Overall Rating and Opinion of "Gone Girl"
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Re: Overall Rating and Opinion of "Gone Girl"
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- mellysw
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But I have to give it four stars because it is an exceedingly well written book. I could not put it down. I empathized with the very characters I hated. I LIVED Gone Girl like a transfixed television audience member watching the train wreck of human lives take place before my eyes. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a sign of good writing. So four stars for Gillian Flynn - I hated your book.
- Phoebe Moon
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**SPOLIERS**
I'm really at a loss to understand why so many people rave about how amazing this book is. I totally feel as if I'm being deliberately contrary lol.
For me it was a total disappointment. I bought the book because it was buy one get one free when I bought another book for someone as a gift so it wasn't as if I sought it out. I chose it simply because it was number one on the bestseller list in the supermarket. If it had been something that I'd been waiting for or that I had deliberately chosen based on reviews, I would have been super-let down.
I'll start off with what I liked about it. Flynn's writing style is fantastic. I love her use of the unreliable narrator style. There's no doubt that this woman can write. The way she uses the two different tenses for each character's viewpoint is clever and gave me a strange feeling of unease that I can't explain.
I wish Flynn's writing talent carried into her ability to maintain a solid plot I could pick out sooo many flaws in the book's believability but I'll just settle for one or two... firstly, the police would never have left Amy's return and far-fetched story uninvestigated. It would be so easy to disprove most of what she said. Secondly, we come to see that Amy is a sociopath. Her whole life is full of sociopathic behaviour. People around her are always coming to harm and she always comes away unscathed. Yet none of this is recognised by her parents - who are both child psychologists.
Usually a book will have at least one character that I really like. The character might be a goodie or a baddy, but something about them will be loveable. I found no such characters in Gone Girl. All the characters were nasty, egocentric, shallow idiots. Of course, Amy and Nick thoroughly deserve each other.
Apart from that, I just found the whole thing totally unbelievable. It started off so well. I am the sort of person who can and will put a book down forever if it doesn't grab me straight off so this book really did reel me in. Strangely, it was page 98 that I figured out where the plot was going. I'm pretty good at working out whodunnits usually but page 98 is pretty quick especially considering the slow pace the plot advances at. So aside from the nitty gritty detail of it, I had it down at page 98. I was disappointed to say the least but interested enough to keep reading because I was really keen to know how the author was going to bring it all together in the finale.
Finale. That's a word that makes me think of explanations, resolutions... but unfortunately for me there wasn't one. The book simply... ended. It ended in such a way that I was actually quite embarrassed for the author who, in the acknowledgements admits she got stuck two thirds of the way through writing and had to have her editor help her finish it. The ending was like one of those childish stories you write at school, where you get bored writing and quickly finish with... "... and then he woke up. It had all been a dream." If the ending hadn't been so ridiculous, it might've been a pretty good book. But come on, getting pregnant using artificial insemination is difficult. Yet Amy manages to get pregnant that way pretty much immediately upon her return from being "brutally kidnapped and raped". Surely her husband's permission would have been needed for her to use his sample to get pregnant?
So you may have guessed if you've bothered to read my whole review that I didn't like it much lol. The reason I'm so annoyed is that this is a bestseller. Not just any old book that I may have picked up, but a bestseller. Meaning people are reccommending this to their friends... it's such a shame that there are so many talented authors out there and something like this is what people seem to want.
Hopefully Flynn will get her head around how to plot and write a novel that will prove she's an awesome writer. I am going to give one of her previous books a go, maybe this was just an anomaly. Finger's crossed...
-- 17 Oct 2014, 04:07 --
That's a pretty accurate summation and a really clever review. I feel kind of the same. But the unbelievability of it all just meant I couldn't give it more than 2 stars. But yeah, props to the author for being probably the first ever book I've read where I didn't like a single character.mellysw wrote:I don't want to give this book a four star rating. I really don't. I can't remember a time I despised EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER in the story. I despise the premise of this book, all the twisting and layered lies and deceit and deception.
But I have to give it four stars because it is an exceedingly well written book. I could not put it down. I empathized with the very characters I hated. I LIVED Gone Girl like a transfixed television audience member watching the train wreck of human lives take place before my eyes. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a sign of good writing. So four stars for Gillian Flynn - I hated your book.
-- 17 Oct 2014, 04:14 --
My post has disappeared... very strange. I posted and then edited it and now it has disappeared :/
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- GKCfan
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- Chrystal
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The question everyone - friends and family alike - are asking, is who would want to kidnap or harm "perfect Amy?" after all she had a series of "Perfect Amy" books written by her snotty obnoxiously doting parents that chronicled her entire life of perfection. She and her husband Nick were both magazine writers who played their Mr. and Mrs. Roles to perfection for all to see. Yet when the alpha-girl perfectionist wife goes missing, Nick's charm and role as Mr. Perfect is overshadowed by his display of inappropriate behavior, evasiveness, and lies - lies that continue to mount each day she is missing, but through it all, he maintains he is innocence of any wrong doing. However, if Nick had nothing to do with his wife's sudden disappearance – as he absolutely denies, than who did? Well, surprisingly, dear perfect Amy herself is cleverly providing quite a number of clues.
Nick Dunne made the mistake of having an affair and unknowingly allowed his wife Amy to find out about it. Even worse than his wife discovering the affair, was Nick marrying Amy five years ago, not knowing that Amy Elliott Dunne is/was a manipulative spiteful cunning and extremely vindictive witch with a capital B.
This story reveals one of the worst cases of vindictiveness, any one human-being should ever harbor - in short, Amy was a psychotic sociopath. Although Nick was no longer emotionally invested in the marriage, because he was involved with his student...does that mean he deserves the hail storm that poured down on him after his wife mysteriously disappears; Maybe, maybe not.
Regardless if readers like, hate, or despise the characters of Gone Girl, most can agree that, author, Gillian Flynn employs her psychological insight and delivers a fast-paced, dark, and skillfully plotted thriller. Yet, the ending makes you want to throw the book on to the floor and stomp on it, repeatedly with annoying fury.
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- hollirm
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- Phoebe Moon
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It's a drama/thriller, approximately 200 pages. If you like something with some big twists and lots of nasty characters, this is the book for you.hollirm wrote:I was reading the comments/replies about this book on here, but I'm only getting a little bit of info. What exactly is this book about? Whats the genre of the book? How many pages does it have? I know that I could go to the other topic about the book but I don't want any spoilers, but I can't decide to read it or not. Help?!?!
- hollirm
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Thanks, for getting back to me, this book does sound like something that I would like to read. I love big twists, I cannot stand to read a predictable book, so if all my guesses are correct, then the book didn't challenge me. Thank you.Phoebe Moon wrote:It's a drama/thriller, approximately 200 pages. If you like something with some big twists and lots of nasty characters, this is the book for you.hollirm wrote:I was reading the comments/replies about this book on here, but I'm only getting a little bit of info. What exactly is this book about? Whats the genre of the book? How many pages does it have? I know that I could go to the other topic about the book but I don't want any spoilers, but I can't decide to read it or not. Help?!?!
- Linda7228
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This book is probably not everyone's cup of tea/coffee (coffees way better ) but trust me this book is anything but predictable.It keeps you guessing at every single turn, sure the characters aren't likable or relatable but the story line is unique.hollirm wrote:Thanks, for getting back to me, this book does sound like something that I would like to read. I love big twists, I cannot stand to read a predictable book, so if all my guesses are correct, then the book didn't challenge me. Thank you.Phoebe Moon wrote:It's a drama/thriller, approximately 200 pages. If you like something with some big twists and lots of nasty characters, this is the book for you.hollirm wrote:I was reading the comments/replies about this book on here, but I'm only getting a little bit of info. What exactly is this book about? Whats the genre of the book? How many pages does it have? I know that I could go to the other topic about the book but I don't want any spoilers, but I can't decide to read it or not. Help?!?!
- Phoebe Moon
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-- 20 Oct 2014, 08:29 --
Well hollirm it seems that this book is a bit like Marmite, you either love it or hate it.hollirm wrote:Thanks, for getting back to me, this book does sound like something that I would like to read. I love big twists, I cannot stand to read a predictable book, so if all my guesses are correct, then the book didn't challenge me. Thank you.Phoebe Moon wrote:It's a drama/thriller, approximately 200 pages. If you like something with some big twists and lots of nasty characters, this is the book for you.hollirm wrote:I was reading the comments/replies about this book on here, but I'm only getting a little bit of info. What exactly is this book about? Whats the genre of the book? How many pages does it have? I know that I could go to the other topic about the book but I don't want any spoilers, but I can't decide to read it or not. Help?!?!
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- SarahCox
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I should say that this isn't the type of book I would normally read. It was recommended by a friend and I am always interested in popular books that get people to read who otherwise might not- but it really just isn't my "thing". Any story that stays with the reader long after turning the last page is worth the time spent reading it. However, I finished this book with the same kind of feeling I have when I'm forced to go to a party I'm not interested in- it's a whole lot of effort for such unenjoyable people. When I finished Gone Girl, I hated every single character written into the story. That being said, kudos to the author for being able to illicit real feelings from the reader, that's so much better than nothing.