What readers think of Gone Girl, plus links to write your own review.

If you're the type of reader who stops reading a book early on because it doesn't grab you right away, don't even bother with this one. The first half of this bestselling thriller by Gillian Flynn is so slow, it's almost boring. It's one very long set-up. And then about halfway through, whamo! The speed picks up, the plot thickens, and before too long, the story totally changes direction and yanks you on a roller coaster ride. Fasten your seatbelts, readers.

Nick Dunne and Amy Elliott Dunne are both stewing in a miserable, unhappy marriage. After living the good life in New York City—hot shot jobs, lots of money, the right house in the right neighborhood—it all disappears seemingly overnight when both are laid off within weeks of each other. At Nick's insistence, they move to his childhood home of North Carthage, Missouri, a small town on the banks of the Mississippi River. On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy disappears. As typically happens in these cases, many believe Nick is responsible. Is he? Did he murder his wife? Or is something even more diabolical going on?

The No. 1 strength of this book is the plot twists…one after another. And even those twists and turns I could see coming were still a page-turning exhilaration. This is a book you read with eyes wide open—even if it's way (way!) past your bedtime.

Like most thrillers, this one is plot-driven to the exclusion of all other literary niceties. Even so, it is more than a straight-up thriller: It's also a psychological study of Nick and Amy—and boy are they messed up. Both are meanspirited, selfish, coldhearted, and diabolical. As their loveless marriage and carefully cultivated professional lives unravel, their deepest secrets and flagrant lies devastatingly haunt and harm them. I give a lot of credit to Gillian Flynn, though. Even though I disliked both of them (a lot!), I still cared about them. That doesn't often happen with such characters.

But…and this is a big 'but." The ending is disappointing. VERY disappointing. It's as if Gillian Flynn just got tired of writing and stopped.

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It is beautifully written... and messed up. I feel a little bad for the guy, but he cheated on a sociopath so he kind of deserves it. I know, Amy is a real sociopath and crazy and I feel sorry for the her "victims" (i.e. Hilary and the other guy). I also feel bad for Desi but he is a creepy covertly pushy dude. Did he deserve to be murdered? No. Poor Andi too. It is wrong to have a relationship with a married man, but she is young and naïve and the older man should've known better. She stuck with him but since she is young... she got clingy during the rough hard time for Nick and the relationship had to end.

She is very manipulative and Nick got what was coming for him (since he cheated and he's an asshole). Amy went way too far but you got to admit, she has the balls to get justice from a cheater. Of course it takes two to work on a relationship but you don't just give up. I think Nick is intimidated of Amy cause she's popular thanks to the Amazing Amy and her family's wealthy, on which he was the opposite - he's worked his whole life, etc. What I don't get is why get married with a woman you are intimidated with? Is it just because you think you couldn't do better? Then when everything went wrong, he let his guard down.

It is fked up, okay? But you got to admit that they deserve each other.

Lots of twists and turns and I'm still taking it in after finishing it. The ending didn't bother me at all, in fact I don't think it's an ending, but perhaps a beginning for another part of their life, if the author chooses to pursue it. If not, you can hardly speculate what's going to happen with a child in their lives, but kind of intriguing to think about.

Amy was incredibly brilliant as the villianess, I had to admire her craftiness and cunning, even though she was the ultimate she-devil. The author did a great job with weaving the dynamics of this intertwined relationship . It's a powerful codependent hate/love story to the conniving max. I found myself living vicariously in her antics. Wishing I had known her years ago when I went through a bad relationship, I'm sure she could of gave me some tips. But she's way too extreme in a crazy, psycho, manipulating, cunningly supreme, way. Even her husband had to stand in awe of her abilities and recognize her 'talent' in the most of his most lowest points. She was his crash course in absurdity and the many moods of marital obsession and I think he got it. He became a learned student. Let the games begin ... he's ready.

The plaudits for this book are fully deserved. It is a great read and every bit as thrilling as the critics say. I read this book not long after it came out in hardback and thoroughly enjoyed it. I decided to read Gillian Flynn's earlier books it was so good. I recommend this book strongly

Very poorly written. Lots of color but no content.

It took a certain degree of poking to get me to read this, and having done so, I wonder why I did. It's not bad - it's just utterly pointless. The story goes nowhere, the lead characters are without any kind of depth, just mechanistic extrapolations of the stereotypes from which they are carved. Is it about dishonesty, well, yes; but given the genre that isn't exactly news. Is it about revenge? Again, yes, but not in way that hasn't been covered in greater depth and passion many times before. Where it does work, at least to a degree, is as a critique of media reporting of murder and kidnap.

Once the big reveal is reached however, I wouldn't waste you time reading further; the ending is... pointless indulgent waffle. And that's being generous.

It avoids 1-star rating by being better than Twilight.

Brilliantly written. Clever. Real. Gritty. Will knock your socks off. Fantastic!!!

My book club is reading this right now and so far everyone loves it. There were so many twists and turns that kept your interest with every page.