Tag: Gillian Flynn

Book of the Month Club | January 2017 | Unboxing & Review

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Monday! Today I am excited to share with you a new-to-me subscription box that I recently purchased. I’ve been eyeing up Book of the Month Club for a long time now, and finally decided to buy a subscription because of the amazing promotion the club is running in January. If you are a fellow reader, I definitely think this subscription will interest you. I made an unboxing video so you can see how my first box arrived, and I will also share my review of the service as well!

Book of the Month (hereinafter “BOTM”) is a monthly subscription service for books. There are a few different plans from which to choose, but I went with the 3-month subscription for $29.97, or $9.99 per month. This 3-month subscription also comes with a free tote bag that is a $20 retail value! Each month there are five books chosen from the BOTM judges, and you get to choose one book for your subscription. I really like that you pick the book you like best – you never have to worry about getting stuck with a book you won’t enjoy! In fact, if you don’t like any of the selections in a particular month, you are free to skip that month’s box without getting charged. Your subscription will roll over into the next month!

I decided to choose Girls in the Moon by Janet McNally for my January selection. This is a young adult book, and because I am primarily a YA reader, I thought this would be a great first pick. My book came with a sturdy bookmark that has a quick blurb about the book from the judge who selected it. I think I will really enjoy this book based on the blurb!

As I mentioned above, BOTM ran a promotion in January where everyone got a free copy of The Grownup by Gillian Flynn. I absolutely loved Gone Girl, and I’ve been wanting to read more from Flynn, so this was a great incentive for me to finally sign up for this service. I highly recommend signing up before the month is over if you also want this great freebie!

 

Another great thing about BOTM is you can choose to add two books to each month’s box for just $9.99 each. You get a choice from any of the past BOTM selections, so long as they are still in stock, and some other books, too. I’ve wanted to read The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon ever since it was released, so I decided to add it to my box. I’m so excited to get to this one in particular!

BOTM JANUARY SAVINGS

Whenever I purchase a subscription box, I’m very interested in the monetary value of the products, and whether I am saving money. I decided to crunch the numbers in several ways to determine my savings!

What I Paid: $19.98 ($9.99 January Selection + 9.99 Additional Book)

Retail Value: $66.97 or 70% off ($9.99 The Grownup + 17.99 Girls in the Moon + 18.99 The Sun is Also a Star + 20.00 Tote Bag)

Retail Value of the Books Only: $46.97 or 47% off

Amazon Value of the Books Only: $28.68 or 30% off ($5.99 The Grownup + 11.32 Girls in the Moon + 11.36 The Sun is Also a Star)

Amazon Value of Girls in the Moon + The Sun is Also a Star: $22.68 or 12% off

Thus, no matter how I crunch the numbers, I saved money by purchasing these books through BOTM Club! If you are a reader who loves to check out new releases and own your books in hardcover, I think this is an amazing option. I am so happy with my first box, and I am excited to see what the February selections are going to be. If you would like to get a free copy of The Grownup by Gillian Flynn, make sure you sign up in January! Please use my referral link HERE when you join.

Are you a Book of the Month Club member?

Let me know which book you chose for January in the comments!

This post includes affiliate links. Book of the Month Club Subscription purchased by me. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Book Review | Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Published by Broadway Books in June 2012

Genres: Adult, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

Format: Mass Market Paperback (Movie Tie-In Edition)

Pages: 555

Source: Purchased

Goodreads: ★★★★★

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?

REVIEW

Wow. Gone Girl is my new obsession. Despite being late to the Gone Girl train, I managed to avoid spoilers and still find myself completely invested in this absolutely brilliant novel by Gillian Flynn. I’m sure you’ve all heard of this thrilling book in which Nick Dunne’s wife Amy suddenly goes missing on the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary by now, but I couldn’t resist sharing my thoughts with you nonetheless.

I typically avoid long books, and Gone Girl is a chunker at over 550 pages. The beginning was a bit slow at first, but once I hit around the 200 page mark, Gone Girl had completely taken over my life to the point where I couldn’t put the book down, and even carried it in my purse hoping to squeeze in a few pages whenever I got the chance. At the time of writing this review, it’s been two days since I completed the novel, yet I’m still thinking about it, and probably will be for a long time.

I’m amazed at how Flynn has created the two unlikeable characters of Nick and Amy, but still manages to make me feel sorry for them. Nick and Amy both had difficult childhoods that shaped their personalities in different ways, and while neither of their actions are excusable, I still find it hard to find them totally despicable, or even annoying. It’s rare for me to read a book in which I don’t like the characters, but still enjoy their personas.

Moreover, I am blown away by Flynn’s ability to craft a novel in the way she did. Without giving anything away in this spoiler-free review, suffice it to say that as the story developed, I was sitting there thinking “Brilliant!,” “Of course!,” and “Incredible!” at the amount of thought and detail put into the story. Flynn includes just the right amount of predictable to allow the reader to have an inkling of what’s going to happen, but still managing to stun and surprise at the same time. This is truly an impeccable piece of writing.

As for the ending, though quite unsettling and a bit off-character, I find it the perfect ending to Gone Girl. While the ultimate “winner” is not desirable, I can only imagine how things will go for these characters in the future. Flynn instills the proper feeling of fear and apprehension in the reader as her intense and unbelievable novel comes to a close.

If you were like me and waited to read Gone Girl, do yourself a favor and pick it up as soon as possible. I’ll be sure to read Flynn’s other works in the near future, and will certainly pick up anything else she releases going forward.

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