Book Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins/Psychological Thriller/Published in 2015

Hello dear Readers,

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Below, my review on The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.

Title: The Girl on the Train
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Author: Paula Hawkins 

Publisher: Riverhead Books
Language: English

Paperback: 336 pages

Book Description

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?

My thoughts

*I gave 5/5 stars on Goodreads

When I read the January 2015 cover of Book Page, there was a question that caught my attention: The Next Gone Girl?-it said. I immediately went to page 13 and there was an Interview with Paula Hawkins, Author of The Girl on the Train. I was very interested to read about a book that was being related to one of my favorite books I read in 2014. Yes, Gone Girl was one of the best books I read last year. It was so intense and mind blowing, of course, I was curious about The Girl on the Train. 

The fact that the book had the same characteristics as to Gone Girl in terms of plot and twist of events, and also, a tweet by Stephen King telling people how much he liked the book, those were the reasons why I finally decided to buy the book. I was really excited to get my hands on it. Could not wait to read it. And that was I did. I purchased the kindle edition (which did not affect my final opinion) and once I started reading it, I could not stop. 

However, do not let the similarity with Gone Girl make you think that you will find exactly the same or if you did not like Gone Girl it means this book is not worth the time, because it is. The Girl on the Train is one of these books that we do not see very often. It has an interesting plot, great characters, that twist of events that completely blows our minds. Its a well written book and the structure and point of view are easy to understand, easy to keep up with. I personally always appreciate a well written book with a structure which is not complicated to follow. 

The Girl on the train follows the story of Rachel, turns out, she cannot have babies and that is one reason who increases her drinking problems and because of that, she loses her husband and her job. Her ex-husband leaves her for another girl, Megan, and they had a baby, Evie. Rachel starts taking the train every morning and pretends she is going to work, so her roommate Cathy, does not find out she is without a job, but more than that, I think is because she cannot let things go, her previous life. Every morning, on the train, she can see her old house, where she used to live with Tom and also she starts paying attention to this other house. She can see its occupants from the train and because of that Rachel starts thinking she knows them and she even gives them names, Jess and Jason. She creates her own image of these people. She makes up her own story.
But one morning, Rachel is on the train and sees something that changes her life, the story and that is when we can see more of the other characters, understand their motives for killing, betraying, not trusting, and how at the end nothing is what we think it is.

The thing I liked the most about the book is that people can relate to the characters and the situations they face and the decisions they have to make on the way. Even though this is a work of fiction, the events presented in the book are real life situations. Things real people deal with, everyday day, in a real world. Drinking problems, betrayal, to loose a loved one, lack of trust in other people, loose a job, financial problems, jealousy, lying, infidelity, fighting with a problem that can control and destroy your life, and one problem that in my opinion is what stands the most: how many times we think we know the people around us and sometimes, it turns out, they are not the people we think they are. How can that make people feel? I would feel exactly like the characters on this book, disappointed, surprised, in a state of great disbelief. Like Anna and Rachel, two of the characters felt when they found out who Tom really was. And how, in some way they knew knew he was lying but it is what happens in real life, knowing the truth, still surprises us.

The story is told from the point of view of some of the characters: Rachel, Anna and Megan. Each little chapter, with different dates, the twist of events, how is incorporated in the story, at the end, how they all connect, is what makes the plot, the way the story is told so great. However, something I felt through the whole book, and again, I know is part of how the story is told, I felt I could not trust the narrators, in this case, the ladies. I felt, they were telling us, the readers, the story, but there was always something to hide, something that could not be said. When I finished the book, I could understand why and that is part why these characters are awesome but still, not reliable. 

Never with any other book I hated a character like I did Tom. Not only because of his actions against Megan but also because the way he treats people, Thinking he is better than everybody else and making feel people worthless. That is something that made my journey through this book hard but I kept going because Tom, his character is one of the things that makes this book a master piece.

The Girl on the Train, her Author, Paula Hawkins. Her amazing writing style makes this book a delightful experience. 

If you are looking for suspense, unexpected twist of events, mind blowing read, great plot, great characters, and interesting point of view, definitely, this is the book for you.


My Favorite Quotes

"I have never understood how people can blithely disregard the damage they do by following their hearts".

"What if the thing I'm looking for can never be found? What if it just isn't possible?

Wen