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The first book I'm going to tackle is a book that I absolutely L O V E D. I was assigned this book in my Women in American Literature class, and it somewhat surprised me because, well, it didn't really fit with all of the other books we read. The book is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
Most of the books we read in class had strong female roles that typically had to overcome some sort of obstacle whether it be their social standing, physical/mental issues, love affairs, etc. I couldn't exactly figure out how Gone Girl was going to fit under the criteria, but I had confidence in my professor!
The book proved to fit so, so well! It's description is rather ominous, and that alone was enough to draw me in. Here is the description:
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. 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 you can tell, it's a definite hook! I seriously read the book in 3 days. This time frame was partially because I had to, but mostly because I couldn't put it down.
WARNING: SPOILERS LURK BELOW (If you haven't read Gone Girl yet, please please please don't ruin it for yourself by reading any further) I will tell you (using more caps) when you can continue!
Amy is a cunning, brilliant woman. Not really a word that should be used to describe someone as heartless as her, but it most definitely fits. During the first section, I fell in love with Amy. I felt so so bad for her. Who could neglect her in such a way that Nick did? How could he just...ignore everything about the beautiful, sweet, caring Amy? Ha. I got my hopes up. After learning that the initial 'Diary Amy' was not the real Amy, I was so confused. Who is crazy enough to create an alternate self that people would sympathize with to actually take down an innocent man? Well, I suppose Nick isn't exactly innocent, but compared to Amy he's a gem.
The next part of the book opened up with Amy confessing her crazy. Maybe she didn't word it exactly like that, but she pretty much confessed that the Amy we all sympathized with and loved wasn't actually Amy, and Amy was actually a crazy psychotic individual who faked her death because she wanted to give her husband the punishment "he deserved" aka jail time. I mean....what? Who does that? Props to her for being so brilliant, but I wanted her to get exactly what she deserved.
Unfortunately, Amy does not get what she deserves. She gets Nick. They feed off of each others' evils. Of course they aren't happy together, but they need each other. Their relationship has no room to grow, but they must pretend for the world. Of course there's a ton of stuff in the middle that I left out, but now you still have a reason to read the book if you cheated and read my spoilers even if you hadn't read the story. :)
The book did not end the way I wanted to, but it was absolutely brilliant.
OKAY YOU CAN READ AGAIN
Please, everyone, do yourselves a favor and read this book. Normally I don't praise novels this much, even if I consider them one of my favorites. Gillian Flynn is an incredible writer. She utilizes the red herring tactic absolutely brilliantly. This novel should be added to your summer reads list or your 'To Read' category on Goodreads or something. You can even purchase a paperback version now (that's always a plus for me!) You won't regret it.
Kudos to you, Flynn. I give Gone Girl 5 stars, and I can't wait to check out Flynn's other novels!
Enjoy, y'all!
Liv
*Description taken from goodreads.com
Best website ever. Check it out if you haven't. :)
