Thoughts on Gone Girl

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was supposed to be one of the best books I've ever read. I've heard so much about it and by the time I got it in my hands I was dying to read it! Every review I read was positive things and statements like "this was one of the best novels of the year" and "I was literally blown away by it!". This novel was set up for success in every way, but it just didn't live up to it. As I stated last week, I didn't care for the beginning. It was slow and I didn't care for the characters at all. The plot twists brought back my excitement. I thought to myself "this is when it gets good!", but after the first 50 pages of shock, I was bored again. There was enough suspense to keep me reading, but not enough to make me love it. I felt like the author came up with this really amazing twist and thought it out through every detail and then wrote the rest of the book in a short sitting. The ending seemed unfinished and I was simply unsatisfied. It felt extremely rushed and left me confused. There were lots of random events that led nowhere. This was an okay book, but definitely not the "life-changing bestseller" it was set up to be. I wouldn't really recommend this book unless you had nothing else to read. I have a bookshelf full of much more exciting, suspenseful and well thought out books.

I Wasn't Expecting That..

I've been reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn in my free time. I will admit, to begin with, I could not get into it. It may have been due to my book hangover from I Am The Messenger, but it was also just really slow. A character goes missing that you just don't care about. You don't hear much about her and the few things that are told don't make her an ideal character. I found myself groaning at the idea of reading it. I persisted anyway (mostly because I'm stubborn). Then it happened. The plot twist. What a twist it was. I found myself beginning to care for Nick, and even kind of feeling bad for him, but all of that went away when he presented his secret to the reader. I was astounded. After I read page 142, I had to stop and put the book down. I was tempted to spoil the whole thing to my friend, Paige, just to talk to someone about it!  How do you recover from such a bombshell? Well, that's simple: another, bigger twist. I didn't find myself as surprised with the discovery that Amy had planned  her death. I had suspected it throughout the story and felt more relieved than surprised to have my questions answered. This twist was a huge one, but it was expected. I would have honestly been disappointed had this not been the way the book had went. It could have been hidden a lot better than it had been. It was a wonderful addition to the book, but could have been executed better. After all of this, I'm really starting to get into this book and I've devoured over 100 pages in the last 2 hours! Flynn does a lot of show-don't-tell. She lets the reader figure everything out almost at the same pace as the characters; sometimes she won't even reveal it then. This book is incredibly suspenseful. I find myself going back again and again because I just can't wait to know what the characters are going to be doing next. I wasn't expecting this to turn into what it was, but I am glad I kept reading.

I am The Messenger Review

For the past few days, I've been reading I am The Messenger by Markus Zusak. I chose this book because of the way Book Thief was written. I absolutely fell in love with Zusak as an author. This book did not disappoint! From the very beginning I was hooked.
Ed was a guy that few liked. He didn't go out much and had a pretty simple routine. Despite this, you can't feel bad for him. He's content with his life. Not happy, but content. I felt myself appreciating that fact. What really caught my attention was the pressing issues that surrounded Ed that he chose to simply ignore. He sat with a gun to his head and his response was to make witty remarks to the gunman. Yet in situations where very few things matter he fills with anxiety and can't work out how to react. In one of his cards he's faced with a young girl who just needs some words of encouragement. His response is to avoid being seen by her at all costs and wait for "the right moment". Instead, he's thrown head first into a conversation he isn't prepared for, but how does that compare to almost dying? Ed is a very complex character and after everything, he's still hard to understand. I think those are the best characters to write. No person is truly understood, even when you're in their head.
The story is shocking and the twists are impossible to predict. My one complaint are the minor characters. Ed is introduced to the reader with his four friends: Audrey, Marv and Ritchie. They are important characters in Ed's life and influence the story, but they aren't given backgrounds or details. They are there to influence what happens to Ed, but don't exist outside of it. They're even *SPOILER ALERT* given their own card. Yet the reader never gets to know any of them. I guess this may be on purpose to add to the overall meaning of the story, but I definitely would enjoy some more information.
 I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind a book that's a little darker and makes you think. It left a huge impact on me and made me reconsider who I am as a person. I look forward to reading more of Zusak in the future.