The Girl on the Train

Excellent. This has lots of suspense but also a good deal to think about. The female characters are at different stages of comparable relationships with 3 men. There is a clever transition in the main character from her being the viewer to being viewed. And there are interesting questions about how people perceive one another – often incorrectly – and how our memories can be unreliable. There are lies, infidelity, alcoholism, domestic abuse and murder. I loved it!

I'm a bit late to the party on this one but, with the volume of books rotating through my family, it was inevitable that my path would cross with The Girl on the Train at some point. So many thanks to Aunty M for lending it to me.

Rachel is the girl on the train, travelling in and out of London each day passing her old house. A house she used to live in with her husband, Tom, until Tom met Anna. As the train stops at the signals, Rachel looks into one of her neighbours homes and sees a loving couple. It is not long before Rachel conjures up a story about the couple, naming them Jason and Jess. One day Rachel spots 'Jess' with someone who isn't her husband and is completely devastated that Jason and Jess are not the perfect couple she show more though they were. Then when a local woman, Megan Hipwell, is reported missing, Rachel's breath catches in her throat as she sees a photo in the newspaper, because Megan is 'Jess'.

Told from the point of view of the three ladies in the story; Rachel, Anna and Megan, with each voice being so completely and perfectly distinct from the others. Rachel is an alcoholic and is held together by sticky tape; I thought if she got stuck in a shower she'd become unstuck and fall to pieces. Anna thinks she's won, going from the other woman to the wife, but she doesn't seem very confident in her relationship and is constantly on the lookout for Rachel so she can complain to Tom. Megan is so guarded and confused, I felt like she was a shadow of herself and an almost empty shell of a person. As her story progresses, it becomes clear why I would think this.

I can see why there has been so much excitement about The Girl on the Train; it is written in such a way that it feels like the book is actually talking to you. Rachel's alcoholism was revealed warts and all, sometimes shockingly so, but it made your heart go out to her. She feels like her life is falling apart and as she rapidly loses control she regularly drinks herself into oblivion. When Rachel reveals what she knows about Megan's mystery man and his link to her disappearance, her reliability is called into question but Rachel actually knows more than she realises. If only she hadn't been drunk that night she might have remembered a crucial piece of evidence that is so far remaining agonisingly out of reach.

Never mind The Girl on the Train, I felt like I'd been hit by a train at the end. I was tootling along nicely grasping at snippets as Rachel remembered them, then BAM! No way! I totally didn't see it coming and I then questioned everything I'd picked up as the book went along. A top psychological thriller, The Girl on the Train deserves every accolade that comes its way. I know that I will be talking and thinking about this one for a long time. show less

Hawkins has created three unreliable female narrators in this suspenseful crime thriller. All are not exactly what they seem. The primary narrator—Rachel—is so bizarre as to be almost unbelievable. She is alcoholic with blackouts and antisocial outbursts; a spurned wife who stalks her ex-husband and his new wife, an unemployed and financially destitute person forced to rely on a former friend for shelter. If this isn’t enough, Rachel also is prone to fantasy and has a narcissistic personality disorder. Megan is almost as bizarre. She is a bored wife who is sexually aggressive. She is not happy with her marriage and carries on an affair with her therapist. Her art gallery was a failure and she has a dubious past involving an affair show more with a drifter and the death of a baby. Anna is a bit subtler but nevertheless has her own set of problems. She carried on an affair with Rachel’s husband, Tom, is willing to tolerate almost anything he does to maintain the illusion of a happy marriage and snoops on him when she becomes suspicious that he is continuing with his philandering.
The men in the novel seem dull by comparison, but have their own issues. Tom is a womanizer, Scott (Megan’s husband) is clueless about his marital problems, and Albig (Megan’s therapist) commits the ultimate indiscretion for a mental health professional by having a brief affair with a patient.
The plot is convoluted but not entirely unpredictable. Hawkins succeeds in maintaining a brisk pace by liberally changing timeframes and having her cast of characters indulge in lying, threats and innuendoes. None of them really know which of the others can be trusted or believed. The plotting has been compared to Hitchcock’s Rear Window, because Rachel becomes involved with these people after observing them from a passing commuter train and fantasizing about their lives. The other comparison frequently made is to Gone Girl because of the protagonist’s bizarre behavior. However, The Rachel character is not nearly as subtle, complex or unpredictable as Flynn’s Amy Dunne. Rachel precipitates the action by inserting herself into the police investigation of Megan’s disappearance and murder. At first blush, this seems strange but upon reflection, not unexpected considering all of the unusual behavior she seems capable of (e.g., attempting to abduct Anna and Tom’s baby). Through all of her intricate plotting and character development, Hawkins manages to implicate all of the male characters and Rachel as potential murderers. show less

This was a great mystery, and I really had no inkling of what was going to happen in the end, even though looking back, there are hints.

All the characters were very well written, though they were not likable or reliable narrators- pretty much every character had some crazy either locked away or out for everyone to see. I suppose that’s not far off from reality.

The writing was beautifully done, and changed between characters as we get 3 different point of views throughout the story. The main character, Rachel, had an eye for detail and would go off on thoughts of fantasy that you could never be quite sure were reality. Megan, my favorite, was a blunt and free-spirited character, with so much baggage only we really get to see. And Anna, show more well, she is the character we get the least time with, but she provides context to the story and she’s an interesting personality to read about.

I really enjoyed this and would read more by Paula Hawkins. show less

I'm not usually one to see the movie before the book, especially if the book is one I've been wanting to read for a while, but this is one time I did things backwards. I saw The Girl on the Train a week or so ago with my mom, and afterward, I was finally able to pick up the book and read it. And let me say, I was not disappointed.

Rachel takes the same train to and from her home every day, fantasizing about the seemingly perfect couple that she sees through the window. She thinks about them so much that she almost feels like she knows the couple. Everything seems perfect, until one day Rachel sees something that jolts her fantasy, so much that she goes to the police, but her testimony is unreliable. Rachel quickly becomes entangled in show more the investigation and the lives of the people involved. Is she really as innocent as she thinks she is?

This book is told from three different perspectives, Rachel, Anna, and Megan. And honestly, none of the characters are all that likable. I couldn't help but cringe at some of the things that these characters did; but that's what makes this book great. Kind of like Gone Girl in that aspect. This kind of portrayal of women, women who have bad intentions, indulge in bad habits, etc., is important because it reflects reality. All women aren't the same, so why should women be portrayed the same in literature?

The format of the narrative also helps to add to the mystery and suspense of the novel. Jumping around in time, place, and narrator leaves it up to the reader to piece together the story in a similar way that Rachel is. And Rachel's unreliability as a character makes you wonder if what she's seeing is really true, if she's someone we can trust to tell us the truth. These elements combined draw you into the story quickly and don't let go until you know the truth of what happened. In fact, this element of truth draws together every piece of the story, much like a running current throughout the book.

Overall, this is an engaging read that fans of Gillian Flynn would definitely enjoy. show less

I listened to The Girl on the Train as an audiobook and really appreciated the soft, distinct voices of the three narrators who read for Rachel, Megan and Anna. The story, however, left a lot to be desired. All of the characters were firmly obnoxious so I wasn’t rooting for anyone in particular. Clearly, we’re supposed to feel a kind of emotional tug of war for Rachel who’s an unreliable narrator and struggling with addiction – but she has zero redeeming qualities. Also, she’s kind of batshit insane and not in a deliciously evil Amy Dunne-kind of way. I only have so much patience for thrillers that drag you through the most contrived, eye-rolling drama – I ended up DNFing this and searched for spoilers. I’m giving myself show more partial credit after slogging through more than 70% of the book. If this is in your TBR, go ahead and swap this out with something by David Lehane or even Gillian Flynn. This one is just not that titillating or fun. show less

If someone asked me what this book is about, I would say "manipulation and psychological abuse" first and murder second. Hawkins does such a fantastic job of establishing the grimy, hardened world around her alcoholic main character that it silently masks other characters' red flags for readers, preserving the mystery until well into the book. Every character is despicable in their own way and the author puts their flaws front and center with each POV scene. It's an easy book to love or hate depending on what you're looking for. I love books that expose the simultaneous fragility and resilience of the human psyche and this achieved that in the best-worst way possible.