Review: Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl
Gillian Flynn
Series: N/A
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Word Rating: Wild From Start to Finish
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

This book is absolutely INSANE. Like insane as in the dictionary definition of the word: in a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction. And I am not one who pulls out dictionary definitions for light use. This book hit me so hard that the second I finished reading it, I stared at it in awe for a few minutes, and then started watching the movie immediately after because I just couldn't be done. (The movie was really well done by the way, props to David Fincher and everyone else who worked on it). And then I fell asleep watching the movie because it was like eight in the morning and so after my friends and I got lunch/dinner the next day and we went back to my one friend's house I insisted that be the movie we watch and I finished watching it there and I was still reeling about this incredible tale for so long after its conclusion it was probably a little unhealthy.

Okay, first things first, one of the most astounding and well done things about this novel was the shift in the voice. The novel is divided into three parts, and it's told through both Nick Dunne and Amy Elliot-Dunne's perspective's. And I don't want to spoil anything, but on the very page Part Two starts, this big shift has occurred, a Thing is about to be revealed, the plot is thickening! And everything you thought you knew about these characters just comes crashing down. But the most shocking thing wasn't even what was happening (which was still pretty insane). It was that as soon as Gillian Flynn started writing the words in that chapter, there was such a sudden change of voice (on purpose, this is a Good Thing) it was absolutely remarkable how the character I thought she'd been writing took such a dramatic turn.

And getting into the characters themselves is something I could go on forever about but it's really so hard to even discuss it without giving anything away. This book is shrouded in so much mystery, but it's such a great book and I just want to read it all over again. The premise, if you hadn't heard, is that Amy Dunne goes missing on her five year wedding anniversary and the cops are looking at Nick Dunne, her husband, as the prime suspect. I know I said the points of view alternate which probably makes it seem like I gave away whether or not she was alive or not but I will also now tell you that Amy's point of view includes diary entries starting seven years ago so now you do not know her state of life and whether her husband is a killer or not. Let's back to the characters though, now that you know what's going on.

So we have Amy, who is Amazing Amy. You see, her parents basically "plagiarized her childhood" and created a bestselling book series called Amazing Amy (it reminded me a lot of Junie B. Jones I feel like that's a valid comparison) based off of their daughter. Amy was definitely the most interesting character of the novel, to say the least. A bit of an enigma, and then not so much, like she was being unraveled, but there was only so far one could get.

And there's Nick, who is the epitome of the clueless husband and even though he's narrating you still don't really know whether or not he killed his wife. At first he seems like he's a pretty good narrator, telling us all the details, and it's with the introduction of a certain character, who added a shock factor -- as if this book needed more of a shock factor -- you realize he's actually a pretty Unreliable Narrator and is Nick Dunne keeping more secrets than we know? From then on (or maybe earlier than that, but it was that point for me) you don't know where you stand with the Nick and Amy narrative.

I wish I could say more about whether I liked them or not but that gives away a lot about what happens and I'M SO UPSET THAT I CAN'T SAY SO MUCH OF WHAT I WANT TO SAY ARGH.

Another character I love is Margo, nicknamed Go. She's Nick's twin sister and delivers a lot of great lines and often serves as Nick's partner in crime (not literally) and also his conscience. She was clever and funny and I just enjoyed her character being there a lot. I also liked Boney, who was one of the police officers working the case. She was the "good cop" and also was the one who wasn't antagonizing Nick as much throughout the story. I found the way Nick described her and then went on to describe some other women in his life very interesting.

"The woman was surprisingly ugly—brazenly, beyond the scope of everyday ugly: tiny round eyes, set tight as buttons, a long twist of a nose, skin spackled with tiny bumps, long lank hair the color of a dust bunny. I have an affinity for ugly women. I was raised by a trio of women who were hard on the eyes—my grandmother, my mother, her sister—and they were all smart and kind and funny and sturdy, good, good women. Amy was the first pretty girl I ever dated, really dated."

Not only was it an unconventional way of effectively describing Boney's physical appearance, it also said a lot about Nick as a character and how even though he might not see the harm in his statement -- he might have called her ugly but he also mentioned his affinity -- it showed how much his father affected his thinking after all, a fact he'd definitely resent.

I think every character in this book was well-written and fleshed out phenomenally. I felt shivers down my spine and was creeped out at the right moments and was emotionally attached to the storyline and it wouldn't have happened if the characters were all two-dimensional. I even found myself having strong feelings about a lot of minor characters. Gillian Flynn put a lot of work into making every single person included in this novel important.

She also clearly put a lot of work into making sure the writing was of a high caliber because the words are beautifully crafted. Everything is so eloquent and flows so well. Combined with the thrilling plot, it makes the book something you just can't put down. Every word so splendidly and effortlessly fell into the next one, and the writing was compelling and gripping. I can't speak enough about how much I loved the way Flynn wrote this book and I just want to go out and purchase her other two novels right this instant.

As a second-to-last comment, what I will say about the book as a whole without giving away plot details is that I really loved all the themes explored in this novel. I loved the questions posed about mental illness (I mean, I don't know if the character in question was intended to have mental illness or suffer from legitimate psychopathy or sociopathy but that's definitely my take on it) and how characters might act based on that mindset. I also liked the theme of women molded by misogyny and how their lives pan out. There's so much to take way from this book and I absolutely love it.

My final comment (I know, this is getting long, you're happy to see the end) is about the ending, WHICH I AM FURIOUS ABOUT, but which I suppose I understand. The ending just LEAVES ME SO UPSET and not in a "my favorite character died and I'm sad" way but in an "I am totally unfulfilled and I can't believe this happened" way. I understand that it ended this way because it showcases a certain type of manipulation and how one of the characters can never truly escape but it left me feeling like so much happened and then the ending just took away the explosion that was about to happen. I NEED CLOSURE, I NEED SOMETHING TO HAPPEN. GILLIAN FLYNN, I NEED AN END TO ALL THIS MADNESS, THIS IS TOO OPEN-ENDED FOR ME TO HANDLE. It does leave off excellently for a sequel if she is ever to write one, however. And it's excellently executed and like I said, I definitely understand why.

Okay, I'm done raving about this book, and I need anyone who stuck with me through this mess of a review to please go read it right now.

- Noor

Have you ever lost anyone or anything important?
Let us know in the comments!

Life of a Blogger - Routines

Life of a Blogger is a weekly meme hosted by Novel Heartbeat. This feature is designed to let readers and other bloggers get to know us on a more personal level by discussing non-bookish topics. This week's topic is...

Routines!

 Kiersten

To be honest, I don't have much of a routine. I mean, there is some order in my life: I have a class schedule; I live by the bus schedule; I have pledge meetings at my sorority; I used to have regular dance rehearsals up until this weekend. Other than that, however, my life is pretty erratic. I don't have a regular sleep schedule since my classes are all over the place. I also don't have specific times I like to work on classwork, shower, or anything like that. I pretty much just do things whenever I feel like it or have time. Or when I have to - for example, I do my laundry when I run out of clean underwear. Basically, my life lacks structure and maybe I should add some...

 Marlon

As a commuter, routines are the bane of my existence. Wake up either at 7:30am or 9:00am to get on a train to go to my 9:30 or 11:00 class to begin the day, work through those classes, go to my clubs or meet with my advisers, come home, drop all my crap and repeat. It's more complicated than that, but generally a lot of my time is wasted on the routine things that I have to do, and its quite bothersome but there are some things which I enjoy. Like showering at midnight and doing laundry on Fridays. I like Fridays. No work. Nice, warm, new sheets. It's a glimmer of hope.

I also go through a buttload of T.V. shows in a routine and somewhat organized manner. Often I'm not home when they air, and if I am I'm busy, so I download the episodes and watch them later. So Thursday mornings, for example, are spent on the train, but also spent watching The 100 episodes. Likewise, Wednesday, my only-two-class day, is spent watching Gotham, Supernatural, The Flash, and Agent Carter, or whatever shows on Tuesday. It keeps me sane.

Generally with food I try to eat on the train? I pack most of what I need but I often end up buying something around 4pm from around the Washington Square area.

I hate routines. Long live the chaos and anarchy of summertime.

 Noor

Like Kiersten, I'm not much of a routine person. The things I do routinely are things I have to do routinely. I go to class at the same time every week because that's how classes work. I take my medication every night because if I don't I'll have seizures and vomit six times in a day and get my roommates laundry without remembering it. I do normal people things like showering and tooth-brushing. I don't really do laundry very often because I can go a while without repeating clothes.

My club meetings are kindof routine but some of them conflict with other things I have to do, such as weekly service events for APO (the community service fraternity I'm in) so I try to switch it up and go to meetings some weeks and weeklies some others but I can't really keep it at a strict every other week schedule because it depends on whether the events are capped on the calendar and what's going on with the meetings, ya feel? APO (which I mentioned before, it stands for Alpha Phi Omega) meetings don't conflict with anything because they're at 9PM on Wednesdays so those are pretty routine.

I don't sleep or eat regularly (sometimes not even every day but I'm getting a lot better at that!) but every Wednesday after my 9 AM class, my friends from the class get lunch or breakfast or whatever it is and sit and chill for many hours until like 2 PM and there's usually a rotating cast of people joining us and it's pretty nice and that's a regular thing and my only really regular eating thing because other than that I just eat when the people I'm with are eating and I think it's been an adequate amount of hours since my last meal.

I've started making my bed and tidying up every day because some weird part of me is on a strange kick and I don't know when it's going to stop but I'm really feeling it.

Other than that I don't do much routinely other than stalk my future bae's every move...I mean what?????? 

 Amrutha

I am also not much a routine person -- while I do everything on a routine that absolutely requires it (classes, club meetings, research, etc), I generally like to enjoy a certain amount of flexibility in terms of when I want to do things. I generally structure stuff on a day by day basis with to do lists and things but usually I use it just as a starting point for my day. While I most always get done what needs to get done (also like eating and showering and whatnot), it almost never happens in the same order every time.

I tend to like to do one thing for a long stretch of time, like I like to commit to studying one subject for a while or marathoning a tv show or dedicating multiple hours to doing things. I find that I'm so much more productive when I commit a long stretch of my day to a certain activity rather than trying to do bits and pieces of different things over that same stretch -- I'd rather write an essay in one shot than write a paragraph, read a chapter of a book, and then go over some vocab words. It would more or less be me dedicating a whole bit of time to the essay, and then time to the whole book, and then time to all of the vocab words.

I pretty much sporadically clean and fairly spontaneously decide when I'm going to be social and what have you, so routines kind of take a backseat in my life.

Also, not to worry, I know that Noor stalks my every move, not sure why she called me her "future" bae though :(

What are some of your routines?

Let us know in the comments!

Top Ten Tuesday - Favorite Heroines in Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Here at We Live and Breathe Books, the bloggers rotate so that two of us choose five books each week. This week's topic is...

Favorite heroines in books!

Kiersten's Picks

1. Tessa Gray from The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare - I'm pretty sure it's no secret that the bloggers of We Live and Breathe Books love Cassandra Clare. Out of all of the strong female characters within the Shadowhunter world, Tessa is by far my favorite. She's intelligent, feeling, independent, and just all around awesome.
2. Celaena Sardothien from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas - Based on my review of Heir of Fire, it's fairly obvious that I think Celaena Sardothien is the most kick-ass heroine around. She's a freaking assassin and SHE DOES WHAT SHE WANTS. 
3. Lora Jones from The Sweetest Dark series by Shana Abé - Part of the reason I love The Sweetest Dark and The Deepest Night so much is because of Lora. She is kind of crazy but that's really what I love about her. She can be defiant and that's awesome. I like characters who do what they want because I generally like to do what I want.
4. Lela Santos from the Guards of the Shadowlands series by Sarah Fine - From just the premise of Sanctum, the first book in this series, it's fairly obvious that Lela is a passionate and determined character. Throughout the entire series, I admired her passion and how she kept working towards her goal even when it seemed hopeless.
5. ANNABETH FREAKING CHASE from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan - What would a favorite heroine list be with out this HBIC? Annabeth is awesome and I don't really think I need to justify this.

Noor's Picks

1. Ginny Weasley from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling - Okay real talk I wanted to pick like every Harry Potter character and then I wanted to pick Hermione, Luna, and Ginny, and then I decided to pick Ginny because since Luna is my favorite character, she gets all my love all the time and Hermione is like just known as hardcore female character, especially because the movies gave her all of Ron's prominent lines, but the movies also took away any semblance of personality of Ginny so this is my space to talk about how much I love Ginny. She's badass, she's the closest with Fred and George and gets in on the hijinks, she's strong and opinionated, and she married her celebrity crush from when she was ten. She is everything I aspire to be and more. Rock on. 
2. Tally Youngblood from the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld - I like Tally because she's more of an antihero and then not even that and she's not really a "good guy" but she's still the protagonist. She's good but she's naive and then she turns "bad" but then not really  and it's all so twisted and it's so interesting watching her journey and her not really corruption but just the drastic change and I absolutely love her just because she's so dynamic and her entire character kind of hits you like a shard of glass. 
3. Katsa from the Graceling Realm by Kristin Cashore - I think Graceling is a really underrated book and one of the best parts of the book is the protagonist, Katsa. She's a bit hardheaded, but I prefer the term headstrong. She likes to do things her own way and she's very stubborn and rough around the edges but also very very human which is easy to forget because she acts so tough all the time. I just love her so much and her story is so interesting and watching her interact with other characters is so insightful and you should all read this book. 
4. Kira Walker from The Partials Sequence by Dan Wells - This was another book I thought was on point and she was such a great character. I liked her take charge nature (I feel like this is a recurring theme) and the way she handled situations and how the book would not have felt so raw and real if her character had been altered in any way.
5. Liesel Meminger from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Sob, Liesel is so adorable. There's the fact that she's a book thief which is like, the best kind of thief to be, but she just has such a good heart and is such a bomb little risk-taker and I'm kindof in love with her. 

Wow it was really hard to only pick five, there are so many strong female characters I love. 

Who are your favorite book heroines?

Let us know in the comments!

Review: Zodiac - Romina Russell

Zodiac
Romina Russell 
Series: Zodiac, #1
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Romance
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Thanks to Razorbill for the ARC I received at Book Expo America!

When jumping into Zodiac, pretty much all I knew about it was that it had something to do with the zodiac - the twelve astrological star signs that are popular for telling your horoscope. After starting the book, I realized there was going to be more to this book than I had imagined.

Zodiac follows Rhoma Grace as her world seems to be falling apart. In her society, people live among the stars on planets in the different constellations of the zodiac - Rho being from Cancer. After an unexpected tragedy that Rho predicted, she's whisked onto a journey to save the entire zodiac from an unknown power.

At the start of Zodiac, I was a little confused. Right from the start, Romina Russell throws you right into the world of the book, using terms specific to the world. There is a lot of information that the reader has to internalize quickly to understand what's going on with the world. While it was a bit to wrap my mind around, I actually really liked the way it all came together. Romina Russell puts things into context and explains the things that need explaining in order to follow what's going on without making the reader feel stupid. It's a fast paced story, but I definitely didn't feel like I was getting lost along the way.

Speaking of fast paced, this story definitely is. There is so much that happens in Zodiac! While it is whirl wind, I didn't feel like the story was rushed when it didn't want to be. When something needed time to develop, the time was taken; when something was quick, the story moved right along. That being said, there really is a lot that happens in Zodiac. From space travel and world destruction to intrigue and deception to romance and friendship, Zodiac kept me excited and involved from cover to cover. This is a pretty heavy story, but it's totally worth it.

When it comes to the characters in Zodiac, I really liked Rho, Matthias, and Hysan. I thought the interaction between the two boys was nothing short of comical and the relationship between Rho and the two boys was very sweet. While there was a love triangle, I didn't think it took over the story. Saving the world definitely trumped finding a boyfriend for Rho.

All in all, I really enjoyed Zodiac! It's an action packed science fiction with great characters and thought provoking plot. I highly recommend this for lovers of interstellar science fiction with a splash of romance.

- Kiersten
Aquarius

What's your zodiac?
Let us know in the comments!

Review: The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer - Laxmi Hariharan

The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer
Laxmi Hariharan
Series: N/A
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Dystopia
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My immediate thoughts after starting to read it were being overwhelmingly turned off to the narration style. I wasn't a fan of the way our protagonist, Ruby, described situations, and I was a bigger not-fan of the dialogue. It sounded very fake and forced and rehearsed and although that definitely improved as the book went on it was one of the weaker points and I think dialogue is one of the most important aspects of character development and this book was really lacking in that area. Also, if you're going to have dialogue set the scene to introduce two characters, it's going to leave a very lasting impression not only about how the two characters are, but about how your writing is as a whole, so it puts a lot of pressure on that scene, and I didn't think the first few scenes, where Ruby wakes up and we meet her roommate, delivered. I also thought it was full of awkward phrasing. Again, pulling from the first few pages, which make quite a lasting impression (which isn't to say books that start out bad and get better are doomed to be known by their beginnings. I'm just saying the first impression is pretty important), she writes:

"that would be totally stroking his ego, making him even more insufferable than what he is now"

and then later, close to the end

" Can he read my thoughts? Of course not. Yet as he stares at me, it’s as if he knows me really well. Almost as well as I know myself; maybe better."

I feel like both of these are so awkwardly written but it frustrated me because it's so easily fixed awkward writing. In the first example, the phrase after the comma is what bothers me and honestly if she took out the "what" it would be fine. Am I the only one who thinks it reads awkwardly this way? And the second one is that somewhat typical "he stares so deeply into my soul I think he can see into all of me" thing which granted she didn't overdo so I'm not goading Hariharan on that as much as I am on the fact that there were a thousand ways to tweak it that didn't involve writing "he knows me really well."

I think with revamped dialogue and a thorough round of editing, this book could honestly be something so much more.

Okay, I just spent a lot of time bashing the way it was written so I'm gonna get to the other components and how I felt about them.

I liked the characters for the most part. Even though Ruby's narration got on my nerves from time to time I didn't dislike her as a character and I actually thought it was pretty rad that she was this strong, independent warrior girl saving her best friend. You go Ruby. Four for you. I liked that she was strong-willed and (I know I already used the word strong but strong-willed is different, let it go) and took charge.

Pankaj and Vikram were interesting enough as well even though I felt like a lot of their characters I inferred from the intended effect of the dialogue and not the actual effect of it so I'm not sure how accurate my image of them actually was.

I thought the story, although marketed as a YA Dystopian Thriller, could have incorporated more of the dystopia aspect in their little bubble of Bombay City but that's not really much of a complaint as much of a small nitpick.

Overall, while I think the book had a lot of potential, I'm not sure that I totally loved it, but if the author was ever like "Hey I edited/revamped my book" I would totally give it another shot so there's that.

- Noor

Marlon's Review

Rating: 3/5 Stars

In short, I think the idea of this book is better than the book itself.

That said, the good parts are not too bad. Though it took me a while to get through the beginning chapters, I felt like Ruby's character was, at least, thought out if not presented clearly. Tea-loving, immature, and fiercely loyal and self-determined.

Not much else I need in a YA protag. I was immediately sold to the setting of Mumbai, not only because it's a rare thing for a YA dystopian novel not to be set in the West, but also because the charm of the city is captivating, and Hariharan does well to dismantle its glamour. Hariharan's descriptions are abundantly detailed as well, if not succinct. Stronger still is the wealth of cultural references that serve to add a rich layer of reality to the text. Another part of the book that strikes me is that the romantic aspect fits into the structure without sucking attention from the rest. Often, romance acts as a distraction, but here it only helps.

But because I can see the potential in this novel expressed in how Hariharan frames and builds the setting and her protag, I saw the bad parts in a much worse light. For example, I felt the city had better character development than most of the characters and that unnerved me. Pankaj for example pretty much existed to springboard off of Ruby's ideas and decisions and I felt his character could be elevated to quirky space he seems to want to occupy.

I agree with some of the other reviews of this novel that praise Hariharan's ability to build and promote narrative tension and keep a certain page-turning quality. There is never a truly "dull" moment that falls flat in terms of active narration or predictability. However, I felt that did not apply to the beginning. The beginning was clunky, info-droppy, and a bit rushed. A lot of that has to do with getting used to the pacing, syntax, and often awkward writing (described in detail by my fellow blogger here). It's nothing a few rounds of editing couldn't fix and I think Hariharan would benefit from a re-publication of this novel.

Like most reviewers, I was taken by the end. It was unpredictable, dramatic, and leaves the characters in shock. Unfortunately, because of the clunkiness, I was never able to invest myself enough to love feel the shock the characters did. It was enough that I will give Hariharan another go in the second book, but if it's similar in style, I may not finish that one.

- Marlon

What's a sticky situation you've had to get out of?
Let us know in the comments!