Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: Book Review

This is the story of Nick and Amy Dunne, how they met, their courtship, and marriage. It's their 5th anniversary and Nick comes home to find Amy missing, with signs of a struggle in their living room. Amy is gone. As her husband, Nick of course becomes the prime suspect in Amy's disappearance. As the investigation unfolds, so does the story of their marriage together...a dying, dysfunctional marriage. Or is it?

Wow. How do I even review this book? For one, the writing is brilliant. Sharp, perfectly paced, dark wit, twisty. Very twisty. Does the author have some sort of degree or background in psychology? I wouldn't be surprised. At first, with the switching back and forth between the narratives of Amy and Nick, I couldn't remember if the author was a man or a woman. You truly cannot tell; she does them both so well. Or, at least, she does Nick as well as what I THINK a man's thoughts would be. I'm not a man so I don't really know. Anyway, it's good. 

It's definitely a psychological thriller, and the people are seriously messed up. The story messes with you, it gets in your head. I certainly won't be forgetting this one anytime soon. But it didn't mess with me in a way that I feel I needed to take a shower immediately after reading it. That was a nice change. Usually books like this creep me out, make me feel uneasy, like I need to watch The Marx Brothers or listen to Disney music or play with a puppy after reading it (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo did that to me). I loved the way Flynn messed with my loyalties throughout. At first I felt bad for Amy. Then I sympathized with Nick. I flip-flopped like this until the end, and I really had no idea how it would end or even how I wanted it to end. All I knew was that these people's lives would never be the same - how would they recover from it? - and it was all just so sad. 

I was disappointed in the ending. I really thought it would have ended stronger, differently. It was kind of a let-down, actually. I felt like the whole story was paced so well, until the last 50 pages or so. At that point it seemed rushed, too fast, with a lot of things left out. But I wasn't completely dissatisfied. It still gets 5-stars from me.

It's so nice to read a book that's just a self-complete story, not part of a trilogy or more. You pick up a book, you read it, it's a good story, the end. Excellently written, in a nice, one-book package. How refreshing! Are they going to make a movie of this one? I wouldn't be surprised. It would make an excellent movie. Probably one I couldn't bear to watch. (Note: I just checked - Reese Witherspoon's production company has picked up the rights to this one, with suggestions that Reese would star as Amy. That would be perfect.)

I'm definitely interested in reading more by Gillian Flynn.

Get the book from Amazon.com. 
Read about the author, Gillian Flynn, on Goodreads.com.