Genre: Literary Fiction
I enjoyed the novel even more than I enjoyed the movie. The books are always better, and that's a fact. I actually listened to this on audio, and the narrators, Julia Whelan and Kirby Heybroune did a superb job. I was impatient with Amy during her diary entries because I knew exactly what the diary really was. I hated Amy while I listened to her entries. I have to say, I liked Nick. And then part two of the novel started, and I was thrown into a new array of feelings--I really hated Amy now. Her twisted sense of self, her judgement of others, her need to deliver to herself her own brand of justice. She disgusted me. She also fascinated me. She could make me laugh. And as twisted up as she was, she was in many of her opinions about women and society, right. I didn't want to listen to her at times, but I was compelled to. I would turn the book off and not ten minutes later, I was turning it back on again. Amy just commanded that much attention.
Nick's portion of the book I felt more sympathetic towards. He was just a regular guy in a lot of ways, a jerk in others, a man with serious father issues and perhaps even, a deep seeded loathing of women that he tries to deny, but I couldn't, even by the end of the novel, see him as the bad guy. He wasn't a good man, but he wasn't a bad man either. Do Amy and Nick deserve each other? It's a question I can't answer. All I know is, they are stuck in a life long battle of wills now. It's chilling.
The novel is divided into three parts, and each part takes you through a maze only to exit into another maze as the plot twists around on itself. Part three brings us almost full circle, except now the truth is out. We know the truth about Amy. We know her smart mind, her criminal mind even, but only a few others do as well. Amy masterminded two perfect crimes and got away with both and is hailed even as a hero. I enjoyed reading this twisted up story because the writing allowed you to get inside Nick and Amy's heads. The plot was intricate and shocking and surreal and even when I was tired of listening to Amy's madness, it was impossible to put the novel down. It's the sort of book I'm sure I could read over again and be every bit as fascinated as I was the first time I read it.
This is a book that will get under your skin. It'll make your shake your head and it'll have you wondering and brooding for days afterwards. It's just that good.
Happy Reading,
Jewels
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