Book info

• Title Gone Girl
• Author Gillian Flynn
• Year 2012
• Genre Thriller

Who are you? What have we done to each other? These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they weren't made by him. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife?

Thoughts

I saw the film before I read this book, and I think it would have been better to have the big reveal be a surprise upon reading. However, it was still interesting to see how it all unravelled in text, and how we dipped between Amy and Nick’s point of view all the way through - whether it was in diary form, was truthful or made up or otherwise.

I really love the idea of the book, and although Amy is absolutely terrifying, I think the framing of someone is always an interesting route to go down - if you do it properly it can be so hard to prove otherwise!

I struggle with the ending a little, as I did with the film. It doesn’t feel particularly satisfying but then again, given how messed up both the main protagonists are, I’m not sure what kind of an ending would be any better. Overall, it’s a great book but, for me at least, it doesn’t quite reach the high potential I think it’s capable of.

Rating: 3 / 5