Author: Gillian Flynn
Published: August 26th 2014
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 560 (19 hours)
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?
REVIEW
First up, let me just highlight the fact that this audiobook is 19 hours long. Yup, nearly one entire day. Until now, I don't know if I regret spending all that time. On one hand, I really enjoyed the mystery, the weird and the psychological aspects of it but gah it dragged on for forever!!! The pacing really killed the story for me. It was so bad that at one point where there were twists and revelations (that were supposedly very shocking), I did not feel anything at all. I just wanted the book to be over. I had enough of all the crazy and excessive swearing in the book.
I actually really liked the psychological thriller aspects but it just took way too long to get there and the writing did not help. During the first half of the book (nearly 10 hours of audiobook) all you hear about is a couple having #firstworldproblems and how much they sucked at communicating. Imagine watching a 10 hour vlog about a couple's day to day arguments about random things. Not only that, you also read about every single mundane conversation that Nick has with people that really didn't matter in the grander scheme of things. For example: there was this lady that kept flirting with Nick throughout the investigation. I don't understand her significance in the entire story and it is even more annoying that I had to listen to her flirt and Nick trying to respond nicely. I don't get it?!
I've always thought of myself as being okay with unlikable characters but Gone Girl really challenges your patience. There is NOTHING likeable about Nick or Amy. They are whiney, immature, narcissistic, crazy adults and it did not help that the narrator for Amy narrated in a really annoying way. It was very condescending and her quiz-style diary entries were a pain to listen to. Had I read this book, I would've skipped all the stupid quizes. Also, the problem with hating these characters is that you can't root for anyone in the book. I was very distant and just didn't care about the characters. This is kind of problematic because its a thriller! You are supposed to be afraid that someone would be killed but I was ready for both characters to drop dead anytime.
Has this book been 100 pages shorter, I would've been so much more tolerable of Nick and Amy and the swearing. Did I mention how much swearing there is in this? It was so unnecessary and it was honestly a turn off. If you can't stand a couple of f-bombs in real life you will cringe and suffer through this book.
Many people do not seem to like the ending but I thought that it suited the story quite well! It is open ended and it kind of continues the thriller aspect of the story which I thought was pretty genius. And since the characters were so unlikable, a well wrapped up ending would have been too fake. :P
I actually really liked the psychological thriller aspects but it just took way too long to get there and the writing did not help. During the first half of the book (nearly 10 hours of audiobook) all you hear about is a couple having #firstworldproblems and how much they sucked at communicating. Imagine watching a 10 hour vlog about a couple's day to day arguments about random things. Not only that, you also read about every single mundane conversation that Nick has with people that really didn't matter in the grander scheme of things. For example: there was this lady that kept flirting with Nick throughout the investigation. I don't understand her significance in the entire story and it is even more annoying that I had to listen to her flirt and Nick trying to respond nicely. I don't get it?!
I've always thought of myself as being okay with unlikable characters but Gone Girl really challenges your patience. There is NOTHING likeable about Nick or Amy. They are whiney, immature, narcissistic, crazy adults and it did not help that the narrator for Amy narrated in a really annoying way. It was very condescending and her quiz-style diary entries were a pain to listen to. Had I read this book, I would've skipped all the stupid quizes. Also, the problem with hating these characters is that you can't root for anyone in the book. I was very distant and just didn't care about the characters. This is kind of problematic because its a thriller! You are supposed to be afraid that someone would be killed but I was ready for both characters to drop dead anytime.
Has this book been 100 pages shorter, I would've been so much more tolerable of Nick and Amy and the swearing. Did I mention how much swearing there is in this? It was so unnecessary and it was honestly a turn off. If you can't stand a couple of f-bombs in real life you will cringe and suffer through this book.
Many people do not seem to like the ending but I thought that it suited the story quite well! It is open ended and it kind of continues the thriller aspect of the story which I thought was pretty genius. And since the characters were so unlikable, a well wrapped up ending would have been too fake. :P
VERDICT
I feel like I am not getting Gone Girl. So many people rave about it and yes it was rather interesting and different but it did not really work as a whole. If I were to rate just the plot itself, it would be a solid 4 stars but there are so many other elements that just didn't work for me.
As you can see from Goodreads, Gone Girl is a hit or miss. Read it if you are curious, it is quite different from the usual mystery thrillers. Try to avoid the audiobook if you can, it is easier to skip the boring bits/incessant swearing when you are actually reading the book. ;)
As you can see from Goodreads, Gone Girl is a hit or miss. Read it if you are curious, it is quite different from the usual mystery thrillers. Try to avoid the audiobook if you can, it is easier to skip the boring bits/incessant swearing when you are actually reading the book. ;)
I would recommend this to anyone that loves unlikable characters and/or psychological thrillers.
Plot:4/5
Pacing: 1/5
Originality: 4/5
Writing style: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Feels: 3/5
Enjoyment: 2.5/5
Enjoyment: 2.5/5
Cover: 3.5/5
Overall rating: 
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I absolutely get what you mean. I own the book and I read about seventy pages or so and then gave up. Literally NOTHING happened in that time and I was so bored! I felt cheated because everyone kept saying that it's a thriller, yet the story doesn't really go anywhere in those seventy pages... the pacing is so off, it ruined the story for me. I didn't think of Nick as that unlikeable, maybe it's because I didn't read the whole book yet. Not sure if I want to though.
ReplyDeleteYes nothing actually happens in the first half of the book. Even when the investigation starts, all they do is talk a lot and have inner monologues that honestly just added to the boredom :/ It is only after the first twist around the halfway point does things start to pick up. Haha Nick is alright in the beginning but yea more stuff is revealed about him as the story progresses ;) I heard the movie is good and I think that this actually works better as a movie because all the unnecessary chatter would definitely be cut out.
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I didn't read the book and probably won't, but I did enjoy the movie. I assume the book and movie are slightly different so perhaps the movie is better in this instance?
ReplyDeleteThat might be the case! A lot of my friends enjoyed the movie so I thought that I would read the book first before watching and now the book has left such a bad taste in my mouth that I am waiting awhile more before I get to the movie. I need to go in with a more open mind :P I do think that this would make a good movie though, all the unnecessary parts can be easily cut away for the movie.
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Oh my gosh, I am so sorry you didn't enjoy this :( I've heard of so many positive reviews on this one, and I can't help but feel very curious about it, though I don't intend to read this at all. Your review is not the first negative review I've read so far. And OMG, a 19-HOUR AUDIOBOOK? I don't even watch (or listen to) online vlogs, so I don't know how I'd handle this if I were to read it :o I'm sad to see that the pacing was really slow and that the characters were whiny and immature. ASDFJKL: so sorry this disappointed you!
ReplyDeleteJillian @ Jillian's Books
The only reason I did not DNF the book was because of all the good reviews! I thought that something incredible would happen that would totally turn the book around so I just kept trudging on. :/ Actually reading the book, rather than listening, would probably have been a better experience though.
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I always speed up my audiobooks to 2 times because I feel like the slow pacing really give me time to get bored or start to daydream. I do really feel like this one was better in print so I could read at my pace and speed things up when I wanted to get to the next part
ReplyDeleteMissie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
I usually listen to mine at 1.5 times. Any faster than that and I will need to pay extra attention just to catch the words :P I think that this would be better if I actually read it too but then again, the fact that parts had to be skipped to improve the pacing of the book just shows how bad the pacing of the book is, isn't it? :)
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