Holy cow. This book was a total mindf*ck and I would have willingly sat through another 400 pages just to see where these crazy characters would go next.
Amy Dunne goes missing on her 5th wedding anniversary, leaving behind a special anniversary treasure hunt for her husband, Nick. Nick quickly becomes the prime suspect in Amy’s disappearance, but Amy’s body never turns up. What starts out as a stereotypical case of a husband killing his wife slowly morphs into the tale of a really disturbing relationship.
This book will drag your sympathies all over the place… it is told in alternating chapters between Nick’s narrative of the days following Amy’s disappearance and Amy’s diary entries. I didn’t really like either Nick or Amy, but found myself feeling sorry for or siding with each of them throughout the story. Nick comes off as pretty self-absorbed. Amy’s diary will make you feel pretty sorry for her, but I also came away with the feeling she was a bit manipulative. As the characters become better revealed throughout the book, it is astonishing how these characteristics (self-centeredness and manipulativeness) spiraled out of control… reaching extremes I wasn’t predicting.
This book was strangely addictive… there were some suspenseful moments, but mostly I just couldn’t get these characters out of my head. I am still sitting here wondering what their ultimate fates are and how much of the truth either character told me. The ending doesn’t really resolve the situation, but I’m not unsatisfied with it. The open-endedness of it just leaves the horror of the situation lingering which is ultimately more frightening, I think. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a thriller where I was forced to think this much, where I was surprised by every twist and turn or where I actually enjoyed the twisted characters as much as I did here. This book has gotten a lot of attention because it is (IMHO) that good. If you want to spend the day with an absorbing, twisted, mind-boggling-in-the-most-fun-way book, I highly recommend you grab Gone Girl. Then come talk with me about how messed up Nick and Amy are.
Don't Take My Books Away 
Messed up is a great way to describe them. This was totally the kind of book where I could NOT get the characters out of my head. Reading it was like an obsession and I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t my life, it was just a book. Their relationship basically made me freak out and I had to keep reminding myself that I am NOT in some self-centered, manipulative relationship!
Yeah, they started off so normal, even stereotypical that it was hard not to identify with them on some level. I think that might be what is so terrifying, realizing that you, as the reader, are just as into their crazy games as they are. Not that I want that life or anything, but I couldn’t help admiring the intelligence and closeness required for the two to actually survive that relationship. I almost want to read it all over again just to see what clues I missed the first time around. You’re right– the book creates an obsession!
OK this just moved to the top of my TBR pile. It sounds like it has similiarities to “We Need to Talk About Kevin” which I’m sure I’ve made abundantly clear how much I liked. Plus it sounds like you’re dying to talk to someone about it and that’s how I felt after Kevin.
Yes! Read this! Talk to me about it! I think you’ll enjoy it; it was so much more than what I expected.
And I’m scared to read Kevin, otherwise I probably would with all your suggesting. But… evil children freak me out. I’m not sure I could handle that story!
Hopefully next week. I’m frantically trying to finish my kitchen cabinets and clean my house for book club (I’m hosting). Side note – we’re reading Attachments and a special guest is attending. RAINBOW!
OMG! I’m SO SO SO jealous! I need to take an impromptu vacation to Omaha, it seems. haha, good luck getting your cabinets done– I can’t wait to see how they turn out. Also, please post about book club with Rainbow, I want to hear how that goes!!!
I’ve gotta read this!
I just finished it the other day and am going to post my review today. It dropped my jaw, that’s for sure! Hardest review I’ll ever have to write, because there’s so little you can say without giving away all the good stuff.
You are so right… you can barely touch the plot on this one without spoiling something, yet it begs to be talked about. Looking forward to seeing your review!
Wow, any review that starts off with “This book was a total mindf*ck” instantly shoots that book to the top of my TBR list! I’ve heard about this one a lot, but haven’t even looked at what it’s about. Totally sounds AMAZING and I must read it!
lol, I was wondering if I could get away with saying “mindf*ck” on my blog, but I really can’t think of a better way to describe this book. I hope you will read it and that you enjoy the twistedness as much as I did!
I’m beginning to think I might be the only person who hasn’t read this yet. Need to change this soon.
I think you’ll like this one, it is a thriller, but for me was much more than that. The characters are just… jaw-dropping here.
I can’t really comment b/c I’m like 1,999 out of 2,000 people on the list for this book at the library. Okay, that’s probably an exaggeration, but I’ll probably get to read it sometime next year.
Haha, I waited at least two, maybe three months to get a copy of this book from my library. Luckily I have a wonderful library that had 30+ hard copies of the book and 5 licenses for the ebook. I ended up getting the ebook first, but sort of wish I’d bought this book. It’s the sort of thing I’d want to revisit after it fades from my memory a little more. Even if I remember the twists, I think it’d still be a good reread.
Ok I just finished it. Yeah mindf*ck covers it pretty good. I have lots of thoughts but don’t want to spoil it for anyone by posting them!
Eep! If you want someone to discuss with, email me. donttakemybooksaway at gmail dot com
I saw Gillian Flynn on a news show on Sunday and she looked very smug. I guess mindf*cking America would make one pretty smug.
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