Gone Girl
By Gillian Flynn
(Crown, Hardcover, 9780307588364, June 2012, 432pp.)

*No Spoilers*

The Short of It:

Shameless in the telling. Flynn leaves no stone unturned and the end result is an insane game of cat and mouse.

The Rest of It:

If you haven’t heard of this book, then you’re ignoring it on purpose because it’s everywhere and lots and lots of people are talking about it including Reese Witherspoon who hopes to produce the movie.

So, what’s it about? Why the hype?

Technically, it’s about Nick and Amy Dunne and how their marriage goes very, very wrong. It’s about control and the loss of control and the ability for two people to go from happily married, to anything but. It’s manipulation turned up as high as it will go and it’s riveting.

Riveting.

Absolutely riveting.

However, it was also one of the most ridiculous plots I have ever read. I mean, when you hear that this book is “all kinds of crazy” they aren’t kidding. I think everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong and then even cycled back around to repeat some stuff that wasn’t fully played out the first time around. This book is crazy on a stick!

I was happy with it halfway through, because every time I picked it up, my eyes were glued to the page and nothing else mattered. But after the halfway point, I found myself thinking that Ms. Flynn was just fooling with me. She dropped red herrings everywhere and threw in some really incredible things for shock value but none of it, NONE OF IT surprised me and most of the time I could even see it coming.

I think this book is doing well for many reasons. One, Flynn can write. Two, when everyone says it’s crazy, you’ve gotta to know why. Three, it’s fun to be on the other side of crazy, where you can watch this train wreck unfold from the comfort of your home and not have to know these people in real life. Four, it’s a page-turner and for its entertainment alone, it’s worth the price you pay for it.

So, I have mixed feelings about it. I liked it for its entertainment value and I liked being able to discuss it with others who have already read it. There is a lot to discuss with this one. However, it didn’t surprise me or wow me or even shock me. It was predictable and parts of it were so ridiculous that I sprained my eyeballs rolling them.

I got to thinking though, there’s nothing wrong with an entertaining read. This is a book that will keep your mind off of the smelly person sitting next to you on the train and when the movie comes out, I’m sure I’ll see it.

Source: Borrowed
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