Gone Girl

MAJOR SPOILERS!!!!! Seriously, do not keep reading if you have any intention of someday soon reading Gone Girl or seeing the movie. If spoilers don't bother you then feel free to read on. Let me start by saying that Gillian Flynn is a great writer. I'm 99% sure that Gone Girl is the first book I've read where I do not like a single character in the novel. Not one. All the characters suck and are terrible people. That being said, it was a seriously incredible, mind-boggling book. It is definitely worth reading, no matter how terrible the characters act.

The scene. It's Nick and Amy's five year wedding anniversary. Nick comes home from work (he owns a bar with his twin sister) to find Amy gone. There are signs of a struggle in the living room and there is a present in their closet for Nick from Amy. The police naturally somewhat suspect Nick, although he keeps denying that he killed his wife. It was tradition for Amy to create a treasure hunt for Nick on their anniversary, and the present is the first step. He follows the clues, hoping for some hint about what happened to Amy.

I knew going into the novel that it was one of two things: either Nick really did kill Amy, or she faked her death for some reason. The answer: she faked her death. The reason: she's bloody crazy. Ok, that's not the only reason but she is absolutely crazy. Everyone is whack. Amy discovered over a year before the novel begins that Nick was having an affair with a former student of his (he's a college professor). Amy is naturally upset by this discovery but instead of confronting her husband, she decides she's going to ruin his life. She starts meticulously planning every little detail, intent on framing Nick for her "murder".

Let me back up a little. Amy's parents are psychologists, as is Amy. Her parents wrote a series of highly successful children's books called Amazing Amy, based off their daughter but a more perfect version. Amy is very detail-oriented and creates elaborate plans. She made it look like a friend tried to kill her because she wanted to replace Amy, all because her friend was better than her at some things. She made it look like a boyfriend raped her when she discovered he was cheating on her. Amy would physically injure herself to implicate others. The cases against her boyfriend and friend were solid and there was no question that Amy was telling the truth, except she wasn't.

And now this woman has discovered her husband is having an affair. Nick talks to Amy's former boyfriend and friend for insight into Amy's past, and her friend sums it up perfectly.

"Friends see most of each other's flaws. Spouses see every awful last bit. If she punished a friend of a few months by throwing herself down a flight of stairs, what would she do to a man who was dumb enough to marry her?"

What she does is write a fake diary, pretending that she fears her husband may kill her. She leaves clues that throw Nick's innocence into question. She thinks of every minute detail and has a plan to cover it. This is a new level of crazy. And when Amy accepts help from her high school boyfriend who is obsessed with her and kidnaps her, she kills him. She literally gets away with murder, although not the murder she intended.

Nick is not much better. Amy's clues seem sweet on the surface and Nick finds himself falling for them, and by extension, for Amy. Their relationship is very twisted. They were not honest with each other when they first met and when they showed their true selves, they didn't like each other. Their marriage was more or less based on lies. Once Nick realizes that Amy is actually still alive and trying to frame him for her murder, he starts pleading with her through interviews, begging her to come home. He wants to show everyone who she truly is and have her arrested for what she's done. But when she comes home, she spins a convincing story of kidnapping, rape, and murder done in self-defense. There is no way to prove that Nick's theory is true, or that Amy's story is false. Once again, she has thought of everything.

How does the story end? Nick can't prove anything, no matter how hard he tries. And eventually he has to give up because Amy has found a way to keep him around: she gets pregnant. They will always second guess each other and never fully trust the other, but they stay together. Their marriage is completely toxic and will probably destroy them both and their child.

You can see why I don't like any of the characters. Nick and Amy are both seriously messed up. They constantly present a facade to the world and each other. Amy is willing to go so far as actually killing herself to help prove that Nick is a murderer and receive the death sentence. She throws herself down stairs, poisons herself, cuts herself. She does a whole slew of insane things throughout her life to prove that others have hurt her. Nick is terrified of becoming his father, a man who hates women. He is also a mama's boy and very close with his twin sister. Once Amy disappears, he starts having vivid daydreams of her bleeding, struggling, and begging for help. He envisions killing her when he realizes Amy is framing him. He actually tries to once she comes back, before realizing that Amy was right: they are perfect for each other and could not survive married to anyone else. Nick is also very standoffish. He doesn't always act the way a grieving husband is expected to, and he is frequently described as having a "killer" smile. Not exactly helpful in convincing people he's innocent.

You may be wondering how someone could even like a novel with such despicable characters. Well, the story's very well written. It's hard to put down; once you start it you don't want to stop. There are several twists and turns that keep you guessing. It's actually a really good book and fun to read, as you try to figure out what really happened. I'm very excited to see the movie, which comes out October 3. I'm interested to see how Rosamund Pike plays Amy and I think Ben Affleck will be good as Nick. I would definitely recommend reading the book before seeing the movie. Either way, I hope you have as much fun figuring everything out and being completely frustrated with the characters as I did.