BOOK REVIEW: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Hello everyone! Today I finished Gone Girl, and whilst the book is still fresh in my mind, I thought I would share my review of the book!

Now, for anyone who doesn't know about Gone Girl, where exactly have you been?! The book was turned into a film that was shown in the U.K over the summer last year, and has been a hit pretty much worldwide. However, me being the type of person that I am, I found myself seeing the previews and wanting to read the book! So I picked up the book from my local supermarket for £3.50, instead of its RRP of £6.99, and it has sat on my shelf ever since, until a couple of weeks ago when I picked it up on a whim after getting bored of my last read!

So what is Gone Girl about?

Gone Girl centres on a couple, Nick Dunne and Amy Dunne (who also goes by her maiden name Amy Elliott, as well as Amy Elliott-Dunne), and is set in a diary format, almost. Each chapter is an entry of theirs, although it doesnt have the usual 'dear diary'. Each chapter title contains their name, and how many days after a certain event takes place that the entry has been made. What event I hear you ask? Basically, Amy disappears, and everyone blames Nick. Cue a book centred on him finding his wife, and proving his innocence. Although things are not all they seem!

***This next section of the review will not be guaranteed spoiler free - if you have NOT read the book, please skip ahead!***

Now, I really do have some issues with this book, which are not exactly spoiler free (another warning!).

I really dislike Amy's character. I mean, she has always been a bit odd (according to her previous entries) in the sense that as soon as she has someone on her team, that actually likes her for her, she starts to push them away at the first sign of them knowing her "too much". Personally, I do believe that this is because she's seemingly under the impression that she knows there is always someone else who can replace the "friend" in question, which is wrong on so many levels.
And then she grows up.
And she is just as bad, if not worse!
I disliked how she basically plotted for a whole year to pull off the disappearance, and the fact that everyone is on her side and believes her because 'why wouldn't you believe this beautiful woman?' is actually an option also disgusts me. The more I read Amy's chapters, the more I wanted to kill her myself.

AND...faking a pregnancy? Killing a  man? Faking your own death? If you dont love your husband anymore, just leave, don't go batshit crazy to make sure he never leaves you out of spite or even pity.

Nick on the other hand...

Well, Nick Dunne. You beauty of a man. I had already seen the trailers so could mainly picture Ben Affleck when reading Nick's chapters but hey, every cloud! The more I read Nick's chapters, the more I supported him. Probably because I was reading Amy's chapters in between and I genuinely felt sorry for the poor bloke, I mean wouldn't you? Regardless of him being a cheat (which goes back on ALL I've said in the past), for someone who supposedly loves you forever to then turn around and fake her own disappearance/death just to make sure you're arrested so you never get the chance to move on from her? Nah, step too far.

***Spoilers end here (or will try too)***

Now, I've vented my thoughts on the characters whilst stating spoilers so lets cut to the chase.
Amy is a character I really dislike.
Nick I feel sorry for.
Go is great!

One other gripe I had with this book is its format. Not in the diary sense, I do believe that is a good idea. Although I think perhaps doing Nick's sections first up to the turning point in the book would be great, followed by Amy's story from the start up until that point. From there, I would probably alternate as already done by Flynn. This way I do believe would allow us to connect to Nick better in the sense of blaming him and then feeling extremely guilty and upset at that turning point.

Overall, I give the book THREE out of FIVE stars. I felt it could have been reorganised to suit the story better, and ultimately, I want to kill Amy myself.

Have you read the book or seen the film adaptation? Or perhaps both? Please let me know in the comments what you thought of the book, I'd love to hear from you!

VISIT: White Scar Caves

So, I know this isn't a usual 'look at this book i read' kind of post. Today, I am going to talk to you about White Scar Caves, as I recently visited there with my other half (i.e the driver since he drives and I dont) and had a wonderful time!

White Scar Cave is classed as being in North Yorkshire (Ingleton to be precise), however, do not let this deceive you! North Yorkshire goes quite a distance across the country from the East to the West! It takes roughly two hours to get there from the North East depending on traffic, so it isn't really too bad, and can be done in a day! We left at about 10.30am (later than we have done for day trips that way in the past) arrived there for half twelve, and had the tour at one.

This was after we left, as I forgot to take a picture before we went in!

After you pay your entrance fee (£9.50 per adult), you then move on to get your hard hat - which is a necessity! The people who work there make sure its fit on your head properly, then once it is, you're off! Each group gets a tour guide, who walks you to the first stopping point and talks you through health and safety before telling you about the tour path and the story behind the caves.

The first stopping point. This is a dummy dont worry, and was used as an example of just how tight a squeeze it was at the beginning of the initial discovery!

As you head through the caves (roughly a mile long trip there and back, so not too long really) there are points of interest where you stop for a couple of minutes with your guide who talks you through everything regarding that focus area, as well as some low points. These low points mean you do have to bend a little here and there, but nothing too strenuous nor for too long.

There is also a 'tight squeeze' area. I say area, I really mean just one corner. Named so because there isnt enough room for you to walk straight on through that and the other wall, you just have to twist and duck a little. Again, no cause for concern!

Throughout the tour, there are little focus points, where the stalagtites have had droplets falling and forming new formations underneath, including a very convincing withces hat and a questionable judges head!

After you see all there is to see below, you then head up some metal stairs to the grand finale, a beautiful cave of long thin stalagtites. It really is something that makes you think and admire the beauty of the world we live in. Unfortunately, due to the unstable nature of the formations, flash photography was not advised, so this was the best I could do...

As we made our way back along the caves to leave, we also spotted some lovely fossils woven into the formations, which was something I wasn't expecting at all really!

Upon entering the real world again, we returned our helmet and it was surprisingly misty. It took me a mere second or two to click on that actually - IT WAS SNOWING! This made me so happy, so I went a bit camera crazy on the journey home too!

 
 

Overall, White Scar Caves is a place I would defintely recommend you to go to. It is not claustrophobic in the slightest (I'm not particularly fond of tight spaces and I was fine!), and if you feel uneasy your guide will support you! For more information, please visit www.whitescarcave.co.uk.

To wrap up this wonderful little blog piece nicely, I thought I'd leave you with the following beauty I took on the way home! Ciao!

All photos in this blog have been taken by myself, and are subject to copyright.

2015 so far..

Hello everyone! Today I thought I would post an update on just what exactly I've been up to since 1st January rolled around. Some of these are just a statement, and others will be in more detail, and some may even get their own blog posts in the near future! So, lets see what I've been up to.

1. I enrolled at college. Again.

Technically not again, as I went to a sixth form (basically the UK's version of high school. where you stay until you're 18) when I left comprehensive school at sixteen, followed by university, so college is kind of a new experience for me!

2. I started a placement in order to support number 1.

Self explanatory really, other than the 5.30am starts, I cant really complain much, other than tiredness!

3. I have currently completed two books for the year, as well as put one down and I am in the middle of three!

I dont know how it happened, but all of a sudden I'm going from reading Starter for Ten, to reading Starter for Ten + Endgame, to those + Gone Girl! At least my vow to be more productive and loving towards my TBR pile is staying true!

4. I've used the days off from work that me and my boyfriend have off at the same time to do a bit of travelling nearby. From Washington (near Newcastle) to places such as Richmond and Keswick, I've enjoyed these proper date days so much, they really do help you to understand just how much you love that person and why they make you happy.

5. I've been to the UK's largest open cave! Side note - I'm not sure if that is what it is classed as, but that's what I was told!

hint.... I'll be blogging about that too!

6. Inbetween all of this, I've been working and doing coursework, so my crafting has had to take a side step...

7. Because of 6, I am going to post about my stitching in the next few weeks, as I have a few ideas planned and would like to share them all with you!


So, there you go! It seems pretty boring because there's no images, but my planned posts, as suggested above, will contain plenty to make up for the lack here!!

What have you been up to in 2015? Have you got any places you would recommend visiting in the North/North East UK? Please do let me know in the comments below and I'll get back to you!