Saturday, June 16, 2012

Review - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn



Book Summary from Goodreads

"'What are you thinking, Amy? The question I've asked most often during our marriage, if not out loud, if not to the person who could answer. I suppose these questions stormcloud over every marriage: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do?'"

Just how well can you ever know the person you love? This is the question that Nick Dunne must ask himself on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they aren't his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what did really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife? And what was left in that half-wrapped box left so casually on their marital bed? In this novel, marriage truly is the art of war...

My Review - 2 (Initially gave a 3 as I completed it but really is a 2 for me)

I have figured out a style of writing that does not impress me but wows many others, the clever style.  I am always reading thinking this is total BS and either laughing at the characters, not in a good way or totally pissed off, and I was both while reading this one.

This was my first try by Gillian Flynn, I am open to trying one of her earlier books as I do enjoy dark reads but I personally didn't enjoy this.  I will recommend it to all that loved Still Missing by Chevy Stevens and Before I Go to Sleep by SJ Watson.  I also gave those two 3 stars, they all made me mad for different reasons but I have the same complaint, the authors, in my opinion, play the reader for fools.

I actually found the first half of the story, 52% on Kindle, torture to get through, so slow, I was waiting for that WHAM moment and when it came, I knew that was coming so it was a roll my eyes moment.  I should have stopped reading then.  That was the beginning of the 2nd section, then the 3rd section came and the author just ended it to soon, it was all summarised and just so ridiculous.  I really am not happy I spent $12 on Kindle for this one.  It was my most anticipated read this year and I am totally disappointed. I am unsure how to pick up on the 'clever' scenarios that many others seem to enjoy, I would stay away from those reads in the future, have to figure that out for myself.  I do love the play with my mind reads but this and the other two were unbelievable and categorized as BS for me, sigh.

I enjoyed Nick's character until the ending, what a wet towel, walk over guy, who wants a man like that.  I never liked Amy and she was a total sociopath, never figuring out who she was or who she should live for.  This is the ultimate dysfunctional couple that deserved each other.

An annoying contributor I couldn't get passed this - his sister is named Margo and they called her Go, every time I was reading Go as a word instead of nickname, it was frustrating and totally took away from the flow of reading for me. This was huge and I never got passed it.  Also, instead of her, Go could be used five times in a paragraph, so frustrating.

It gets a 3 because I actually completed it.  There is so much that goes on in this book that no one would be able to review without spoiling, very intricate, again 'playing us for stupid' or maybe it was playing the characters for stupid.

Some quotes

It's a very difficult era in which to be a person, just a real, actual person, instead of a collection of personality traits selected from an endless Automat of characters.

"People want to believe they know other people. Parents want to believe they know their kids.  Wives want to believe they know their husbands."

An assertive knock at the door.  The kind a parent give right before swinging the door wide: I won this place.  I stand in the middle of my room and debate not answering.  Bang bang bang.  I understand now why so many horror movies use that device - because it has the weight of a nightmare.  You don't know what's out there, yet you know you'll open it.  You'll think what I think:  No one bad ever knocks.

15 comments:

  1. I'm sad you didn't like this one more! I had been seeing it everywhere and was thinking of getting it on audiobook, but now maybe I'll hold off. I hate it when a story is going soooo slooooow .... it just makes me continuously put down the book so I can find something more exciting to read.

    Hope your next read is much better!

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  2. Oh dear - I was quite looking forward to this one. Not having much luck this year and have just been disappointed with another that has lots of 5 star reviews - Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes.

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  3. Thanks for your honest review. I've read lots of raves over this one but it sounds like it might be cliched.

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  4. The "Go" thing really annoyed me to -- and although I didn't like the way it ended, I thought it totally appropriate...But you are right, it was tough to get through that first 50%....way too much set up. Sorry it didn't redeem itself for you.

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  5. My husband thought this one was real good so I'm reading it now and not very impressed. I'm almost halfway through but have no trouble putting it down. I don't really like Nick or Amy yet so it's kind of hard to care about the book since it seems to be all about them. It also has way more bad language in it than I'd like. You'd be better off using the library than buying books. Did you know libraries have downloadable books for Kindle? At least ours does so there's no charge for those either! You may want to look into that.

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  6. Wow, I'm one of those who really liked this one, LOL! I agree with you about the Go thing.. I didn't care for that. And the first part of the book was fairly typical. When I was reading it I wasn't sure where it was going to go that would make it that spectacular. And that first "twist", I'm still not sure if it was supposed to be a twist or not because I saw it coming, and my sister who recently read it said the same. But I thought overall it was good in a twisted way. Yes, Amy and Nick are both unlikable people, but their relationship was one of the things I thought was so crazy. And it's scary because there are really people and couples just like them out there in the real world!

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  7. I will probably give this a try.

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  8. Only a 3, huh? I had high hopes for this one. I think I'll still pick it up, just keep my expectations in check.

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  9. It's hard to read a book with all the hype and not really enjoy it. Sorry it wasn't for you. I think I will make note and not attempt this book any time soon. I recently have been reading self-pubs or little known books and have found myself much more absorbed in the reading.

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  10. Thanks for the link to your blog. The Go thing didn't bother me, but I really couldn't stand the main characters. That's why I said on my blog that I wanted to hear what other readers thought. Thanks for letting me know.

    And, I didn't bother with the Chevy Stevens books, just not my kind of thing. And, I think you're right in putting it in the same class as While You Were Sleeping. Even if it's not for us, I know just the person who will relish this book.

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  11. Argh, I hate that you didn't like it, I so wanted to read this one >:

    Paula

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  12. Oh, what a shame you didn't enjoy it. This is easily making my top reads of 2012; I couldn't put it down. Sheesh, I hope that doesn't put me in a certain category of reader to you! Both Amy and Nick are horrible people and that's what made them the perfect couple, both in the initial "surface" way and then in the truth uncovered, dark and grisly way. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Anyway, her debut Sharp Objects was fantastic, I thought.

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  13. This was a five star read for me, though a agree with you on Margo's name. Hope you enjoy your next read more!

    Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out

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  14. Oh no, you didn't like it! I read it really fast and it was one of the first books that hooked me in a while. I can your points but it didn't bother me as a whole, though I hated both of the main characters with a passion.

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  15. Thanks for your review. I don't usually read this genre, but thought I would try something out of my comfort zone. Still searching!

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