Mith's Bookshelf

This was one messed up book.

Narrated alternatively by the two protagonists, Gone Girl tells the story of Nick and, his wife, Amy. Got to give it to the author, the writing pulls you into the book. Each chapter reveals a new facet of Nick and Amy, how damaged each are, and shows just how skewed a person's point of view can be.

We begin with Nick - a down-on-his-luck, small town guy who has married a wealthy, pretty, big city girl. From Nick, we learn that though they were pretty happy in the first few years of their marriage, things have begun to fall apart now that both of them have lost their jobs and moved back to Nick's hometown. Always used to the best in life, Amy slowly changes and turns into a bitter, cold woman who looks down on her husband and never misses an opportunity to let him know that.

But don't go feeling sorry for Nick yet. Amy has her turn next. Written in the form of diary entries, we learn about Nick and Amy's life through her eyes and see that all she has done so far is love and support her husband while he has slowly been retreating into a shell, shutting her out completely and taking all his frustrations out on her. Amy feels alone and is at a loss as to what to do fix her marriage.

Then, one day, Amy disappears into the blue.

Nick comes home to a clearly staged "crime scene" and the police quickly catch on to that fact, and he becomes the main suspect in Amy's disappearance. Clues begin to pop up everywhere and they ALL seem to point to Nick. A treasure hunt, designed for Nick by Amy - a yearly anniversary tradition - finally leads Nick to believe that nothing is as it seems.

And that's when everything goes to shit in the story.

Most of the characters in the book, especially Nick and Amy are extremely well fleshed out, flaws and all. It is quite easy to imagine such people living around you. The first half of the book is brilliantly written. Never, at any point, are you really sure which of the two, Nick or Amy, is telling the truth and who to root for. But, the second half didn't sit quite right with me. While it was all STILL GOOD, the plot become a little too elaborate, the crime became a little too perfect.

I was all ready to give this book a 5 star when nearly done with it, BUT, then came the ending. Which was as fucked up as they come. Not only was it not believable but there was also no proper resolution.

SERIOUSLY SPOILER-Y SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU DON'T WANT THE BOOK RUINED FOR YOU!

For, not only did the psychotic bitch get away with everything, but Nick also agreed to all her conditions and dropped all chargers against her just for the sake of the baby and CONTINUED TO STAY WITH HER AND BE MARRIED TO HER, WITH BOTH OF THEM PRETENDING TO LOVE EACH OTHER WHEN EVEN THOUGH ALL THEY WANT IS TO KILL EACH OTHER AND BE DONE WITH IT.













4 stars out of 5 just because I HATED the ending.