The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train
author: Paula Hawkins
published by: Riverhead Books
released: January 13th 2015
pages: 325
my rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars



I think it is best to go into this book without knowing anything about it. So even if I personally think this review doesn't contain spoilers you might still want to stop reading here and come back after you read it. I highly recommend this book!






A debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives.

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?

“Sometimes I catch myself trying to remember the last time I had meaningful physical contact with another person, just a hug or a heartfelt squeeze of my hand, and my heart twitches.”

One thing you can learn from this book? Nothing is as it seems. Nobody in this book is perfect and I think thats one reason why I like this book so much. I know I didn't give it five stars but I have a feeling "The Girl on the Train" will stick to my mind for a while.

Rachel feels like she knows the two people living in the house she waches from the train but when she actually learns more about them she has to realize that the perfect couple she imagined doesn't actually exist. I found it fascinating to see how the seemingly happy and perfect wife "Jess" slowly transformed into Megan, a woman with lots of problems, so many, not even her husband knew about them all. Her story made me want to cry in more than one occasion, that's how sad it is.

"This isn't a good idea. I know it's not a good idea. But what harm can it do?"

When I first started reading, I thought Rachel herself was happy and content with her life but it turns out fairly quick that this isn't the case either. Personally, I couldn't help but feel with her while she struggles to get herself together but I was also glad to see that it wasn't displayed as to easy. She is an alcoholic and also depressed and doesn't get better over night. Also she does make lots of mistakes throughout the book and sometimes I felt like shaking her, yet I continued to like her.

Another thing I liked about this book was how quickly Paula Hawkins managed to make me hate Tom and Anna, Rachel's ex-husband and his new wife. I especially loathed Anna and the chapters written from her perspective made me hate her even more. Really I don't think I despised someone that much for a while but Anna managed it without problem.

Something every thriller should do is keep you guessing. At least for me this was no problem. Maybe I'm just bad in catching plot twists, but I had no idea where the story was going until the very end and even though it seems logical now and I think I should have known earlier, I didn't.

I think you should be in a good mood while reading this, because it is a little depressing at times but other than that I highly recommend this book!