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Gone Girl  By  cover art

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

Featured Article: Whodunit Whizzes—A Shortlist of the Best Mystery Authors


Who doesn't love a good mystery? Listening to mystery audiobooks is a great way to feel some semblance of order in an often chaotic world. The clues are there for you to solve along, and by the end, it will all come together in an incredibly satisfying manner. There’s a formula to the genre, sure, but the best mysteries still surprise you and often subvert expectations. These mystery writers take the genre to a new level. Here's our pick of their best listens.

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

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
    5,268
  • 2 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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Story
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    30,679
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
    4,957
  • 2 Stars
    1,874
  • 1 Stars
    1,580

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

An okay book

A very interesting premise for a book, and the story started off okay but a bit slow. It took several chapters before I really got hooked. the middle 2/3rds really kept my interest. It seems like the author then rushed to finish the book and created a lot of unlikely scenarios just to tie up loose ends. I wasn't expecting this to be 100% realistic, but a little more clean up in the last couple chapters would have made this better. Nonetheless, a very entertaining book.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Weak ending..

Would you try another book from Gillian Flynn and/or Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne ?

Yes

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The story was great...until the end. I felt the end of story was a tremendous disappointment.

What aspect of Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne ’s performance would you have changed?

None

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes, to see if the ending is better than the book

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Constant plot twisting and turning

Is there anything you would change about this book?

At first I enjoyed the way the author made you have empathy for one character and then switched it, however towards the end of the book, the empathy shifted from one to the other so quickly that I disliked them both. I thought the book ended very poorly, nobody won, everyone lost.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I enjoyed the fact that you didn't know what was going to happen but the end became too shifty for me. It was too much.

Do you think Gone Girl needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No, it ended in a lose/lose situation and nothing good will come from a second book. I would not purchase it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Overall, an interesting and fun ride (no spoilers)

The story overall is intriguing, the characters are so well developed, and the narration excellent. I personally liked the back-and-forth storytelling from the two main characters' perspectives. It was unique and for this type of story (where truth/lies, good/evil, and right/wrong are different depending on the character's perspective) it really worked well. The narrators themselves did an impressive job. I found them to be clear, pleasant to listen to, and voices/tone befitting of the characters they portrayed. I'm surprised at the reviews that felt the storyline so boring and difficult to continue. Perhaps I should clarify that this is more of a psychological thriller vs an action thriller. Yes, there are moments of very crude, even offensive language, etc. but it really does seem to add a realistic element. After all, much of this is contained within a character's thoughts, which we are privy to, so we hear some explicit reactions. A couple hours in, I found it interesting, a few more, very good, then excellent...right up until the end. I was disappointed at the way it ended; almost like there were another couple pages that were just torn out. Overall, quite interesting and a "page-turner" so to speak.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great story

Took me a bit to actually get into the story but then I didn't want to put it down. Thanks for a great story.

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

The grandeur side of a psychotic mystery.

This book opens a way into a psychotic and chaotic view of marriage that starves the reader for their ears. It reaps unbelievable emotions that quickly flex from brilliant storytelling, leaving yourself baffled you didn't see it before. one chapter you feel you know what happened then the next your entire mind plays on itself as to wonder if you even understand or know the character. From origin it is great and carries out a serious of defiant but amazing twists that leaves your mouth open, your ears wanting more, and most of all...she is a gone girl.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must read!

What made the experience of listening to Gone Girl the most enjoyable?

Beautiful characterization. Suspenseful; twists and turns totally unexpected.

What did you like best about this story?

The story is very well written.

What does Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

They did an excellent job bringing the characters to life and keeping the suspense moving.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, definitely!

Any additional comments?

This book exceeded my expectations. I am going to explore other books that Gillian Flynn has written.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Gone Girl

The book started very slow but man it picked up on momentum an I could not put it down. Awesome!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very well written

Would you consider the audio edition of Gone Girl to be better than the print version?

did not read the print, love the narrator made the story come alive.

What did you like best about this story?

it was so well written, completely different

Which scene was your favorite?

when she disappeared

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

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

Frustratingly amazing

This book will make you hate life but it is a must read. I recommend it to anyone who loves suspense.

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