Gone Girl

The two main characters are despicable but for different reasons. She is a vicious control freak who comes out smelling like a rose in spite of all her inexcusable criminal actions and she receives no punishment or other blame. He is a nice guy but is weak by allowing himself to be controlled by her. At one point in the story, after she has humiliated him in many ways and they have gotten back together, she tells him to take his clothes off and get in the shower with her, he meekly obeys her. This is not a romantic situation either. The author uses the f–k word excessively, it is degrading and not necessary. Finally, the ending of the story is terrible. She connives to get pregnant and he goes bonkers because he is going to be a father of a boy even though she has humiliated and tricked him in many ways. A terrible ending to might have been an interesting story.

I first read Gone Girl on a camping trip in the summer of 2012. Even early into the novel, I knew that it was like nothing I’d read before. I remember reading this on my ancient kindle, straining to see the screen in the dim light of the campfire. I didn’t want to put it down. I finished the book in two days, and I was sad to see it end. As soon as I finished, I wanted more. I ended up downloading Flynn’s two other novels, Sharp Objects and Dark Places, but they still didn’t quite fill the void that Gone Girl had left. (Dark Places was better than Sharp Objects, IMO.) Ever since that summer I’ve been searching for another life-consuming whirlwind read like Gone Girl, and I have yet to find anything that measures up.

I realize that this novel is not for everyone. It’s about very flawed people, who do terrible things. Gone Girl is gritty, violent, and at times cringeworthy. (Desi’s mother’s ‘signature scent’ makes me wrinkle my nose in disgust still.) Gone Girl is uncomfortable. It’s not a feel-good story with a happy ending. (Or is it a happy ending? That’s open to interpretation.) Gone Girl is original, smart, and staying.
The characters will stay with you long after you’ve finished.

I hate giving a book – any book, less than 3 stars based on the effort alone that it takes to write a one, but I really don’t even know what to say (That I kept reading because I spent $10.00 on the book? That I hoped the wicked would get their just desserts in the end? Not good a enough excuse to continue reading something so twisted that I just didn’t care for).

The characters were despicable people – the type of people that would make me chose to slit my own wrists than associate with, though to be fair the husband turns out to far less … malignant, and is merely just selfish (as if that is a redeeming quality). The wife was something straight out of another dimension – like the 9th circle of hell. Prideful, egotistical, vile – someone who thinks she is so much smarter than everyone is in every way. Someone who holds contempt for every other human in existence. I wanted to cave her head in myself and I’m not a violent person. This was not an enjoyable read. I considered it a test of my endurance and patience just getting to the end.

Don’t read this – it will make you angry if you possess even a shred of decency. I wish I had listened to the other reviews.

I’m probably one of the very few people that didn’t like this book, but I struggled with it. It was highly recommended to me and I asked one of my friends if she had read it and if she liked it. She hesitated telling me how she felt about the book, but came up with, “Well, I didn’t like the characters.” When I finished the book, that was the best way I could describe my impression too – I hated the characters!

[Some spoiler alert below.] When I commit to a book, I expect to like at least *someone* in it. Or I expect at least one of the really awful characters to learn something from his/her mistakes. The protagonists in this book are hateful, manipulative, petty people who never learn or grow, and the ending implies that they’ll just continue (and pass along) their immature, hurtful behavior. For someone from Missouri, Flynn sure made everyone there out to be a bunch of rubes. Can’t run an investigation, don’t do much during the day, only bit of excitement is the Ozarks. Having spent almost 6 years there, I felt like she didn’t offer anything positive about the state.

But the biggest problem I have with the book [spoiler alert] is how the main character fakes rape/assault. So many, many victims remain voiceless because they don’t think someone will believe them. And in fact, the victim is often doubted or suspected of not being entirely true. So WHY celebrate and go crazy over a book in which all the accusations are false? Moreover, the main character has done it repeatedly. Portraying that situation in the media does a disservice to every rape/assault victim who hasn’t been heard or believed.

I wish I understood why people liked this so well. The writing at the basic level wasn’t particularly strong. Neither main character had any redeeming qualities. I finished it and wondered why I even bothered.

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