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Gone Girl

By: Gillian Flynn
Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Kirby Heyborne
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Editorial review


By Mysia Haight, Audible Editor

PSYCH OUT—THE JAW-DROPPING GENIUS OF GONE GIRL

Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl is among the all-time best crafted stories told by unreliable narrators—two of them, the perfect couple—and a gripping thriller filled with jaw-dropping twists. This dark mystery novel also shines a critical light on the media-fueled public rush to judge people suspected of crimes who, regardless of the evidence, simply look guilty—an unsettling trend that has only escalated in the decade since the book’s release. Along with its critique of media exploitation, the novel has been widely embraced—and hotly debated—as a manifesto of modern feminism.

Ten years ago, I was approaching that dreaded life stage—middle age. After years of doing my best to be a good wife, mother, aunt, sister, daughter, and friend; a good worker, mentor, and role model; and a good listener, problem solver, and crisis manager, I was feeling taken for granted and restless. What if I did something unexpected, something out of character—something bad?

Happily, I satisfied my yearnings by becoming immersed in the brilliant mind and devious machinations of Amy Elliott Dunne, the hero (or, depending on your perspective, villain) of Gone Girl. When it was published in 2012, Gillian Flynn’s ingenious novel about a missing wife and the husband increasingly implicated in her ominous disappearance stirred up a lot of buzz. As an avid fan of psychological thrillers, unreliable narrators, and contemporary fiction driven by strong, complicated women, I couldn’t wait to read it. And I was blown away! In spite of her questionable (to put it extremely mildly) actions, I found Amy, an amazing woman who was taken for granted—first by her parents and then by her husband—relatable and, yes, sympathetic. I kept rooting for her to get the life she wanted, even when I was appalled by what she did and who she hurt to make that happen.

Has Gone Girl changed my life? Well, it didn’t motivate me to change for the badder—old good habits die hard. Yet, thanks in part to Amy and other remarkable women characters like her, I’ve gradually become better at speaking up for myself and getting heard.

Years after first reading Gone Girl, I haven't forgotten Amy. I love the way Rosamund Pike brought her to life in the 2014 film adaptation, which I've watched in its entirety three times with three different women—my sister, my niece, and my daughter. So when I discovered that one of my favorite narrators, the remarkable Julia Whelan, voices Amy in the audiobook, I just had to go back and listen. Her performance is brilliant—so believable, it's chilling—and even though I know every twist in her twisted story, Amy continues to amaze me!

Continue reading Mysia's review >

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The “mercilessly entertaining” (Vanity Fair) instant classic “about the nature of identity and the terrible secrets that can survive and thrive in even the most intimate relationships” (Lev Grossman, Time)—now featuring never-before-published deleted scenes

NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY TIME AND ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Janet Maslin, The New York TimesPeopleEntertainment WeeklyO: The Oprah MagazineSlateKansas City StarUSA TodayChristian Science Monitor

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. 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?

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY San Francisco ChronicleSt. Louis Post-DispatchThe Chicago TribuneHuffPostNewsday

©2012 Gillian Flynn (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Absorbing . . . In masterly fashion, Flynn depicts the unraveling of a marriage—and of a recession-hit Midwest—by interweaving the wife’s diary entries with the husband’s first-person account.”The New Yorker

“Ms. Flynn writes dark suspense novels that anatomize violence without splashing barrels of blood around the pages . . . Ms. Flynn has much more up her sleeve than a simple missing-person case. As Nick and Amy alternately tell their stories, marriage has never looked so menacing, narrators so unreliable.”The Wall Street Journal

“The story unfolds in precise and riveting prose . . . even while you know you’re being manipulated, searching for the missing pieces is half the thrill of this wickedly absorbing tale.”O: The Oprah Magazine

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Editor's Pick: Best of the Decade

Get to the gone
"I’m a sucker for great story structure, and Gone Girl uses every inch of its narrative to subvert expectations in ways that shock and amuse. The perfectly utilized diary entries fold into a legendary mid-book reveal. The face-turn-heel of a seemingly perfect victim who revels in the way they’ve expertly managed your expectations. The unreliable narrators who reveal so much about themselves by what they don’t say—or how they shape emotional states into origami. And it all feels fair; while most twist-filled stories tend to seem rather flimsy under a microscope, the closer you look at Gillian Flynn’s masterpiece, the more you notice the sheer togetherness of it all, each part working in concert with another, coalescing to form a story that has one finger firmly on the pulse of popular culture, and one on the carotid of a serial killer."—Sean T., Audible Editor

What listeners say about Gone Girl

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Mind Candy

An interesting, but unbelievable story. There were too many plot holes to give it anything other than an average rating.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Caution: coarse language

The vulgar language in this book nearly made me stop listening, but the narrators performed it well.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Full of surprises

At first you think you are reading a love story. The all of a sudden you are thrown into suspense and wonder

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Should have bee called Amazing Psycho

What did you love best about Gone Girl?

Its hard to choose one thing. The most intruiging part for me was the twist in what actually happened to Amy. That and the ending. Does it really stop there? Is There talk of. Second book because it is hard for me to accept that this is it. That Nick has to accept his fate and the fact that a child is being brought into this dysfunction. Amazing!

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The insight that we got from Nick and Amy`s perspective and their thought processes was riveting. Nick really is an a**hole but Amy is really a Psycho B!

Have you listened to any of Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Not extreme but intense and thought provoking.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great book

Plenty of twists and turns. For a while there, I was having flashes of The Scott/Lacy Peterson case then ..... I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say this was worth the credit.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Close to home; brilliantly written

"There's something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold." Love this book!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Makes me glad for my normal, boring, life.

I spent the first half of the book disliking all the characters and thinking this was just a story about two people who never should have gotten married. I spent the last half thinking "how far will they go?" It was better than I thought it would be. Seriously messed up but engrossing. I think I can watch the movie now (which I had no desire to before).

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Could Not Wait to Pick it Up Again

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a wonderful audio book. It's a wonderful book period. But it unfolded before my eyes as I walked on my treadmill. i wouldn't allow myself to listen unless I was on the treadmill. I started walking over an hour each day! That's how good this book is.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

There were so many unexpected things in this book. Usually I know just where the plot is going. This one is a shocker and it caused such strong emotions in me. I would talk back to the characters all the time, which startled my sleeping dog!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

War of the Roses, had Stephen King written it!

Just finished Gone Girl for January 2013 Book Club - and it is the creepiest - creepy GOOD - book I have read in decades. Were I the author's husband, don't think I'd ever fully sleep soundly again. A woman who can craft the ingeniously evil marriage saga that Flynn does here is a woman to be approached verrrry carefully!

That being said, it took me FOREVER to get into this novel and I think it was the back and forth chapters between the two protagonists - husband Nick and wife Amy - that initially drove me crazy since the stories each told were so totally out of sync. But once the plot thickened - the way dried blood curdles - it was easier to follow.

The book will push your limits of believability that anyone - much less two twisted souls - could be that crazy or crazy-in-love or just plain twisted. Buckle your seat belts, readers, you are in for a WILD ride!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

AMAZING - I will read the author's other works

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Just by luck, I found a review in a magazine after I had purchased it here - by the advert here on Audible~
I do NOT regret this purchase in ANY way!~

Who was your favorite character and why?

I refuse to write more on the actual writings as I do not want to leave any HINTS,

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed, I cried, I yelled in anger, I curled up tighter in my chair as I listened.
I smiled and was sad as the last words were spoken.

Any additional comments?

I would gladly of listened for another 19 hrs.

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