Hardly had I heard about the book when the movie hit the floors. The movie was well received by the audience and the critics alike and hence I decided to go for the novel first.
Summary:
Gone Girl is written by Gillian Flynn and is a story of a couple, who are about to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. In past five years, they have lost both love and respect for each other, their job, their New York house and are forced to start a new life in a small place called Missouri. The story begins with the morning of their anniversary, where Amy is preparing special breakfast for Nick. The book moves ahead with good pace and I like the way it is written, i.e. alternate point of view of Amy and Nick. Flynn has done a fabulous job of going inside their brains and spreading out their thoughts. There are very few books in which someone's innermost desires and weaknesses are portrayed with such accuracy and Flynn totally nailed it.
Characters:
Flynn has created some very strong and dark characters in this book. They hit you hard with their commonplace meanness. Amy is a rich girl, who grew up trying to match her parents' description of “Amazing Amy” (a children book series which her parents wrote). She is their only child and therefore, she is stubborn and selfish. If she sets her mind to something, she achieves it. She can’t take no for an answer and has a weird sense of justice. Nick on the other hand is just opposite. He is a laid back person, who is protected and pampered by his mother and sister all his life. He is stoic, can’t take his decisions and prefer to lie than argue. Somehow they fall in love and decide to get married and then the story begins.
Nick’s sister Go is an independent girl who cares for him and always stands by him. The main detectives, Gilpin and Boney, are somewhat incompetent. They could have done a better job than just going by public opinion. I find their characters weak and lacking in logic, which is not something that you expect from a detective.
The Good and the Bad:
The book was really good at the initial stage, but soon it lost its flavour and became fast paced. And the end seems rushed and illogical. After a day by day detailing, suddenly Flynn takes you way ahead in time and the pieces doesn’t fit together. It deserves some explanation and you are left with so many unanswered questions. Is Flynn planning a second part?
In a nutshell, if you are interested in a psychological drama, the wicked, vicious and evil side of a human heart, then go for this book but don’t expect much from it. I will rate this book 3 out of 5, it could have been better if the end was something different or may be more detailed than the present one.
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I cannot believe that Amy was able to carry out such an elaborate plan without leaving behind any clue. Even if her abduction was well-planned, her return to Nick is a bit of overkill. Involving Desi at the last moment, then killing him and coming back with a new story with all the answers seemed unreal. Except Boney, all the detectives believed her which is also not credible. Nick writes a book on his experiences with his wife and then Amy gets pregnant and after that Nick decides to stay with her, destroy his book and raise a child (After all this? Seriously?). No, a sensible person will not want a child to be raised by a psycho woman like Amy. She can even harm her own child for her advantage.
And Amy is portrayed as so smart, that Go, Boney, Nick, Tanner, no one was able to find anything against her, especially considering her previous record of similar situations. Somehow, I am not able to digest all this. In my opinion, it would have been better if Flynn would have written a logical end of an otherwise great book. Basically, in the end, a psycho killer is on the loose and with a responsibility of a baby too.
Apart from this, Gone Girl is a good and fun read. I enjoyed the characters of Amy, Nick and Go. Worth reading just for that!
