The Basics via Amazon:Intersecting, overlapping, not-quite-what-they-seem lives. Jealousies and betrayals and wounded hearts. A haunting unease that clutches and won’t let go. All this and more helps propel Paula Hawkins’s addictive debut into a new stratum of the psychological thriller genre. From the opening line, the reader knows what they’re in for: “She’s buried beneath a silver birch tree, down towards the old train tracks…” But Hawkins teases out the mystery with a veteran’s finesse. The “girl on the train” is Rachel, who commutes into London and back each day, rolling past the backyard of a happy-looking couple she names Jess and Jason. Then one day Rachel sees “Jess” kissing another man. The day after that, Jess goes missing. The story is told from three character’s not-to-be-trusted perspectives: Rachel, who mourns the loss of her former life with the help of canned gin and tonics; Megan (aka Jess); and Anna, Rachel’s ex-husband’s wife, who happens to be Jess/Megan’s neighbor. Rachel’s voyeuristic yearning for the seemingly idyllic life of Jess and Jason lures her closer and closer to the investigation into Jess/Megan’s disappearance, and closer to a deeper understanding of who she really is. And who she isn’t. This is a book to be devoured. -Neal Thompson
Why I picked it up:The Girl on the Train is basically the It novel of the summer. I've been seeing it everywhere. It started on a list of debut authors everyone should read that I saw back in February or March and just kept popping up. Plus, several friends have read and loved it.
What I didn't know:Everything. I don't even think I read any jacket copy before downloading this one. I especially liked that it was set in London and the train the protagonist takes her to and from Euston station, my stomping grounds near University College London. She even ends up at University College Hospital in one scene, which gave me a nice warm, homey feeling as everything about London does these days.
Why I recommend it:
Mostly because everyone else is reading it and so it's going to be talked about. Plus there is (inevitably) a movie being made. It's almost always better to have read the book before seeing the movie, so...
HOWEVER
I wasn't as enthralled as some people. The book was good, but it didn't amaze me. I felt the ending was satisfactory, but not great. I also didn't really like the main narrator; it's hard to get into a story when you don't actually sympathize with the person whose eyes you're seeing it through. But that's just me.
Who should read it:- People who like chiller/thriller/suspense novels and quick reads
- People who liked Gone Girl, etc. (I kept thinking as I read it that it was like Gone Girl but just not quite on the same level. Gone Girl was extraordinarily intricate and shocking, something the Girl on the Train lacked in many ways. When I started looking for pics to include in this post, I found this article from someone else who felt the same way.)
- People who like books told from multiple points-of-view, which I usually do
“[The Girl on the Train] pulls off a thriller's toughest trick: carefully assembling everything we think we know, until it reveals the one thing we didn't see coming."—Entertainment Weekly
“Hawkins’s taut story roars along at the pace of, well, a high-speed train. …Hawkins delivers a smart, searing thriller that offers readers a 360-degree view of lust, love, marriage and divorce.”—Good Housekeeping
“There’s nothing like a possible murder to take the humdrum out of your daily commute.”—Cosmopolitan
"Paula Hawkins has come up with an ingenious slant on the currently fashionable amnesia thriller. . . . Hawkins juggles perspectives and timescales with great skill, and considerable suspense builds up along with empathy for an unusual central character."—The Guardian
“Paula Hawkins deftly imbues her debut psychological thriller with inventive twists and a shocking denouement. … Hawkins delivers an original debut that keeps the exciting momentum of The Girl on the Train going until the last page.”—Denver Post
“The novel is at its best in the moment of maximum confusion, when neither the reader nor the narrators know what is occurring” – The Financial Times
“This fresh take on Hitchcock’s Rear Window is getting raves and will likely be one of the biggest debuts of the year.”—Omaha World-Herald
“Hawkins’s tale of love, regret, violence and forgetting is an engrossing psychological thriller with plenty of surprises. . . . The novel gets harder and harder to put down as the story screeches toward its unexpected ending.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A gripping, down-the-rabbit-hole thriller.”—Entertainment Weekly Hotlist
Who should read it:- People who like chiller/thriller/suspense novels and quick reads
- People who liked Gone Girl, etc. (I kept thinking as I read it that it was like Gone Girl but just not quite on the same level. Gone Girl was extraordinarily intricate and shocking, something the Girl on the Train lacked in many ways. When I started looking for pics to include in this post, I found this article from someone else who felt the same way.)
- People who like books told from multiple points-of-view, which I usually do
What the pros say:
“The Girl on the Train marries movie noir with novelistic trickery. . . hang on tight. You'll be surprised by what horrors lurk around the bend.”—USA Today“[The Girl on the Train] pulls off a thriller's toughest trick: carefully assembling everything we think we know, until it reveals the one thing we didn't see coming."—Entertainment Weekly
“Hawkins’s taut story roars along at the pace of, well, a high-speed train. …Hawkins delivers a smart, searing thriller that offers readers a 360-degree view of lust, love, marriage and divorce.”—Good Housekeeping
“There’s nothing like a possible murder to take the humdrum out of your daily commute.”—Cosmopolitan
"Paula Hawkins has come up with an ingenious slant on the currently fashionable amnesia thriller. . . . Hawkins juggles perspectives and timescales with great skill, and considerable suspense builds up along with empathy for an unusual central character."—The Guardian
“Paula Hawkins deftly imbues her debut psychological thriller with inventive twists and a shocking denouement. … Hawkins delivers an original debut that keeps the exciting momentum of The Girl on the Train going until the last page.”—Denver Post
“The novel is at its best in the moment of maximum confusion, when neither the reader nor the narrators know what is occurring” – The Financial Times
“This fresh take on Hitchcock’s Rear Window is getting raves and will likely be one of the biggest debuts of the year.”—Omaha World-Herald
“Hawkins’s tale of love, regret, violence and forgetting is an engrossing psychological thriller with plenty of surprises. . . . The novel gets harder and harder to put down as the story screeches toward its unexpected ending.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A gripping, down-the-rabbit-hole thriller.”—Entertainment Weekly Hotlist
I read it a while ago, wasn't bowled over, but it was a quick read
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