#52: Gone Girl

Flynn, Gillian: Gone Girl. New York: Random House LLC, 2012. Print. 555 pages.

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SETTING: North Carthage, Missouri, with flashbacks in New York City.

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SUMMARY: Amy Dunne mysteriously disappears on the morning of her 5th wedding anniversary, with all clues pointing to her husband, Nick Dunne, as the suspect. 

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FAVORITE QUOTE: "He killed my soul, which should be a crime.  Actually, it is a crime.  According to me, at least." - Part 2, page 321.

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I recently went home, a last minute decision, and I desperately needed a book to read on the flight out of DC to make the journey pass as fast as possible.  I didn't have much time to find a book before I reached the airport, so my selection was what was available to me in the small, Hudson News store near my gate.  I really wanted to read one of Gregory Maguire's books, but the store's selection only consisted of books currently on the bestsellers list (I think the NY Times bestseller list, but they didn't clarify).  Anyways, this was the one I ultimately decided on.  My likes and dislikes are probably a little skewed, for better or worse, because I watched the movie first.  I had no plans to read the book after I watched the movie, but since I had a pretty narrow selection of books to choose from, this seemed like my best bet.
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Things I liked about this book:

1. It's written VERY well.  Although the book is easy to follow and keeping the details organized isn't a challenge at all, it is written in a very smart style that I really enjoyed.  I can't quite name what that style is, but I love it, and will probably read her two other books sometime in the future.
2. The narrators.  There were two narrators, both speaking in first person.  I like this style of narration, where it alternates between two points of view, and the author did a fabulous job.  
3. The use of Amy's diary to relate the events of the "past."  So tricky.
4. The storyline.  Well thought out and smooth from beginning to end.  All the details were aligned very well and I didn't find any contradictions.
5. The complexity of Amy's mind.  Did I think she was crazy?  Hell ya!  But trying to track her mind was an entertaining exercise.

Things I didn't like about this book: 

1. The ending.  Holy crap, people are messed up!  I was hoping for a happier ending.
2. There wasn't a single character I really loved.  There was a character I was rooting for, but there wasn't anyone I was particularly attached to by the time I finished the book, which is unusual.  I think because of that, I wasn't sad when I finished the book.  A little unsatisfied with the ending, but not sad like I usually am when I finish a story.

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I'm sorry my list of "things I liked about this book" is short and not nearly as detailed as it should be.  Since I watched the movie before reading the book, it only felt right to include the things I liked solely from the book, not the things I liked from both the book and the movie.  I absolutely wish I had read the book before watching the movie because knowing the progression of the story definitely took away from thoroughly enjoying the book.  Not surprisingly, the book was better than the movie, but I think that's saying quite a bit about the book considering I really enjoyed the movie!  There were a few scenes in the book that were excluded from the movie, but that didn't take away from the movie fairly portraying the overall story.  All in all, the best way I can sum it up is that the overall ambiance and feel of this book was to my liking, and I was so engrossed that I finished reading most of it on the plane (about five hours of reading).

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Recommend?  Yes!