by Gillian Flynn
Summary:
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
(cover image and summary lifted from Goodreads)
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Crown Publishers, a division of Random House
Publication date: January 1, 2012
Source/Format: Bought/Paperback
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
My Rating: ★★★★★
My Rating: ★★★★★
My Thoughts:
This book deserved the heaps of praises it received. I feel so unworthy posting anything about it. So I’ll be quick here and just basically give a walkthrough of my reading experience.
I learned about the book because of its movie adaptation. I am more of a watch the movie before read the book kind of person. For a change, I want to be able to read the book first. I remember reading the summary at the back when I picked up a copy from the bookstore shelf. I thought how seemingly ordinary the premise was: a mystery-thriller involving a missing wife with the husband as the primary suspect. Also, I am initially daunted when I saw that it’s over 500 pages long because I am no good with lengthy novels. Honestly, I would not have bought a copy if not for all the hype surrounding it.
It took days before I finally summoned the will to read it. The book was divided into three parts. I did a quick flip through the pages first because that’s what I always do with thick books. It was a major folly that I did that because the titles of the three parts gave me a general idea of what the plot will be. I’m still hating on myself a little for what I did. For spoiler-haters, consider yourself warned: be patient and do not go scanning unread pages like me.
Each chapter is narrrated in the alternating points of view of Nick and Amy, which for me is a brilliant way to engage the readers to analyze both characters intimately. Both main characters felt so human: with their own faults and biases, background relationships with parents, thought processes when making decisions, etc. During the first part, the author made a wonderful job of making me feel torn on whose side to root for. The second part, well I couldn’t say much without spoilers, so let’s just say was when all my sanity bolts turned loose. It’s craaazy. I am in deep pensive mood in assessing all that happened by the time I was in the third part. After I turned the last page I couldn’t contain all the crazy anymore and came to Twitter to sum up all my feelings for the ending:
Just finished reading Gone Girl and I wonder how could an ending be so beautiful and sad and terrifying all at once. #mustread
— Jen Vi (@RurouniJenni) May 7, 2015
The hashtag says it all. Now time to watch the movie adaptation.
