Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn is one of my very favorite writers. She writes stories of broken, imperfect people who just don't care that they are broken. They accept that they will never be super models, never find Prince Charming, and probably never be anything but that crazy mix of imperfection that they are. Most of the time, they aren't even what you would call "likable." Even so, she takes all of that and creates a set of characters that you get wrapped up in, despite the fact that you may not like them all that much. To me, that's talent. These aren't lovable Dexter-type characters that make you like them with their hidden hearts of gold. These are people you have a hard time even seeing a glint of shine anywhere, even in their decent moments. Gone Girl is the third book I have read by Ms. Flynn. From page one I was riveted. I could not read it before bed because if I did there was no way I was sleeping before I finished it. I loved the story so much I wanted to drag it out some, chapter at a time. Otherwise it would be too long a wait until her next one and the story would end too soon.

Gone Girl is about Amy and Nick. It's their 5th wedding anniversary, and Nick comes home to find Amy missing and the house a mess. Did someone take her? Did he kill her? The story is broken up into the two viewpoints and time lines, separate books and sections that take you though the first moments of Nick & Amy's relationship all the way to the end. My advice is to not read ahead on those, let the story unfold on its own without any clues. Hear Nick's voice as he discovers Amy gone and hear her voice in her diary pages. Slowly uncover who these two people are to each other, who they were, and where they go. Seriously, it's like peeling an onion,and each layer is full of things you are happy to learn but also wish you didn't know. You start off in the first section with all of these doubts, and every page after that just  brings more doubt, darkness, and twists so that you really don't know where you will end up. I've never been so manipulated when reading a book, well, since Will Lavender's books (his books are what made me add the "mindf*ck" tag to this blog), and I loved every freaking second of it. I want to say more, but I don't want to give anything away. Just know that the Nick & Amy you meet at the beginning are not who you end up with at the end. And seriously, I didn't see it coming. Not by a long shot. But I do think it's one of those imperfect, perfect tales that show no matter how well you think you know someone, or know some one's relationship, you can never truly know what's in their hearts & minds.

I love Gillian Flynn. I love what her amazing brain comes up so much I almost don't want to read her books just so I can read them for the first time. I only wish she could write faster so I could read something new from her every month. 

Rating: 5 Purrrrrs. More Please!!