who says you have to be crowded into the living room, kitchen, and/or dining room to hold a book club? we are ladies of the 21st century. we don’t need no stinkin’ couches. so pull up a blog and join in the conversation.
the members of the BOOK HUNGRY are (alphabetically): patty blount, kelly breakey, blake leyers, karla nellenbach, and myself. we pick a book to read. we discuss via phone. we post a review on our individual blogs the 3rd thursday of the month. click on their names above and enjoy.
this month’s BOOK HUNGRY selection is:
GONE GIRL by gillian flynn
what it’s about from amazon:
my opinion:
this book is SO not up my alley. it’s darker and seedier and more haunting and less laugh inducing than the books i normally choose to read. plain and simple, this book is unbelievably effed up and i hated the characters, but I FREAKING LOVED THIS STORY.
the characters are so vivid and unrelenting and flawed and malicious and wild and raw and not nice, but they remain entirely true to form throughout the whole book. it’s something i value — when the author lets the characters shine through which in turn blots out any hint of their own voice or agenda. these characters are mean and ugly and hideous and i’m sure they were delicious and horrible for gillian flynn to write. it takes some major guts to write characters that are this unlikeable and unrelatable. BRAVO, gillian flynn. BRAVO.
my very favorite part is the ending. it’s completely creepy, but absolutely spot on and exactly how the characters should/would/could have acted. i might have laughed* when it was over because i couldn’t believe flynn pulled off something this insane, this intense.
(*said laugh was of the menacing variety and also one born out of relief because if the book had gone on, it would have crossed a very dark line and i don’t know if i would have recovered from that.)
if you want a book that will take you on an incredible ride (from part II on), read this.
Doesn’t sound like my cup of tea at all, no matter how masterfully written. Think I’ll pass. :)
this book won’t make you feel good, except for the parts where you’re grateful you aren’t married to a sociopath, but it will make you think. if you ever have time, i would suggest it… just saying. :)
“from part two on” EXACTLY Abs. I did appreciate this story. It was right up my alley tho, with its dark, scarily real elements. And, the ending: YES. I won’t lie, I kinda chuckled too at the end
i KNEW you’d agree with me on the ending. you’re too twisted not too, i mean, the ending’s too twisted. ;)
I thought the ending was spot on as well. But I cringe to think that these two people will procreate. They should most definitely not.
agree. they should not. definitely, definitely not.
I agree, Abby! These were not likable characters yet… yet the whole story was so maniacal and mind-blowing, I couldn’t help but like it. As Karla said in her review, I can’t help but APPRECIATE the brilliant craftsmanship of Gillian Flynn.
i agree with everything you said here. we’re quite the agreeable bunch, aren’t we? ha.