Today I'm going to be talking about The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. As you may know, there is a movie made based on the novel, and as the book became popular to the extreme, I decided it needed a read. Another thing you may know is that I normally do not read thriller/mystery novels, especially adult ones, but I decided that since the movie was coming out I should read the novel before watching the movie.
Synopsis of The Girl on the Train
EVERY DAY THE SAMERachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. 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.
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. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?
Review 4/5 stars
Our protagonist Rachel has basically gone so far down into the rabbit hole she can't climb back out: she's a drunk, she's obsessed with her ex, and she blacks on a steady basis. Now you could say she's completely unfixable and down right crazy, but in my eyes Rachel's character had every right to be in that state. As she watched her relationship burn away, she viewed alcohol as her savior from her own emotions, as many do in such a situation.
As she went through the twists and turns of being distraught and confused, we see that she does care for herself and her wellbeing, but lacks the ability to accept her own emotions. It's almost like I don't have to study phycology, because when I read this book I was already enrolled.
I don't want to give away too much, but the one thing about Rachel's character that I didn't care for was that she stalked, and she stalked a lot. I'll just leave it at that, but I just feel that she should've left that whole situation alone.
Secondly, there's one other aspect I didn't care for in "The Girl On The Train", which was Anna's POV. Anna is the mistress who ruined Rachel's marriage. I honestly wish that Paula Hawkins would've just left Anna's POV out of the whole equation. It really wasn't necessary, and it didn't add any new embellishments to the story. Also, Anna's character is despicable; her character thinks it's perfectly fine to walk over someones relationship. Out of the whole novel, I only read two chapters of Anna's POV because her way of thinking sickened me, but other than that I didn't loose any of the plot.
Even though there were aspects I did not enjoy, overall I felt that this novel was fantastic, I loved seeing Rachel grow into her emotions and become who she really is. The development of the story was gradual and spooky but just enough to keep you wanting more. A lot of people refer this book to being similar to "Gone Girl", I've personally never read it before although I've heard the plot is sightly similar, so if you enjoy thrillers or anything similar to Gone Girl, then I'm sure you'll enjoy reading "The Girl On The Train".
And just remember... it's never who you think it is.
I hope you enjoyed the review! If you've read "The Girl On The Train", what was your opinion on the novel?
Finally, The Girl On The Train Audiobook is officially available on AudioBooksNow.
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