Overall Rating and Opinion of "Gone Girl"

[Scott]

What was your overall opinion of the October 2014 book of the month, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn? Do you recommend the book to others? Why or why not?

I absolutely love this book. I got really invested and interested in the story very early on, and then the story totally kept my attention. I think I was more excited reading this book than I am watching an action movie. I do not give many novels a 4 out of 4, but this one get it from me.

I love the way the author intentionally took an incredibly cliche story and used that to come up with a crazy multi-layered story, of which a crucial part is the very cliched nature of the premise.

[L_Therese]

I really loved Gone Girl. I enjoyed the misdirection and the layering of the story. It allowed the characters to become that much more vivid because the reader got to really see how their minds worked. I actually read the book awhile ago (which is probably why I'm the first to reply here) on the recommendation of a friend who was also just blown away. I thought the book as a whole was super intense, which made it really hard to put down.

[gali]

I am reading it now and hope to finish it in a couple of days. An interesting book indeed, but I can't abide Nick and finds him obnoxious.

[rida]

I'll start it in a few days. I read The Next Time You See Me by Holly Goddard Jones and everyone keep saying that its like Gone Girl. So now I must check this book.

[oywiththepoodlz]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Gone Girl. I think it was a very well written, thoughtful and interesting novel.

Though that is not to say that it did not have some pitfalls. Although it's clear Gillian Flynn wants to write thrillers, her strength, in my opinion, is writing people. What I loved move about this book was how familiar these people seemed to me. I have felt the way they've felt and said things that they've said. Relatability rates highly on my list of expectations for a book.

I think the weakest points of the book came in the last third of the story, where reality begins to fade and it's more and more exaggeration. The end was very underwhelming, though it did wrap things up and I don't necessarily know what kind of ending would have been more satisfying.

[cdeibel64]

I'm reading this book right now! I like it so far. It's interesting that the author chose to write Nick's point of view in the present day while we get Amy's from the past through her journal entries.

[therhinofam]

I too really enjoyed the multi-laying of the story! It made for a very intriging read with great character depth. I found Amy's parents to be the most annoying of all the characters. I know there were a lot of people who were disappointed in the ending and without giving away anything, I thought it seemed to fit with the overall book. To me the ending almost had a role reversal between Amy and Nick.
I have recommended the book to a few of my friends, but only the ones who aren't always looking for the "happily ever after" and really just enjoy a well crafted story.
I have heard that the writers for the movie actually did a rewrite of the ending. I may have to venture to the theaters to see how they chose to end the story.

[sahmoun2778]

I haven't read it yet but I hope to before the end of the month. I've heard really good things about it so I'm looking forward to this one.

[amybo82]

I was underwhelmed by this book. I think all the hype surrounding it got my expectations up really high. When I'm reading, I look for quality of writing and how interesting I find the story. I found the quality of writing to be just mid-range. The story, well, there were lots of twists and turns in the middle that were interesting. However, the beginning was yawn-inducing, and the end left me saying, "Oh? It's over now? Meh." One thing I found difficult was how unrelatable the characters were. I got to the point where I didn't really care if they lived or died; were happy or sad. I will say that the story was interesting enough to keep me reading through to the end. I was just disappointed overall, but I think it's because my expectations were so high going in. I gave this book two out of four stars.

[kbenson2]

I really enjoyed this book. It was very well written an I enjoyed the multi-layered story. I loved how the author manipulates the reader throughout the book. I can usually see what it coming in terms of the plot, often they seem very predictable. But this book was NOT like that. I kept thinking that I knew what was coming and then there would be a shift in the story and going in a completely direction. I really enjoyed how the beginning of the story you were sympathizing with Amy and by the end you were sympathizing with Nick. Basically, it was a wonderful book that I would highly recommend.

[autumnmarie]

Gone Girl is one of those books that will definitely disrupt your life in that it will make you think about it. Whether or not you are in a relationship it will have you reevaluating the construct of marriage and the tough questions that are inevitably asked with time. Of course, Gone Girl is an extreme. But, I think Flynns point was to demonstrate that there are many faces in love and no situation is entirely unfounded. Also, I think this book was making a deprecating statement about medias influence over our opinions. Overall, I found Gillian Flynns writing strong and her control over plot progression was evident. I was fully aware of the proverbial "twist" when I started this novel but I tried not to guess at it too much and the reading experience was much more rewarding. Character development was on point and akin to Stephen Kings ability to manipulate the readers feelings about them. I would recommend this book to just about anyone despite their taste as I expect this will definitely be seen as a cult classic in time.

[sahmoun2778]

I think I'm going to have to buy this one. My local library has 127 people on the waiting list for this book!

[LivreAmour217]

I think that Gone Girl was well-written, but I really disliked the characters and therefore couldn't fully enjoy it. Toward the end, part of me hoped that both Nick and Amy would die. I also think that the novel trivializes the very real issue of domestic violence. In many cases, abusers will assert that their spouses are/were horrible people who deserved what they got. In Gone Girl, the "battered wife" is a sociopath for with whom no one can sympathize, and one could argue that this book epitomizes an abuser's wildest fantasies.

[gali]

Ok, I finished the book and really like it. The author managed to fool me. I disliked the main characters though and thought they deserved each other. I found the ending lacking. The story itself was strong, but the ending was weak. It was a great book, but the end spoiled it. I rate it 3 out of 4 stars.

[Linda7228]

Ok, I finished the book and really like it. The author managed to fool me. I disliked the main characters though and thought they deserved each other. I found the ending lacking. The story itself was strong, but the ending was weak. It was a great book, but the end spoiled it. I rate it 3 out of 4 stars.

I really liked this book I gave it a 3 star rating because I completely agree with you I didn't like the ending. The characters I disliked as well but I think that was the intention of the author these characters weren't written to be likable. The story had me from beginning to end ( that part was disappointing ) but overall it's a book I would definitely recommend. I found that the ability of the author to get in the mind of what I consider to be a psychopath and a sociopath fascinating it's not something you read everyday , for me the twist and turns in this book make it really special.