Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

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 did happen to Nick's beautiful wife? (link)

My review: 5/5

I am one with the common people! (Don’t get used to it.) I LOVED this book and everything about it. I think it was written so beautifully and in a way I was constantly surprised, while somehow feeling a comfortable familiarity with the characters. For the first time in a LONG TIME, I actually had an idea of what I was reading about before I did; I knew this book was about a woman framing her POS husband for her murder. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of times I didn’t know what was to come in the plot. Side note: Apparently my sister read this while she was in middle school? I wouldn’t recommend that.

This book is a pillar of modern pop culture, and I can finally say I understand why! Flynn did an amazing job illustrating the thought processes behind these psychopathic tendencies, plans, and emotions (or lack thereof). I now understand, empathize, and am JOINING the “psycho bitch but in her own right” movement. I never understood the “she’s fucking crazy, but good for her” description that has been RAMPANT on my feeds for the last few years, until I read this book.

First, Flynn does an amazing job painting the story with Amy Dunne’s life being overshadowed by her parents taking advantage of her by turning her into the Amazing Amy character. This children’s book character Amazing Amy is read by millions; she’s a Judy Bloom x Fancy Nancy x Sheldon character that can do no wrong, and is loved by all. And from THAT moment, as un-relatable as the situation was directly, I could empathize with Amy Dunne and the insecurity she obviously experiences. I love how you can see the insecurity of never being good enough displayed so early on in the character development.

In comes Nick Dunne (her future husband) to sweep her off her feet and treat her as an independent human, not attached to her legacy or namesake, or parents' success. He loves her for her (and her alone) while encouraging her to take steps to be herself and make herself proud. Of course she falls for him… Wedding bells to come!

All to find out… IT’S A LIE!! Her diary is a carefully curated, functionally false, piece of evidence to be used in her missing persons investigation. Meanwhile, between reading diary entries from Amy, you go into Nick’s mindset and his thoughts. His journey from worry, to disdain, to mistrust, to anger, to truth, to comfort in the toxic and abusive relationship they both contribute to.

It freaks me out to admire Gillian Flynn for her mastery of writing these multi-faceted, genuinely awful people. I mean, what kind of headspace is this woman in?? I think every character in this book is awful and insufferable in their own way:

• Amy Dunne: so psychotic, she can comfortably AND masterfully manipulate situations so well that people truly believe her husband has killed her.

• Nick Dunne: a cheater who prefers freshly post-pubescent women to his wife, who also mindfully navigates manipulating the media to believe and trust in him, even when he’s the “bad guy”

• Amy’s parents: Fully took advantage of Amy’s persona, making a fictional child who better reflected Amy in every way, for every stage of her life.

• Margo Dunne: Untrusting and unreliable.

• Desi Collings: Craves “fixing” women and taking advantage of weakness to pad his ego.

• Andie Hardy: As previously mentioned; freshly post-pubescent instigator of infidelity.

The ONLY character I don’t believe to be on this list is Detective Boney; I supported most of her actions. But, she was still so unreliable and HUMAN, I didn’t know what to expect of her, just like the other characters.

Soon, we get the perspective of the “days gone” through Amy’s experience. Her witnessing her husband be publicly humiliated and disgraced (revelling in it), creating relationships that ruin her plans and show her tenacity, and her thought process that can only be described as disturbingly intricate.

The ONLY part I didn’t like about the movie adaptation was how, when Amy changed her plans to stay alive and frame Desi for kidnapping, rape, etc., Detective Boney embarrassed her with questions, and Amy didn’t have answers. In the book (as unrealistic as it was,) Amy had thought of EVERYTHING. There were no loose ends to contend with, even if the tie was flimsy. THAT’S why I loved Amy, she truly thought of everything in a way to make it work for her. She was a master manipulator! And she did it well! She carefully orchestrates every minute detail to work for her story, and I admire that.

I also loved the way the book ended; Nick can’t leave because he realizes he is just as abusive, toxic, manipulative, and dependent on Amy as she is on him. I loveee that; crazy people should be with crazy people! Stop trying to come after us normies!

This is one of my new favorite reads, and I’m excited for this playlist. Don’t you want me, baby?

Spotify: LINK