Gone Girl...What is her problem??

Title: Gone Girl
Author: Gillian Flynn
ISBN: 978-0-7538-2766-6
Rating: 7/10
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Drama



"When she spied me lurking in grubby boxers, my hair in full Heat Miser spike, she leaned against the kitchen counter and said, 'well hello, handsome.' 
Bile and dread inched up my throat. I thought to myself: Okay go."

I received this book as a gift after I had seen the trailer for the film. My boyfriend bought it for me in October as a treat and it was not until a visit to Edinburgh, in December, that I found time on the train to read it.


I was looking forward to reading Gone Girl because I had heard good things about the book. However, I was told I may be disappointed with the ending. The ending does differ from the film, but as I have not seen the film I started the story with hope and a positive outlook.

The book is split into 3 sections. As each part progresses I found myself more and more drawn into the story of Nick and Amy. The first section is written, in part, from the perspective of Amy's diary, pre disappearance. She talks about the type of life her and Nick used to have and how she strives to become the perfect wife for Nick. 

My first impressions of Amy were that she is a loving, caring and unappreciated wife. How mistaken I was! I felt sympathy for Amy and hoped she had found a way of escaping the clutches of a controlling, callous, unresponsive husband.I wanted to believe she was still alive and living the luxury dream.

In part two all is revealed about Amy's disappearance. Has she really been kidnapped? Is she dead? Has Nick murdered her? These were all questions I was asking myself throughout the books. Whilst reading the book and learning more about Amy and Nick, my loyalties began to change. The real Amy and Nick began to show and my opinion started to alter. I felt less affiliation to Amy and more loyalty to Nick.

Throughout the story I was kept hooked and intrigued about what would happen next. Had Nick really caused any harm to Amy? Was Nick really to blame? The story had me curious and interested from start to nearly finish.

Gillian Flynn keeps the reader gripped right up until the last 20 pages. She made me care for the characters at different points and made me fear for Amy, regardless of my feelings for her as the book progressed. My boyfriend regularly asked about whether I was enjoying the book, he regularly got a reply about my true feelings for Amy. However, when I arrived at the last 20 pages, I kept thinking to myself, "This can't be nearly finished! This story cannot end this way!" How naive I was. The image I saw in my head of the "perfect ending" for Nick and Amy was obviously not the ending Gillian Flynn saw for them.

When I arrived at the end of the book, I almost didn't believe that that was the end. I felt like there would be a secret chapter or some more information elsewhere. How could Nick carry on his life like that? Not only would Nick have to live his life this way, he wasn't permitted the privilege of ending the story. Amy took that from him too. 

Overall, I did enjoy Gillian Flynn's book, Gone Girl, and I would recommend it to a friend, like I am to you, but I do feel like the author was unsure of how to end the story. She quickly "rounds" the story off and ends the book without much fluency, much explanation and, honestly, I felt a little blind sighted for it. I felt unprepared for such a quick ending after the long going build up.

Rating: 7/10
Would I recommend? Yes
10 word review...Draws you in from the beginning but rushed to finish.




My next review will be from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
It is a book I have read before, but it is one of my favourites and a classic.

I hope you have enjoyed my first review and find it interesting, useful and helpful. Thanks for reading...Steph xx