Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

22 reviews

hannahmg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

 0/1 overall
1/2 writing/structure/character creation
1/2 enjoyment

I would not recommend this book.

Overall I did not enjoy this book, the first 250 page were not needed and were poorly written, the last 50 pages were as bad as the first part of the book. I only enjoyed a small snippet of the book. The length of this triller is way to long and unnecessary. I felt like I was reading a first draft of a idea.

The writing was partly smart with good ideas but poorly done, the journal extracts giving us a unreliable pov which was smart, reminded me of Dracula, but this was done in a manner which made it worthless, more dialogue than actually description, this was so unrealistic it was unnecessary to make it seem like a dairy. Nicks pov was closer to a dairy than Amy's own dairy entries. The repetition was unbearable, -yes Nick we get it you have a mistress and she is young, very young, and pretty.
The character creation was immense and well though through, Amy and Nick are both so realistic but fucked up at the same time. This is one of the major reasons it is a two and not a one star review.

I thought there was a lot of unnecessary added details, the level of Misogyny and sexism was not needed and weakly touched on at the end. Specifically the character of Nick's father who has Dementia and becomes extremely misogynistic, with the use of the slur "bitch" in both his speech and Nicks thoughts. Why add this, I just think the book would of been fine without it and it didn't feel like a representation of any sorts but more a tick for the check list and even excusing the behaviour.

I was very disappointed in the trigger warning list i found (Storygraph). Yes it is a thriller, we should expect triggering things but at the end of the day the book should have a page of trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Self harm, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Cursing, Cancer, Vomit, Violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Terminal illness, Infertility, Grief, Rape, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Torture, Misogyny, Miscarriage, and Lesbophobia

janewa's review against another edition

dark funny inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was already a big fan of the film, so when I started the book I was primed to compare and contrast, but by the time I’d got my teeth into it I had forgot about the film! The framing device that the book uses is great, really sets it apart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Cancer, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Self harm, Violence, and Rape

Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, Kidnapping, Medical content, Terminal illness, Sexism, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Stalking

Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

tatjanasbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Cancer, Violence, Murder, Death of parent, Dementia, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness

Minor: Grief, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Stalking, Rape, Physical abuse, Medical content, Miscarriage, Self harm, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Suicidal thoughts

unfinishedduet's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Misogyny, Death of parent, Murder, and Infidelity

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Medical content, Rape, Violence, Terminal illness, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, Blood, and Cancer

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

renyoi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Evocative, thrilling, ridiculously clever, sinister. Sharp and complex commentary on feminism, misogyny, generational trauma, heterosexual relationships, sociopathy, familial dynamics, and the media sphere circa 2010. It’s a lot of ground to cover, but somehow this book weaves these threads together deftly into one whole, complete, devastating portrait of mutually assured destruction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexism, Death of parent, Self harm, Sexual content, Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, Blood, Terminal illness, Torture, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Rape, Violence, Kidnapping, Cancer, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Sexual assault, Dementia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Vomit

Moderate: Incest

junowo's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is one of the most clever books I’ve ever read. If you think you already know it from the movie, you don’t. I was pleasantly surprised by both the complexity of the characters and the way this book constructs a world informed by patriarchy and misogyny. There are no certainties in this book, and that’s what makes it incredible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Classism, Blood, Violence, Self harm, Dementia, Chronic illness, Sexism, Murder, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Drug use, Rape, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Suicide, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Incest

tgndcy's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

was i ever bored? no. did i like it? i don't know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Terminal illness, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

deviya's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

i—

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Stalking, Sexual content, Self harm, Rape, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Vomit, Terminal illness, Suicide, Sexism, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

leialeilani's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Would have been 4 stars if it hadn’t taken 150-200 pages to get interesting. I almost stopped reading because it was so slow to reveal anything beyond the initial setup.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

Minor: Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Stalking, Miscarriage, Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, and Vomit

nabila99's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

as someone who adores david fincher's film adaptation of this book, and watched the film first, reading it was actually quite revelatory. because of the nature of film and TV, it's not always possible to show a character's introspection and inner world the way it is in a book - and gone girl the novel felt very introspective compared to gone girl the film.

i especially enjoyed how much more of amy we get in the book, even if

Spoiler

it is just Diary Amy, and i genuinely found her pov very poignant, despite my knowledge of how the story would go

. it was also very enlightening to see nick's 

Spoiler

misogyny, how he battles against it throughout the whole book but is still a shitty man in many ways, how parental attitudes and bigotries are passed down

.

while i did find that the book dragged a bit at times (especially in nick's chapters), and the ending was a bit abrupt and ambiguous, i flew through the story and was always engaged. what a ride!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Dementia, Drug use, Terminal illness, Vomit, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Medical content, Abortion, and Kidnapping