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475 pages, Paperback
First published May 24, 2012
On the day of Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth anniversary - Amy disappears.
There’s something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold.
There's a difference between really loving someone and loving the idea of her.Ahhh... upon a reread. I bumped it down a bit.
Summary: I loved it while despising it, how 'bout that?Oh dear, I'm caught between realizing that this is one of the most inconsistent plot-and-characterization-wise books I've read in a long time - as well as one of the most entertaining stay-up-all-night-to-finish books. Hmmmm.
This dual perspective provides an interesting example of unreliable narrators - Nick's and Amy's stories clash, and we know one of them - or both - cannot be completely true. Those parts are kinda awesome - it's like a ticking time bomb that you know is bound to explode.While the investigation into Amy's disappearance continues, while Nick almost drowns in the mounting evidence against him, we are treated to (or perhaps subjected to?) ruminations on the nature of marriage, the nature of compromises, the view on the marital roles, the societal expectations of relationships and all that stuff that can be both thought-provoking and eyeroll-provoking at the same time.
Yes, there are some interesting thoughts on the nature of compromise in marriage. And on the danger of loving not a person but your idea of how they should be. And, later on, Amy's deconstruction of the 'Cool Girl that every man wants' stereotype - even though .But then the second half of the book comes - and the story, at least for me, took a determined steep nosedive. No, it's not the twist (and by the time you made it to the halfway mark, the 'twist' is the only logical thing that can happen at this point - but that was fine as I don't understand the obsession with 'twists' that seems to have become the norm recently).
Amy -The first half of the book was fun and disturbing at the same time. with tension constantly building up, the satisfying frustration, and the lovely contrast of unreliable narrators, two nasty people that nevertheless bring up some quite interesting points. Based on it alone, I'd give this book 4 stars.
And Nick -
“My gosh, Nick, why are you so wonderful to me?'
He was supposed to say: You deserve it. I love you.
But he said,'Because I feel sorry for you.'
'Why?'
'Because every morning you have to wake up and be you.”
NEWSFLASH, NICK: YOUR SNARKY PHRASE APPLIES TO YOU PERFECTLY AS WELL. THE TWO OF YOU DESERVE EACH OTHER. (Or dear, was *that* the point of this book???? O_O )