If yout haven't read this book, I recommend you not read this review or any others, actually. Part of the fun is not having any idea what's going to happen. You will be [[SPOILED]] if you keep reading.
My MIL recommended this book to me, and I am so glad she did. I loved Gillian Flynn's writing. I haven't read a book written with really high-quality writing in a while, and this book was delicious just for its use of language alone. I also thought she mastered the unreliable narrator device in Part 1. I didn't feel like it was contrived, and I felt like with mere clauses, Ms. Flynn cast doubt on Nick's motives and with each revelation, I felt a "wow" moment.
The character of Amy Elliott Dunne is one of the creepiest villains in modern literature. She is a real psychopath. It was amazing how I did a complete 360 within pages of starting Part 2. The depth of her psychosis is terrifying.
For the quality of writing and the plot, which kept me turning pages right to the end, I give this book 4.5 stars. For the story itself, closer to 4 stars, and the ending, as far as my sense of personal satisfaction, about 2.5 stars.
The problem with making Nick seem so suspicious in Part 1: We never get to understand WHY he was acting cold and distant, not worried, and in fact why he kept saying "This is how the worried husband is supposed to act now." I believe it is because Nick was so consumed with making people like him, with acting "right," that he was unable to act genuinely at all. I feel sorry for him, especially by the end, because I think he really has no identity. He is who Amy makes him/wants him to be.
I was quite disappointed in the ending. I wanted Amy to "get hers" so badly. I wanted to see her taken down as meticulously as she took down those she felt wronged her. I wish Flynn could have orchestrated Amy's take-down as masterfully as she created such a demented character. I believe this likely was the ending Flynn wanted, though. The villain wins. NIck lives in terror and fear. And God help the child!
Part of me wonders if we'll see Nick and Amy again. I feel like this ending lends itself perfectly to a sequel!
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