Stepping Into Psycho

Stepping Into Psycho

• Jan 7, 2013

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Release Date: May 2012
Publisher: Random House | Crown
Pages: 419 pages
Source & Format: Bought; Hardcover
Amazon | Goodreads

Summary (from Amazon)

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 from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. 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 the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

Thoughts on Gone Girl

WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST READ? That pretty much sums up all of my thoughts after reading this book.

I started it as my plane took off from Atlanta, headed for San Francisco, and didn't put it down for a single minute. We landed five and a half hours later, and I had about twenty pages left. And there was no way I wasn't finishing this book.

So, I read it while standing there in baggage claim. And when I finished and looked up, all I wanted was someone who'd also read it so that I could talk about all this crazy.

Here's the thing about this book - I can't say much about the plot without giving things away. Married couple, seemingly normal, wife goes missing. All is not as it seems.

I'm torn on this book. I think people should read it because I really respect the way Flynn keeps you guessing with twists and turns you'll likely never see coming. But these are also some of the most unlikeable characters I've ever read about. And that ending! ARGH!

This book is deserving of all the raves it's been getting, but I don't know if I'd actually recommend it for everyone. You get a sense of the characters in the first few chapters, so start there. If you can't stop, just keep going and be prepared to step into psycho. Consider yourself warned.

So Quotable

"Give me a man with a little fight in him, a man who calls me on my bullshit. (But who also kind of likes my bullshit). And yet: Don't land me in one of those relationships where we're always pecking at each other, disguising insults as jokes, rolling our eyes and 'playfully' scrapping in front of our friends, hoping to lure them to our side of an argument they could not care less about. Those awful if only relationships: This marriage would be great if only... and you sense the if only list is a lot longer than either of them realizes."

"I go on dates with men who are nice and good-looking and smart - perfect-on-paper men who make me feel like I'm in a foreign land, trying to explain myself, trying to make myself known. Because isn't that the point of every relationship: to be known by someone else, to be understood? He gets me. She gets me. Isn't that the simple magic phrase?"