Gone Girl

by Gillian Flynn

Paperback, 415 pages

English language

Published by Broadway Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-59413-605-4

(101 reviews)

On a summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy's fifth wedding anniversary.

Presents are being wrapped and reservations made when Amy disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River.

Under mounting preesure from the police and Amy's 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 wondering how well they know each other.

2 editions

jd 🔆 reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Murder mystery / psychological thriller

4 stars

A murder mystery/psychological thriller with an intricate, he-said, she-said plot. Good writing. Tracks the descent i to madness of the protagonists. Good plot/character development. Edge of the seat suspense. Some scenarios were improbable, but hey, it’s fiction. For me, a little too much time spent in the thick weeds of psychopathic, manipulative relationships, but that’s only me and, upon reflection, the book wouldn’t have worked without it..

vmondv (amonda) reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Felt like sci fi

5 stars

As a gay trans non-binary person who has never engaged in heterosexuality, reading this book felt like reading a work of science fiction about an alien civilization. It was fun, and sometimes depressing, but most of the times I was baffled by the depictions of men, women and their marriages. I felt like I was watching a David Attenborough documentary on straight cis people. I did double takes and I had to double check with my straight friends. (According to them, apparently sometimes it kinda is like that, but the machiavellianism is less elaborate?)

Overall, a fun read with despisable characters that I had a hard time understanding, but I think that's on me. The real villain of the book was heteronormativity, and the real victim was Detective Boney.

johnny dangerously. reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

In this one, Flynn finally develops her themes instead of just kind of presenting them. She also gets better at pacing, though the end of the book drags a little (I'm not sure that'd be the case if you hadn't already seen the film, though; at least this book didn't just suddenly come to an abrupt ending at the second half of the last chapter with a tacked on happy ending paragraph).

I think Flynn's books might just not be for me, because while this is inarguably her best written book, it was also, for me, the least enjoyable. Again, though, that could have been due to having seen the film first (but, admittedly, I was spoiled for the twists in Sharps Objects and Dark Places and didn't find those as much of a drag, so ???). Great job me, coming to this conclusion after reading three books by her. …

Maerman reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Fucking bitch.

Kathrin Passig reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Schwacher, lustloser Schluss. Frauenfeindlichkeit. In den Nebenrollen nur Statisten.

AliCorbin reviewed Gone Girl by Julia Whelan

Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

One long "he said, she said", with both spouses lying, to each other, to the police, to us, and even to themselves. It was a trudge, and would have been easier to swallow if it'd been edited down and tightened up a bit. To say that the characters were not likable would be the understatement of the year. The best that can be said is that they truly deserved each other.

Juliane reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I can't believe I made through the whole book. Not one character is likable. Not one. Not in one chapter. Not in the beginning. Not in the middle. Not in the end. The story is a mess, it has a totally unsatisfying end and I don't know why it is so popular that there will even be a movie (but I think Affleck will so a good Nick!).
One positive point: the plot twist. This was done very well. Planned well. Caught the reader (me) by surprise. But it took the plot twist too long to come. Every casual reader would already put the book down. And what's after the plot twist? It gets boring again because the suspense was gone. What was it about? About f-ed up characters?! Well this is definitely not my favourite book!

Mollarom reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

It took a few weeks to get to the halfway point and only a day to finish the rest. A slow burn that gets very hot.

ghostchaser reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

4.5 stars

Sharyl reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I simply must give any book that so totally kidnaps me five stars. If you know anyone who has read this book, do not let him/her tell you anything about it. Seriously. Gillian Flynn writes this story so cleverly that it is hard to put down, and I am one of those people who thought the ending was perfect. Don't peek. DON'T peek.

Didactylos reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Wow! Initially tok a little getting into because of the - at first - odd narrative structure. But once the story develops you see why the narrative structure has to be this way.

This really was a cracking read. Brilliant.

GG reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I'm not really a fan of bestsellers/"beach reads," but a friend recommended this one to me, and I have to say it was hard to put down! The story was entertaining and, while not particularly realistic, full of surprising twists and turns. I'd recommend it if you're looking for something to read on the plane or just some fun entertainment.

Daniel Norton reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I would give this book 3.5 stars if we could do half stars. It was a clever story with a lot of very unlikable characters.

vitriolix reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

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John B reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Lots of plot twists, at first they're fun but by the end you come to expect that you've gone a few chapters, and without yet another, you become a little disappointed.

After expecting things can only get worse and they do each time, things get a bit predictable by the time you get to the end of the book.

Still a good read, and would recommend it.