Jessica (HDB)

Okay, now that E. has finished reading, this review is fair game. I wanted to make sure we didn't sway one another in any way. Let me give you the skinny of how I felt about this book. If you were at all planning on reading Gone Girl, I'd skip my review. I'm rambling and spoilers are entirely possible.

For the first portion of this book, I loathed both characters. Nick, with his constant complaining about his love life and the way he'd just run away from every problem. Amy, with her inability to understand that other people have feelings too and that the world doesn't revolve around her. I don't know if Gillian Flynn's aim was to make me hate her characters at this point, but if it was it worked. If it wasn't for the fact that I was doing this as a buddy read, I would have probably given up here. Since I had back up, I read on.

Once Amy went missing, and her journal entries started, I was swayed to keep reading. I thought I might actually make it through because now I had a reason to forgive Amy. Could it be possible that Amy was just misunderstood? Maybe she really was a great wife, and Nick was just an ass. Maybe her whole persona was just a product of a bitter husband and parents who set the bar too high. Amy could be good, right? This was loving, pancake making Amy, who was afraid of her husband. I kind of warmed to her, but my feelings for Nick were still nothing but fierce anger.

Then, oh look, a twist! Suddenly I was right back where I started. With two characters who drove me absolutely mad. Except Amy was so much worse now. Then, oh look, another twist! At this point, my brain refused to be shocked anymore. I was a reading zombie. By the end of this story I was absolutely ready to be done with Gone Girl. I honestly kind of hoped Amy and Nick would both just disappear off the face of the earth. Sadly, they didn't. Even worse, the ending was just so utterly disappointing. Zero closure my friends, zero. 

The thing that gets me is that this book is really well-written. I know that sounds completely contrary to what I've written above, but it really is done well. Everything Gillian Flynn puts onto the page lures you into wanting to read more, even when you're bitter about where things are going. The writing is solid, the plot twists (although a little bit predictable) are where they should be, and I can see why some people actually liked this book. I just can't count myself in that number.

So much thanks to E. for being my partner on this bookish journey. At least I can mark this off my to-read list :).