BOOK REVIEW #3: THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN BY PAULA HAWKINS
Author: Paula Hawkins
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime fiction
Publication: Transworld Publishers (Penguin Random House) the UK, the year 2015
No. of Pages: 409
Rating: 5/5
Paula Hawkins became a sensational author with her first-ever thriller novel. ‘The Girl on the train’ became the New York Times Bestseller. & was also the winner of Goodreads choice 2015 in the mystery & thriller section.
The book is immersed in manipulativeness, a web of lies & twists which you would not see coming. The story was set as gloomy & sad; the reader could almost visualize the dreary scenarios.
The book exploded within the readers, as I knew almost everybody was reading it. I got hold of the book pretty late but I am glad I decided on it. I was hooked almost immediately!
SYNOPSIS
The train journey has been the highlight of Rachel’s everyday life. She looks for stories in the houses & in the objects she sees outside her window. She’s not a coffee person. She straight away starts her day with bear & ends with wine. It helps her with her tragic life.
There’s nothing stable left in Rachel’s life after she went through the nightmare she never saw coming. Her life ended when her husband divorced her. She has no well-wishers or friends. But who needs them, when she has — ‘Jess & Jason’. Each day she checks on them on her way to the city & back. She adores the couple & also envies their perfect life. How could she not? She always gets a glimpse of her past life in them, the life she had before her husband, Tom left her for someone else.
But does the lovely couple know about her? After all, she’s just a girl on the train, who watches them at their house from afar & believes to know them well.
She could relate to their life as she used to live a few houses apart from them. It is a constant punch in the gut for Rachel to see her old house each day. To imagine her ex-husband’s new wife living in the house which once was hers. They are a happy family with now a daughter.
Truth be told, most of the time things are just not what they seem.
Jess & Jason was supposed to be everything that Rachel & Tom was unable to be. Except they weren’t! Rachel was shattered when she saw something she wasn’t supposed to. Something which nobody has known except her. She shouldn’t pry, but how could she resist getting involved in the lives of those she watched all along?
My thoughts?
I loved this book & its disoriented characters. I have always loved a story being told from different perspectives. Here, we got to see the tale from three different protagonists. We would find the characters in their raw version. What I loved was, that the story was not shown in a way of who’s the wrongdoer & who is a saint. But it will unfold with you, who you think is at the fault.
It wasn’t a fast-paced book for me, but I didn’t struggle with it. I totally hung in between as I was getting puzzled by the three different versions clashing.
Almost every thriller lover, loves an irksome plotline that would keep you guessing & palpitating over the climax. But sometimes, the characters get so flawed that there’s no chance of their revival at the end. What makes me give this book a five-star, is the character development.
I have also seen the movie based on this book starring ‘Emily Blunt’. She portrayed Rachel so well as if it was just the way I imagined the character. I didn’t hate movies as most did, but I felt they lacked something which jumbled the plot.
Would I recommend this book?
If you love reading dark storylines but flawed & alarming characters, this is the one for you. People who have liked ‘Gone Girl’ would totally be the audience for this book.
If you planning on watching the movie as well, it would be best to read the book first. Otherwise, you wouldn’t like the film nor will be able to dive into the book. It will just hamper the whole experience.
*trigger warning* for people about alcoholism, blood depiction, death & abuse. This book depicts a lot of negativity in the characters in it, so some scenes might be too intense for some readers.
