Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

October Book Club Pick- great choice!

Summary (back of book)
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

My thoughts 
 In all honesty, I LOVED this book! I was so convinced in the first few chapters that Nick killed his wife. I mean it made sense, it all added up- except the body. But then once you actually start seeing Amy through Nick's eyes, and even reading the Diary Amy entries, you start to think, what? Yes, Nick looses his temper but is he really capable of murder? I don't think so. This book is brilliant, from beginning to end. I mean, Gillian Flynn is a genius. A true genius. The mind it takes to fashion a crime so devious, is remarkable. 
It's hard for me to really decide if Amy is demented sociopath or just pure evil. I think both really. Yes, she's incredibly smart but who the hell does THAT to their husband to teach them a lesson? I mean come on. Just divorce him for heaven's sake. I mean the attention to detail she had planning her own murder/death, wow. I could never do that- which probably why I'm considered normal. I mean it took her a year or so to plan all the details. The fake credit cards, the fake diary..I mean, wow. In a sick way, she is to be admired. She's the kind of psycho that has followers and copycats. Flynn definitely broke the mold creating this character.
Nick is a tired, bored husband who only has one thing going for him- the 20-something hot college student he's banging. He never sees the setup by his wife coming. He does figure it out though. And the good thing is that one of the officers is on his side. I mean you get the feeling he's just not that smart to pull off a murder. He would do something to screw it up. In a big way, like call 911 on himself. In the end though, I just feel incredibly sorry for him. I mean geez, to figure out your wife framed you for her own murder, then she shows back up after killing her supposed 'kidnapper, rapist' well, damn, that sucks so bad. And the thing is, he can't divorce her. She has too much on him. His life is rough and it sucks. I really would love to know what happens though. I would love to know if he does end up killing her, like she should be, that demented witch. 
Amy's parents are a different breed. I hated them. I mean HATED them. They are the reason she is the way she is. 
I loved loved this book. The plot and all the twists and turns will keep you wanting to read and make you not want to sleep. In total, it took me 24 hours to read. I started it one morning and finished it the following afternoon, after begrudingly going to bed because my eyes were going bleary. It's so worth the lack of sleep.

5 out of 5 stars!

Forget Me by K.A. Harrington

Recommendation from Tumblr.

Summary:
Three months after her boyfriend's death, Morgan uploads a picture of him to a social media site for 'closure'. In doing this, she finds out that her may be alive as the site prompted to tag someone- who looks exactly like him. Realizing she doesn't know a lot about her boyfriend of 2 months, Morgan sets out to find out who this 'twin' is and why her boyfriend was so secretive. Morgan goes into detective mode and finds out a lot of answers to questions she has. This fast paced novel really delves into the lies and mysteries in a small town and found in your own family. Is Morgan's boyfriend really alive? No. Does he have a twin? No. But the person she does find is even better than him. Does she bring down an evil man who was thought to be dead? Yes. Does she give the town peace? Yes.

Read it to find out how! It's a super quick read. I read it in 2 hours.

My Thoughts:
LOVED IT! The conversations are quick and well written. Morgan is a quick-thinking teen who is motivated to find the truth. Her best friend is a great side-kick but can definitely hold her own. Evan is adorable (come on, dimples, *swoon*). I think he's the one she's been looking for anyways. Their relationship is real from the start, a little weird under the circumstances but real. What I really liked about this book is the active presence of parents. It's so great to finally have parents who care! Who actively parent in a book. It's so life-like. So hooray for that, Harrington. It's a face paced read and you will enjoy it. It's maybe a little easy to figure out but it's such a great read that you won't care. Read it.

5 out of 5 stars! I love quick reads that are also quick-thinking and have strong characters.

July Update

Gosh, I suck at life right now..at least blog wise. I've been working my ass off on my graduate research paper and I finally finished. I'm turning it in this weekend, the draft anyways. I will OFFICIALLY be DONE July 28. Say a prayer for me. I am praying that I do well on this paper. I have worked so hard on this for the last 4 or 5 months. I've put in sooo many hours and lost a lot of sleep for this. I passed my comprehensive exam which is half of what I need to graduate. The other half, well more than half, is this research paper. I've never been so stressed out in my life. I would work on it during my daughter's nap time and late late at night. I think the average I stayed up is until 3am. I plan on reading a few books the next few days too. I have missed reading sooo sooo much. I feel like my brain is goo.
My daughter will turn 2 in a couple weeks. I cannot believe this! I feel like she should still be that little baby I brought home from the hospital. It's amazing how much she's grown. She has A LOT of personality too. She loves to take walks, anything with fish, splashing around in water, and taking laundry basket rides. She's so funny. I told her she was my best friend the other day and she looked at me and said, 'Yes Mama'. I gave her a big hug and kiss and she then said, "NO!". She's a character. I'm enjoying my moments with her now because she is growing up wayyy to fast.
I'm excited for the next chapter in my life once this grad school chapter is officially closed. I plan on really buckling down and losing weight. I'm too embarrassed to admit how much I weigh but trust me, I can stand to lose a ton of weight. I would love to blame it on the pregnancy, which was now 2 years ago, but that's just a lame excuse. It's really because I'm lazy and hate hate hate to workout. I hate getting up in the morning. I hate sweating. I just hate it all. The thing is though, I know I need to. My husband knows, my friends know- but they are so kind and don't say anything, even if I think they're embarrassed by my fat ass. It's time. I'm doing the old fashioned way- hard work and eating healthy. Diets have never worked for me. And I know that once I lose the weight on a diet I'll just go back to my old ways once I'm done. So transitioning to a healthier lifestyle is what I plan on doing. It'll be hard, VERY hard, but I'm passed ready. It's important that I'm around for a long time because 1. I plan on seeing my daughter grow up, and 2. no other hussy is taking my man, I'll cut you.
So that's pretty much where I am in life. Waiting for this grad school stuff to finally be done. Transitioning into a healthier lifestyle for the better of me and my family, and watching, with a few tears in my eyes, my daughter grow up. Hopefully soon I'll have a few book reviews and a couple interviews for you to read too. Have a great week and weekend.
Grab a book and READ.
M