Gone Girl – A Book Review

By Elyse Ash

One of my less-than-attractive personality traits is that I can be kind of a trend-snob. By trend-snob, I mean that once a series or show gets too mainstream, I rebel. I refuse to watch it or get sucked in, on principle. In college, I was totally that girl who didn’t like her favorite band anymore once they sold out and went corporate.

It’s immature—I know, and it’s only hurting myself. So over the years, I’ve tried to get better and grow up about the whole thing. Hey, I still LOVE Mumford & Sons even though they’re about as mainstream as it gets. And I’m still all-aboard the Hunger Games train to the Capitol. How’s that for personal growth?

So when a coworker recommended Gillian Flynn’s New York Times bestseller, Gone Girl, my instinct was to eye roll. I’d seen the book on many “Must Read” lists and by this point, I was doing my traditional trend-snob nose-in-the-air dance. But this was a coworker whose taste I respect, and I hadn’t read a good book in a while. So I took his word.

And I’m really glad I did.

Gone Girl turned into one of the most un-put-down-able novels I’ve read in a while. I found myself frantically asking coworkers, friends, relatives—“HAVE YOU READ GONE GIRL???” in a desperate attempt to talk to someone about it. ANYONE! That’s how you know you are either really enjoying a book—or at least really thinking about it.

Based primarily in Missouri, Gone Girl’s protagonists Nick and Amy look like the perfect husband and wife. Nick is a fun-loving writer. Amy is a charming, beautiful perfectionist, and the two appear to be madly in love. But when Amy’s body chillingly disappears the morning of their five-year anniversary, we learn that things in their marriage aren’t all brunches and back rubs.

Thrilling. Chilling. Gone Girl is quite the psychological ride. Twists and turns are peppered throughout the tale, which left me excited to keep digging (even when it was 11 o’clock at night and the digging needed to stop because I had work the next morning). But what I really enjoyed about the novel were the two distinct voices used to tell the story. Nick and Amy (well, Amy’s journal) take turns narrating—giving us access to the private musings, feelings, fears and neuroses of both characters and how they perceive their marriage. It’s every voyeur’s fantasy.

This book is more than what it seems; suspenseful, stressful, unexpected, insightful. Homegirl knows how to unravel a story and keep the reader guessing—and reading.

Long story short (pun totally not intended), I’m glad I got over my trend-snobbery enough to read this. And enjoy it!  Although, I STILL haven’t read any of the Harry Potter books yet. So maybe that’s my next step. 

Hey look, guys. I’m growing.

How to Ride an Escalator, by Helen Tseng. I love, literally, everything about this.

Tyrannical valentines.

My favorite: You’re the Kim Jong Illest.