Gone Girl (2012) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 5 stars

“Totally not what the author led you to believe. I really enjoyed this book. I'd like to read more from Gillian Flynn.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Although a page turner, the subject matter is pretty dark.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Brilliant!”

• Rated 4 stars

“Good suspense. I didn't want it to end.”

• Rated 0 stars

“I really was excited to read this book. I actually STOPPED in the middle of another book to start this one. Right from the beginning I was intrigued by the author and the story. I couldn't tell how the story was going to end. The twists and turns made for a great 3/4 of a book. I was very disappointed with the ending. I felt kind of cheated. ”

• Rated 3 stars

“This book is a sad representation of American fiction today. The hype was huge and the buzz was big, and I like a 'legal drama', so I thought I'd read this. Here is what you get: a quick moving, twist and turning, plot spinning novel that revolves around Nick and his missing wife Amy. (Super deja-vou of the novel In the Lake of the Woods at first). You also get what I feel is the decline of good stories today: smut. Every character is raunchy and crude. Sexual references are lewd and language is graphic. Someone who might normally be likable (Nick's twin sister, for instance) ends up saying the most disgusting things you would ever hear from the one 'likable' person in the book. The characters are all so unbelieveable you have to just shake your head and force yourself to keep reading.

Do authors have to shovel this stuff to make the best seller lists? Can a writer just believe the force of their story, their plot, their talent is enough to keep us reading? The language and lewdness becomes quite distracting, and really detracts from what could have been a sharp, dark, crazy novel about a messed up marriage and lack of identity.

The plot is stunning- a great whodunnit kind of feel laced with just enough bits of sociopaths and psycho babble that you can get hooked in if you want to. I was interested in the plot and enjoyed the places it went. It is a quick read, a crazy plot, and an exciting build, but be prepared for the lameness of high school crudeness for shock value. It would be more shocking if Flynn didn't rely on vulgarity to unnerve you as a reader, and let the story do the talking instead.
”

• Rated 0 stars

“GRRR... had to return to library... took too much time to read it!
will read again someday.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Riveting, intense”

• Rated 2 stars

“Way too angry, a bit vulgar and somewhat over the top with profanity. It took away from the story instead of adding to it. Hard to finish, hard not to finish.”