Gone Girl - Overrated?

[artichokie]

Why did this book get such high acclaim?  Four out of five stars?

I could hardly get through the first half of the book.  Amy's diary entries were like reading a teenager's journal about first-time love.  Way too sweet and cutesy, like young-adult fiction.  Flynn through in a twist that kept me reading, but then I was disappointed about the ending.

Would not recommend this book.  Wondering what others thought?
 

[charlatti]

I'm not sure why all the hype other than a good marketing campaign. ETA: I read it as an ARC, so long before I heard any of the fuss about it, but I appreciated the twisty darkness of Flynn's plotting. It's not great literature, IMO, but for me it was definitely a page-turner. This may not be truly spoilerish, but in case:

SPOILER: Click to show

The cutesy, fake-y quality of the diary is kind of the point, since they were fake. What I liked about it was the unreliable narrator. I really hated the book at first, and then slowly when I realized that neither of the characters were really trustworthy I started to appreciate it more.

[duckduck]

I agree with charlatti about the diary and narrator issues. I loved all of those little discoveries and surprises. There was always another twist coming.

The ending was horrible, but I thought the book on the whole was great. It is not a feel-good book, and it's not highbrow literature, but it is freaky as heck and it kept me riveted. Sometimes it's fun to read a book that keeps you on your toes.

It's definitely one of those books that's not for everyone. I would recommend it highly to a few people but I wouldn't give a blanket recommendation for it.

[whitepicketfence]

Besides the ending, I actually enjoyed this book. It was fun and I liked the plot twists. It kept me riveted and I flew through it in a few short days.

It was by no means highbrow literature as another poster stated, but I never expected it to be. I liked it for what it was.

[IIOY]

As soon as I finished the book I had the same reaction. Why the hype? I actually started disliking the book about halfway through and specifically remember getting to page 300 and thinking, This book is terrible and I hate everyone in it. LOL I was so angry that I hate-posted about it on my regular board, CEP. Many people agreed with me.

[kasi]

So overrated!! I called all the twists before they web happened so there were no surprises for me. I did not care for this book. The diary entries annoyed me.

[moreace01]

It was definitely a page turner.

Possible spoilers:
I think for me what made it compelling was the fact that the main female character was a sociopath. I cannot think of another book where this happens. Usually its a side character - not the narrator. I've never read anything like it. Anytime a writer is able to have a fresh insight, I think that is interesting. While I hated the ending, I'm glad I read it.