~Meg~