The Girl on the Train by Paula HawkinsMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 2 days
Pages - 384
Publisher - Transworld
Blurb from Goodreads
To everyone else in this carriage I must look normal; I’m doing exactly what they do: commuting to work, making appointments, ticking things off lists.
Just goes to show.
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and every evening. Every day she passes the same Victorian terraces, stops at the same signal, and sees the same couple, breakfasting on their roof terrace. Jason and Jess seem so happy together.
Then one day Rachel sees something she shouldn't have seen, and soon after, Jess disappears. Suddenly Rachel is chasing the truth and unable to trust anyone. Not even herself.
Tense, taut, twisty and surprising . . . The Girl on the Train creeps right under your skin and stays there.
My Review
I have heard so much about this book lately that I just had to get my hands on it! Rachel is our main character, she takes the train every morning and observes various things, mostly a couple she identify s as Jess & Jason. Every morning she observes them, on her usual route until one morning, something changes and Jess goes missing! Rachel finds herself obsessed with Jesse's disappearance and will stop at nothing, regardless of the cost, to get to the truth!
Well, I had hopes when I started this book. Lots of hype and fairly positive reviews and chat from book groups I am part of. Rachel is not just an observant lady on the train. As the story develops we find that Rachel has quite a lot of ongoing personal issues which is why she has become so observant of "Jess & Jason" - her own personal tale is revealed as she tries to piece together what happened to "Jess."
She has lost her marriage, she has alcohol issues, her friend is losing tolerance with her, her "job" has became an issue and as a result her train observations have became all she has. However, the more involved she becomes, the more the story reveals it may not just be a coincidence she has become involved!
The start of this story did grab me, anyone on a long or routine journey will look at aspects to keep themselves occupied and Rachel certainly does that. However, as the story progresses you need to suspend belief to keep up and digest the events that follow. It is a fairly decent "thriller-suspense" novel however, for me, it could have been a lot better. I know this is an "easy" statement to make as a non novelist however, I have read A LOT of books and feel that for me, this one fell a bit short of the hype and expectations I had, based on the reviews on it. That said, it is a good wee story and worth a look, I just felt it could have been better! 3/5 for me this time, I would read this author again and a lot of people loved this one so check it out and I would love to hear your thoughts on it!
Too bad that this was a little disappointing. The main character sounds really interesting as I find that very flawed people to be great protagonists.
ReplyDeleteSometime when a work is very hyped up it is an extra disappointment when it does not live up to its expectations.
Lainy,
ReplyDeleteI've been interested in this book--thank you for your honest review. I like the premise, but I am not sure if I will read this one or not (because I have a ton of books!).
I've heard a lot about it too and mostly with the same review. Thanks for letting us know it was disappointing.
ReplyDeleteAnn
I've seen more mixed reviews coming out lately than the initial rave ones that were all over the place when it was first released. I always find that to be a good thing--helps keep my own expectations from getting too high. I have this one on audio and am looking forward to seeing what I think taking the story in that way.
ReplyDeleteI have seen this one around. Thanks for the honest review, I know what you mean, sometimes you just want more out of a book.
ReplyDelete