Book Review #634 - The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

My Rating: 4.5/5



Source: Bought



Goodreads

EVERYDAY THE SAME

Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.

UNTIL TODAY

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.

Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.

Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train… 

The main narrator, Rachel is an alcoholic with extremely low self-esteem. She rides the train to London every day even though she lost her job months ago. 

Everyday the train stops outside her old home where her ex-husband still lives with his new family. A few doors down from them are a couple (Megan and Scott) that Rachel creates fantasies of. 

One day she glimpses something from the train that tears all her fantasies about them apart. 

Rachel awakens one morning to a terrible hangover and no memory of the night before. When she discovers that Megan disappeared that same night, Rachel becomes obsessed with trying to discover just what she was doing that night. 

There are not that many characters in this book and so you would think that picking the culprit would be rather easy. 

Rachel being an alcoholic, is a very unreliable narrator and that just added to the whole intrigue and mystery of the story. I was never quiet sure whether Rachel was completely innocent in the whole mess or not which again added a whole other layer of intrigue. 

I found the pacing of the story to be a little on the slow side. It wasn't the fast paced roller coaster ride I had been expecting. 

None of the characters were anywhere near relatable or even likable and that really added suspicion to all of them as they all appeared distant like they could be hiding something. 

I felt rather sorry for Rachel at times. I felt like she just needed a support network around her for her to get back to the life she wants. 

Overall, I found this book compelling and at times simply unputdownable. I can't wait for the film adaptation later in the year.