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:
Marriage can be a real killer.
One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.
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?
With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.
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.
Abigail Mumford 