Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: Book and Movie Review

Jade @ Scatterbooker 2015 book review, Fiction, movie review, , , , , ,
Gone Girl Book Cover
Gone Girl Book Cover

Title: Gone Girl        

Author: Gillian Flynn

ISBN: 0553418351

Published: 1st published January 1st 2012,   Broadway Books

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Pages: 560

My Rating: 5/5 stars

Description from Goodreads:

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media–as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents–the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter–but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

My Thoughts on the Book:

I think most bookworms have probably read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn by now, so I’ll keep this review a fairly short one. I read this novel when it first came out and I enjoyed it just as much the second time around this year. I decided to read Gone Girl again before I watched the movie. I know, the movie has been out for ages, but I’m really bad at watching movies the second that they are released these days!

I thought that Amy was such a fascinating character. The more I read of her, the more interesting she became. What a psycho, hey! But then when you learn more about her parents and their books, ‘Amazing Amy,’ you can kind of understand how she became so crazy. I know that if my parents were writing about my amazing alter ego with all of the jabs the seemed to direct at Amy I’d probably go a bit loco too.

The twist in Gone Girl is why I had to give this novel 5 stars. When I read Gone Girl the very first time I had no idea what was coming. I love a novel with a good twist! I was surprised that I still felt a little bit shocked by the complete 180 on my second reading. I felt this was because it was done so well and I’d been sucked into the story so deeply all over again. Gillian Flynn is definitely a skillful story teller and I am looking forward to reading her other novels. I haven’t read them yet, so no spoilers please!

View at Amazon

View at Goodreads

My Thoughts on the Movie:

Gone Girl Movie Poster
Gone Girl Movie Poster

My Rating: 3/5 stars

Ok, so in my opinion, Gone Girl is 110% a novel that you must read before you watch the movie. The diary style, first person narrative, is what really made the novel work for me. I find that this kind of narrative never translates well in movies (in my opinion) and they had to cut a lot of it out of course.

Ben Affleck as Nick didn’t work for me either. Nick frequently tells us in the novel that he is so classically handsome that he has to work hard to convince people that he’s not a jerk. I really don’t think Ben Affleck fits that description. He’s not bad looking, but he doesn’t look or seem like Nick to me at all.

On the other hand, Rosamund Pike was the perfect, or amazing if you like, Amy. She was definitely my favourite part of the entire movie. It’s funny, because I would have thought that Amy would have been the most difficult character to cast, but Rosamund Pike was exactly how I expected her to be.

I did enjoy the Gone Girl movie, but definitely not as much as I loved the novel.

View at Amazon

View at IMDb

22 thoughts on “Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: Book and Movie Review”

  1. It is such an amazing book. I am hesitating to go watch the movie. Simply because I don’t want to be disappointed. I don’t think it will be able to keep up with the book. But then I could be wrong. And I struggle with the idea of Ben Affleck playing Nick (I see we are on the same page). I will probably go and watch it eventually. But I loved the book so much, that I might wait just a little bit longer…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. ThIs is a book I have not read as of yet. One thing I do notice is that when they are trying to find the characters for the movies, the author is usually in the works when picking the characters for the movie version such as Nicolas Sparks. I do not know if the author picked Ben for this role though or they had casting people do it. Movie adaptations of the books are usually not that great. So you rating this movie 3/5 stars makes me want to rent the movie.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I’m not sure if the author did the casting or not. That’s a good question! It could be a good idea to watch the movie first, although I find that if I watch the movie first I really struggle to read the book afterwards, but that’s just me. I prefer book, then movie. Let me what what you think when you get to watch and/or read! 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  3. I liked reading your comparison. I read the book but I’m not sure I want to watch the movie. Once you know the twists, I’m not sure there’s still enough reason to watch the film. I also found Ben Affleck to be the wrong choice. I pictured a very different Amy as well. Colder, somehow. But maybe she works when you watch the film.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. I loved the book and I enjoyed the movie. I didn’t picture Nick to look like Ben Affleck either…however I thought he did a great job with the awkward smiling etc.

    Both characters were a bit “off” and thus deserve each other,maybe?

    Great post!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. I haven’t yet read Gone Girl or seen the movie. A friend of mine whose opinion I trust completely hated the book, so I’m on the fence about reading it… but I do kinda really want to, to see if it’s just her being an odd duck out and to, obviously, form my own opinion. The movie interests me, though, though I’ve been spoiled by people, so I might get around to watching the film first since it’s the book I’m hesitant to pick up.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. I read that the director (David Fincher) chose Ben Affleck as Nick because of the way Ben Affleck tends to smile in photos, which reminded him of the way Nick smiles in the novel. I definitely agree that you have to read the book first, then watch the movie. I did the opposite and still loved both, but I felt like I was just anticipating the events in the book.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. I’d intended to read the book before watching the movie, but it didn’t arrive in time. I loved the movie so much that I was glad I hadn’t read the book, it meant that I wasn’t analysing the similarities and differences (to the book) and I also wasn’t expecting the twist! I’m still going to read the book, but I’ll wait awhile until some of the details of the movie fade away 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. I am currently reading Gone Girl and I totally agree that the book deserves 5 stars! Amy is such a interesting and complex character. Nick next to Amy, is simply invisible. While I am reading Nick’s chapter the only thing I am wondering is what Amy is going to write next.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment