As you probably know by now, I love to read and Gillian Flynn has quickly become one of my favorite authors. I love a good crime fiction book just as much as the next girl, but I’m also into thrillers and sometimes coming of age stories, but not really. Although I did absolutely love Valley of the Dolls and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
I first bought the book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn because it was recommended/reviewed by Glamour Magazine – for which I’m a monthly subscriber. Yes I get magazines delivered to my door every month and yes I still buy physical paper books. I also still buy and listen to CDs, so this all says a lot about my personality.
OK getting back to the subject of Gillian Flynn. I finished reading Gone Girl about six months before it was released in theatres. I quickly picked up her other two books and although they were all good in their own special ways I definitely do have a favorite.
This is probably the reason you know the name Gillian Flynn as an author. This book (although not her first) was turned into a smash-hit-blockbuster movie starring Ben Affleck and Neil Patrick Harris. The story follows a woman who has gone missing and is presumed to be killed by her cheating husband. However things aren’t always as they seem, especially not in a small town in Missouri.
If you’ve seen the movie let me tell you that it doesn’t do the book justice. If you loved the twist in the movie (SPOILER ALERT: a.k.a. she’s still alive) then you will absolutely love it in the book. I literally had to do a double take, turn back the page and re-read it.
I absolutely loved the characters in this book. It seems like the Day family can’t catch a break in life and you almost feel bad for them, but then you find out they’re already dead. The question is who did it? Some would say the surviving brother who was found guilty by a jury and has been locked up for over a decade.
No spoiler alert here, but you’ll get lost in the story as the only other surviving child tries to uncover what really happened to her family while avoiding the reality that her brother could have been wrongly accused. This is the second Gillian Flynn book to be made into a movie. It will be released this fall and it stars Charlize Theron.
This was the last book I read and (although it’s a close call) it’s my favorite book of the three. The way Flynn introduces the twist – earlier in the story than Gone Girl – is absolutely the best. I can’t wait for this story to be made into a film.
I had so many emotions reading this story about a girl who runs away from her family in hopes of finding a new, less complicated life. However she’s forced to come back when she needs to investigate unsolved murders in her hometown. Little does she know that members of her family have strong ties to all victims. I was happy, shocked, a little grossed out and curious all throughout this book. I couldn’t put it down. Every single relationship in this story is complicated and it keeps you wanting to know what’s going to happen next. Flynn tells a story of how truly awful the human race can be (SPOILER ALERT) – even at a young age.
If you love reading check out my book reviews by author Megan Abbott.
