The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Title: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Release Date: January 13, 2015

Publisher: Riverhead Books

Pages: 336

Received: Bought

Star Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★½ ☆

 

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? [goodreads]

My Thoughts

I had a feeling about this book. After hearing all the hype and the comparison to “Gone Girl”, I was intrigued. Even though in almost every store this was full price, I knew it was worth the cash. And it was. It was so mysterious and it held my attention. Sometimes I was so mesmerized in the story, I couldn’t hear the hours tick away. The characters were all so misleading and I couldn’t trust any of them. I’m not sure the comparison to “Gone Girl” is really what the book should stand for. Both of the books can stand for their own and both be wildly interesting.

Back to the point of the characters, it was so easy for all of them to be disliked. It’s almost like the author was intending it. The characters had problems and some dealt with them better than others. I suggest to go into “The Girl on the Train” with little insight what so ever. This novel suggests theories on what could’ve been and what really happened.

This novel was told in 3 POV’s (correct me if I’m wrong), but the main character was Rachel. She made poor choices and it annoyed me. I sometimes forget lots of people have drinking problems and I’m not in the place to say, “It’s so easy. Just quit!!”. But Rachel saw what it did to her marriage, job, and life. It should of motivated her to become someone healthy. On the other hand, The Girl on the Train left me haunted. We followed these terrible characters and watch them convince themselves they are the heroes of this novel.

I know you’re all thinking, “But….CLIFFHANGER???”. And in my eyes, it was partially resolved. Everything happened so fast and we found out the real antagonist. But at some point in this novel, everyone had a chance to be the antagonist. I was really pulled into this story, so I couldn’t bring myself to put down the book. The characters’ emotions were raw and it’s intriguing from a different standpoint.

I wasn’t planning to elaborate this much. But I’m glad my opinion is out there. The Girl on the Train might as well frighten you and leave you with your thoughts until the very end. I questioned everything that came my way and I hope you decide to pick up this compulsive read.

4/5 STARS