Title: The Girl on The Train
Author: Paula Hawkins
Copyright: January 13, 2015
Genre: fiction, psychological thriller
Format: book (borrowed from my friend Maria) Pages: 336
Synopsis (from Goodreads):
A debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives.
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?
A compulsively readable, emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller that draws comparisons to Gone Girl, The Silent Wife, or Before I Go to Sleep, this is an electrifying debut embraced by readers across markets and categories.
My Thoughts:
I started reading this book because it is my June book club selection. If you ask me before I read it would I have picked it up – I would say no. Has my opinion changed after reading it? No.
From the very beginning the characters in this book were a hot mess. I don’t have any family members with alcohol problems but for some reason I kept finding myself putting the book down after I had my fill of the troubled alcoholic in this book. And because she was the main character, I had to ride the ride with her throughout the book.
All of the characters were all deeply flawed and the author moved between characters in chapters to build the story and keep the suspense. In the beginning it wasn’t so bad but after a while I just wasn’t into it. I know this is one of those books that many seem to be praising but I have to say I am not. I was drawn in towards the end to find out what happened but figured it out before it was revealed.
The author did a pretty decent job creating motives for any of the characters to keep the reader guessing. This is what I think most that enjoyed this book liked about this book. But I felt like after awhile I wanted to know who did it and why rather than drag on the story.
I don’t like to bash books and I won’t start now. I always think that reviews are hard because there are so many factors (audio, book, my mood, what I just read before). So perhaps if one of those things changed I would have had a different experience with it. But this is how I feel right now.
I think some may enjoy this book if they like psychological thrillers and can see passed the alcoholic. Remember the movie Leaving Las Vegas with Nicholas Cage. What a great performance? But I found it hard to watch his character get pulled down deeper and deeper into depression and alcoholism.
I put this book down so many times, that I have to say I will give this book 3 butterflies.
Happy reading my friends!
Belinda
