The girl on the Train – Book Review

I love thrillers and it was long since I had read one. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins was on my TBR and this made me read this much-hyped, psychological thriller, which is now a thriller movie too.

The book

The book is a thriller and the main character is Rachel, who rides on the same train, the similar train, a similar route a day to London every morning. She is divorced but still in love with her ex-husband, Tom. She is obsessed with her life with her ex-husband. From the similar window seat of her train, she appearances over her house and street every day from the train once it halts for a short while in front of a house daily. She has reminiscences from the road as she used to stay there along with her ex.

While traveling daily she has become passionate about a couple living in a house, their lives, and routine too. She is keen and grown fond of this couple on the street and has named them Jess and Jason for her reference. As in her dreams, she finds them the perfect couple on Earth, she is hooked up to them. She feels herself among them and imagines them in her way of life. Daily she wishes if she may be equally happy like this couple until everything changes once she sees something that startles her and makes her restless. One fine day, she spots Jess with somebody else. That one visual shatters everything, she takes it on herself and tries to mediate the couple’s life to make it good once more. From being simply a window spectator now she is inadvertently a part of their lives.

My view on – The girl on the train

I liked the writing style of the author as it took me on a ride-along with her. With each page, I can visualize myself boarding the train and experiencing all the events myself. The approach it’s written from individual person’s perspective brings the age to the story. The suspense that slowly grew with the book kept me engaged until the tip.

The book has chapters supported by three feminine characters and the way they weave this story. They are reticulate however in several ways in which I will add that Train is another main character of this story.

This book may be a mixture of realities of affection, obsession, sophisticated yet complicated relations, infidelity, manipulation, and far additional that is stored within the pages of this absorbing thriller tale.

The train journey, the streets, the house, and all descriptions appear to make pictures in your head and one starts living among them. It was a bit slow in the starting as it took me time to connect and get attached to the characters. The first-person perspective is fantastically expressed by the author. However, slowly the story grew on me and it became absorbing and gripping. With each page, I used to be curious to understand what was next.

Misses

I favoured reading the book however was discomfited with the last few chapters. They went flat when the mystery opened and unfolded. The relationships and therefore the violence besides serious drinking issues were few misses for me. Adultery and therefore the after-effects square measure depicted with attention. Drinking in the train/ subway did not charm me.

Catchy Quotes

There’s something comforting about the sight of strangers safe at home.

There are familiar faces on these trains, people I see every week, going to and fro. I recognize them and they probably recognize me. I don’t know whether they see me, though, for what I really am.

“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.”

I can’t do this, I can’t just be a wife. I don’t understand how anyone does it—there is literally nothing to do but wait. Wait for a man to come home and love you. Either that or look around for something to distract you.

“Sometimes, I don’t want to go anywhere, I think I’ll be happy if I never have to set foot outside the house again. I don’t even miss working.”

Let’s be honest: women are still only really valued for two things—their looks and their role as mothers.

“It’s impossible to resist the kindness of strangers. Someone who looks at you, who doesn’t know you, who tells you it’s OK, whatever you did, whatever you’ve done: you suffered, you hurt, you deserve forgiveness.”

Details

Book Title: The Girl on the Train
Genre: Thriller Suspense
Author: Paula Hawkins
Number of Pages: 411(Paperback)
Available on: Amazon

So if you are looking for a psychological, and gripping thriller, just grab this book. Writing is good, with good flow. I even saw the film adaptation of the book but the book is much better than the movie for sure.

Read more of my reviews here.