I know, I know, I’m late to the party on this one and am probably the millionth person to read and comment on this current best seller, but let me explain.  I’m always sooo hesitant to read anything that’s popular.  I think I’m traumatized after giving in to reading the Lovely Bones, which ended up being the worst book I’ve ever read.  Seriously.  I complained about how bad it was the entire time I read it.

That being said, I actually really liked Gone Girl!

I didn’t love it but I liked it a lot.  I’m not really sure how to review the book without making this a total spoiler post, but I’ll try.  If you’re like me and shy away from best sellers or you just live under a rock and haven’t heard of Gone Girl I’ll just tell you that it’s a story about a married couple and the chapters alternate between being written by Nick (the husband) and Amy (the wife and the gone girl).  Amy disappears in the opening chapters and the rest of the book details the search for her in true thriller fashion.

The Good:

• Gillian Flynn is a master at creating her character’s voices.  I thought she did a male character and a female character so well.  Halfway through the book, I realized I didn’t even know the author’s name (I blame the Kindle) and whether or not it was a man or a woman — interesting, huh?
• The manipulation of the readers perception of the two main characters was a totally unique aspect of the novel and I thought it was executed so well.
• The plot is compelling and the book reads pretty fast because, as the reader, you are so interested to see what will come next.  And for me, it was never what I had expected.  Being surprised by a book is always fun in my mind.

The Bad:

• When I got done with this book, I literally said, “What the hell?!”
• The plot is so not believable.  Not at all.  Which was odd because I felt their was a lot of effort put into making everything but the plot and almost all of the characters seem normal/real life-ish.
• In the end, I didn’t like either of the main characters.  Sociopaths, cheaters, manipulators and murderers aren’t my cup of tea.

Overall, I would recommend Gone Girl, if for nothing else than to be surprised and shocked by the crazy plot.

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Have you read Gone Girl?

What’s the last book you read?

Do you read a lot of best sellers?