Read: Gone Girl

I have put off reading this book for quite awhile.

Numerous friends had suggested it and for reasons I am going to keep to myself, I avoided it.

This past weekend, though I decided to finally give in to the prodding and suggesting and give it a try. To be honest, I didn't have high hopes. My disinterest in books had kept me from actually finishing one since August (yes, it's been two months since I had finished a book) and my previous experiences with Flynn's books always left me a little rattled (her books have been packed with far too many triggers for my liking).

It took me less than 24 hours to finish reading Gone Girl.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Synopsis: 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.

This book had me hooked from the start.

Nick, the psuedo-picture perfect guy I had imagined in my own future and Amy, a female character I actually (if only for a few short moments) liked and found myself relating to. A couple that was so perfect in their flaws as people, a couple, it was hard not to like them. But then the story started to unfold, to envelope me (the reader) in their lives.

There were so many twists and turns in this one, it was hard to know which end was up. But Flynn's style of writing doesn't lose you in the confusion of the story. It holds you close, but not so close you can see what is coming. It's a book that really does demand your time because it is so hard to walk away from. At the end of each chapter, I found it kept pulling me back in for "just one more before bed".

I can count on one hand the number of books that have left me feeling different for having read them. This one left me rattled at the end. Gutted. Trying to figure out the answer to so many questions of "Why?!" "Why did that happen?" "Why would anyone behave that way?" "Why would anyone treat another person so horribly?" and "Why would anyone think that was o.k.?".