Gone Girl is a complex and very clever book, and there is a reason for why it is one of the first books mentioned whenever someone looks for a memorable mindfuck which leaves everyone guessing for major parts of the story. There is also a reason for why it inspired a whole bunch of more recent publications trying to imitate the concept of Gone Girl by including similarly complex characters and plot structures (the very popular The Girl on the Train being one of them). 
 And there is also a reason for why I didn't like this book at all, obviously an opinion which belongs to the minority among the readers of this book. So, prepare yourself for a rather negative review if you love this book (which I can understand and appreciate, as it is an engaging and compelling novel with a lot of positive aspects). 
 (Note: It is very easy to get spoiled for this book. As being influenced by spoilers almost ruined this book for me, I will encourage you not to read on if you want to go into the book completely blank, even though I don't include any major spoilers in this review.) 
 This book had a huge influence on readers of thrillers and mysteries, especially when you look at the fact that it is among the 35 most-read books on Goodreads. I had no problem with the almost unlikeable characters, because protagonists don't have to be sympathetic or 'perfect' to be rooted for, but if I read a novel, I also want to be given a reason for why I should care for the fates of the protagonists. The book deals with the downfall of the marriage of Amy Elliott and Nick Dunne, both characters more messed up than can be healthy for anyone. To me, Nick felt like the stereotypical embodiment of the unattentive, uncaring and untrustworthy man, while Amy turned out to be a rather interesting character with complex thoughts and unpredictable moves. (view spoiler)[When it turned out in the second part that all of Amy's diary entries were not telling the exact truth, it not only proved how clever Gillian Flynn's writing is - it also managed to make me struggle with understanding Amy, because this part forces the reader to completely forget the characteristics of the person we met in the first part and to learn all the other sides from a completely different point of view again. The developments of Nick and Amy's stories seemed to be of a contrary nature; while Amy's POV scenes became more exciting and suspenseful in the course of the story, Nick's turned more dull and uninteresting with every other scene which passed. (hide spoiler)] 
 I am wondering how Gillian Flynn was capable of coming up with this complex web of schemes, lies and betrayals. I felt as if this book had left my brain cells sorely afflicted, and even more: If you want two people who are about to marry to seriously think again about whether they really want to marry, then you should gift them this book. The concept of marriage is elaborately explored in this book by creating a dark image full of negative experiences, which is highly likely to be the reality of thousands of women all over this planet (although I doubt a lot of those women are comparable to Amy). 
 The author is a genius when it comes to leading readers completely through the dark into a surprising twist with clever background motifs, and objectively, this was a very good thriller which lived up to its hype. Subjectively, I have to admit that being spoiled unintentionally ruined this book for me because I wasn't able to really enjoy the mystery anymore, and that's the basic reason for why I can't give it more than two stars. On the other hand, I understand everyone who loves this book, and I'm going to give the author another chance with either Dark Places or Sharp Objects (with both of those I have no idea what happens - let's hope it stays this way until I read one of these books).