Gone Girl. (Book Review #4)
Posted On May 31, 2015
A couple of years ago, I read in the newspaper that ‘Gone Girl’ by Gillian Flynn is among the top 5 of the year. I had been meaning to read it ever since. Finally, I have read it and I’m not so pleased. Maybe I had high hopes from it because it is many people’s favourite novel. To begin with, I liked the mysterious title which is simple and effective.
Characters:
The story revolves around a married couple who are in an unsuccessful marriage. The wife, Amy Elliot Dunne, is brilliant, vicious and crazy. The husband, Nick Dunne, is smart, laid-back and deals-with-everything-at-a-time kind of a person. Their characters are brought out really well. Especially the character of Amy is almost perfect. She does the things she wants. She is manipulative and also a clever planner. The character of Nick is portrayed wisely. Being the relaxed person he is, the strike of clues and Amy’s little jokes, hits him subsequently. Nick’s twin sister Margo is a typical supporting sister who hates Amy. The rest of the people like Desi Collings, Boney, Gilpin, their parents are properly structured and placed. For example, the feelings of Amy’s parents are very natural. The detective is also very cautious and informal.
Story line:
The first part; ‘Boy Loses Girl’ is symbolised in two ways. First is the husband’s story of the present situation. Second is the wife’s story about the past. I’m usually a fast reader but I found very little interest in the first 200 pages. That’s right. Not 20, but 200! It constituted only the normal events of the day. The love story and marriage life could have been better. It wasn’t necessary to put every sad incident to extend the story. The investigation and treasure hunt could have been more exciting. I agree that all detectives aren’t Sherlock Holmes but the fact that it took them so many pages to arrest Nick was quite dull. I was hoping for the treasure hunt to be more than 4 clues. They were very apt, I agree. The story got more interesting with the entry of Andie. The end of the first part was okay but I had imagined Amy’s dead body in the woodshed. Alas! It wouldn’t have been possible because that would’ve ended the story right there.
The second part; ‘Boy Meets Girl’ was the best part of the story. It had the maximum of mystery than the other parts. In this, Amy finally begins to tell her story from the day of her disappearance. Here, they catch up on the same time frame after all. In this part, the real Amy is shown who is a lady of vengeance and excellence. She narrates her entire plan which is absolutely genious. The way she plans for a year shows how much she can be patient to commit a perfect crime to seek revenge. I found her story to be one of misery and challenge. Misery, because she was not living her life fully. Her life’s goal was only to watch her husband suffer. Challenge, because she was not a simple person. For her, everything and everyone was a competition. Her aim was brought out to be so sure and crystal clear. And, that’s why it made no sense when she melted over Nick’s television speech. That wasn’t supposed to happen. She was intelligent to know better and yet her weak heart somehow won over her strong mind. Concerning her little incident at her hideout, that wasn’t expected. Sure, it was necessary to put something there. But a robbery? I thought it would be either that Greta and Jeff recognise her or that they are cops. Also, the further story is very un-appealing to me. But, for Desi to pop in the situation, this robbery was essential. Once Desi entered, I had a feeling that he’s going to be Amy’s target. Her plan was good. But not as much as the original one. On the other end, Nick was smart enough to handle things the way he handled them. Tanner’s outline was carved up really well.
The third part; ‘Boy Gets Girl Back.’ is the end of the story. This was the most weird part wherein there were twists and complications just for the sake of it. It was impossible that a man could live with such a ‘psycho bitch’ and become the father of their child. The fact that he couldn’t get any clues from his geniuos and crazy wife was obvious.
The third part; ‘Boy Gets Girl Back.’ is the end of the story. This was the most weird part wherein there were twists and complications just for the sake of it. It was impossible that a man could live with such a ‘psycho bitch’ and become the father of their child. The fact that he couldn’t get any clues from his geniuos and crazy wife was obvious.
Overall Thoughts:
If you check out my Goodreads page, you will notice that I’ve given 2 stars for this novel. I think the story was variations of vagueness and randomness. At the beginning, it felt like the treasure hunt would be the tying bond leading to their happy marriage. In the middle, it felt like it was a master plan if Amy would’ve killed herself. In the post-middle, it felt like it was unnecessary to even mention Amy’s intellect as she loses herself and gets fooled by Nick’s fake gestures. In the end, it felt like if this all wouldn’t have happened, their lives would’ve been exactly the same.
I’m not a famous book reviewer or an all-the-time critique. I’ve only stated some facts about a novel that I didn’t like much. You can read some of my positive book reviews here.I hope I didn’t hurt any of the readers’ or author’s feelings. I’m sure many of you loved this book which made it a bestseller. I hope those of you didn’t like it, found my describing satisfactory. What’s your opinion on ‘Gone Girl’?
I’m not a famous book reviewer or an all-the-time critique. I’ve only stated some facts about a novel that I didn’t like much. You can read some of my positive book reviews here.I hope I didn’t hurt any of the readers’ or author’s feelings. I’m sure many of you loved this book which made it a bestseller. I hope those of you didn’t like it, found my describing satisfactory. What’s your opinion on ‘Gone Girl’?
About The Author
Aishwarya Shenolikar
Hello! I'm Aishwarya, an Introverted bookworm & writer. I have been reviewing books since 6 years on my blog - Mindscape in Words. My favourite genres are Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers, Magical Realism, Poetry, Fantasy & Memoirs. I like the kind of books which evoke emotions on several levels leaving me wrecked, but also incredibly content. I'm dreaming for the world to paint a landscape full of words, more like Mindscape in Words. Hope you enjoy the view.
18 Comments
Good review. Somehow after reading it, the book appears interesting to me.
Thanks. It is interesting but also bizarre. 😀
Too bad you didn't like it! I really enjoyed the twist, but I'll concede some of your points about the beginning. It took me a long time to get into it, though I'm not usually one for thrillers.
I thought about starting this.. but everytime I open it – it doesn't catch my attention 🙁 Thanks for your honest review
I actually really liked it, although I thought the film was shocking! Nice to hear someone else's opinion though 🙂
I've thought about reading this, but haven't gotten to it yet. Thanks for sharing your review!!
I loved this book for some reason… but I agree there was a lot of randomness! But I still couldnt put it down! (and I am going to go find you on goodreads) 🙂
I struggled with this book also. I heard a couple comments about the movie so I knew there was big twist. I might have liked it more if I had no idea what was coming. Great Review! If you ever want to review books with me via google hangout let me know I have an ever growing list of reviews coming up http://creativehouseblog.com/hanging-out-with-books-new-offer-from-first-to-read/
I haven't read this book yet; but I have heard good and bad things about it. Thanks for this review; I think I'll put it down further on my "to-read" list!
xo, Chelsie @ Life with Rosie
Thank you for sharing your honest opinion! It's okay to have a different opinion. I personally like psychological twists in novels and films. I do admit that at the beginning of this book, I wasn't really intrigued. Eventually I was but was somewhat disappointed with the ending.
I used to be an avid reader but stopped since due to amount of works to do for past two years. I really should get back on reading!
Thanks for your opinions, they helped me to see things differently to my own. I enjoyed this book and the twists in it. Really, this story is about the illness in Amy's head and her demise as a person. Great post.
I loved Gone Girl, but I definitely had some of the same problems with the story lines as you did. I agree with Ashleigh, though, that it's really all about how psycho Amy is. Once I accepted that, I think I liked the storylines better overall. Thanks for the review! Almost makes me want to read it again from a new perspective.
I saw this movie and heard that the book was better. I think I'll be adding this to my summer reading list! The movie was crazy so it'll be interesting to see my take on comparing it to the book! Thanks for sharing this review!
I enjoyed all the twists and turns but hated the ending – I really didn't want her to win!
This has been on my read list for a while. I think I'll still read it but I suspect after all the talk about it, I may find myself disappointed as well.
🙂
Traci
I loved this book because I love a book that I just want to know what was going to happen the whole time, and this was one of them! But I was disappointed with the ending of the book for sure!
Thank you everyone for reading. 🙂
Since I've just started reading this book I'm not entitled to comment anything. But I agree that it's monotonous and the author has gone too much into detailing each and every small event which according to me is inconsequential. I'm only hoping it gets less boring as I read further.