Book Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I lie here, after just finishing this book, and I am staring at the stucco on my ceiling and I feel completely consumed. There are many thoughts that are running through my mind, such as the desire to re-read and dissect the book page by page and "W.O.W" which stands for: "What the Eff?", "Oh My Goodness!" & "Wait, what now?"

There is a thrilling feeling you experience when you are at the best part of a roller coaster. You hear the noise on the upward motion before the dreaded yet exciting drop and once the wind and the speed sets in, you are completely consumed in that moment...that is EXACTLY how I felt after reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

Gone Girl is a novel about the disappearance of Amy Dunne, wife of Nick Dunne, on the day of their 5th year wedding anniversary. As the story moves forward to unfold what happened to Amy, the police and the public start to think that Nick may have something to do with the mysterious disappearance.  

This book was an amazing read for so many reasons. It has appealed to the eclectic mix of readers who have read and are now fans of this book. For me the book covers a variety of real topics and themes:

• Relationships
• Marriage and Love in Marriage
• Role playing aka Life Roles (Role of self, Role in family and our Role in public)
• Crime & Punishment
• Social Media and the impact it can have on the public perception of people involved in a tragedy
• Light & Darkness

If any of the above appeals to you or has you intrigued, you need to pick up a copy and take the plunge of this roller coaster of a book!

Here are a few of the reasons why I enjoyed this book: 

1. Speed/Pace of the book

The desire to figure out the plot was right from the start, literally the first page. I loved how quickly I  wanted to get to the end. The book was gripping and I wanted to figure things out from chapter to chapter and then the twists and turns wouldn't allow for me to stop, I needed to get to the end. Needless to say I read the book in 4 days!

2. Character development

I loved that the characters had normal traits and tendencies but were also tainted with darkness and touches of dark satire.  I also felt that as I read the book, I favoured one character over the other and as I read, that choice was not as clear or as easy to make.  There were times where I may have identified with a small aspect of the character on what they thought, said or how they acted in a situation they were confronted with. I found the  family relationships that the characters had really helped to better understand and provided another dimension to who these people were, or so we think they were ;) 

3. Thought-provoking themes
I appreciated the fact that after each chapter I had so many questions and thoughts on what I just read and what direction I thought the book was going.  I also liked that it makes the reader really consider the various themes that I listed above.  

It is such a relief to finally speak and share my thoughts on the themes and details of this book with other people who had just lit up when they knew I was reading this book.  Comments like "You will not put it down", or "Call me as soon as you are done so we can talk about it".  Thankfully, I am a part of a new book club so we will be totally immersed in the highs and lows of this Thriller.

Recently, I discovered the Movie trailer for this book and am very excited to see how this novel will be adapted into film.  It already has a great cast and an inspired director, so I am already feeling positive that the film should not disappoint.  

I highly recommend this book and I am very excited to read the other two novels by Gillian Flynn.