The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train

By Paula Hawkins

  • Release Date: 2015-01-13
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 27,392 Ratings

Description

The #1 New York Times bestseller, USA Today Book of the Year and now a major motion picture starring Emily Blunt.
 
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. 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 having breakfast 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 goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

Reviews

  • Soap opera

    4
    By RLOMD
    Easy, quick soap opera read. All of the adult characters were broken, and none of them were nice people. You don’t read this one to root for anyone; you read this to figure out who the author decided would be the culprit.
  • It’s alright

    3
    By Livi-1
    TLDR: If you're looking for a thriller with a mind-altering ending that really makes you question reality, this is not that book. It's worth a quick read but that's about it. My friends and I chose this as our first book club book and I was pretty excited because they chose something more up my alley. They prefer more fantasy/romance books but I’ve always been more interested in mystery/thrillers and horrors. They started reading it first (I wanted to finish the book I was reading—Misery, what a phenomenal book—first) and every other page they were gasping as if something crazy happened. This made me very excited to start reading. I enjoy a good mind-blowing thriller any day of this week. However, this was not that. I started reading and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what they were so surprised about. I finished the book in a day, and at best I’ll say it was a decent quick read. The twist was not mind-blowing, leaving you to think about it for days later. Instead it was pretty predictable and not really all that interesting. The author does do a great job of making you dislike every character, which makes it feel a little more realistic. To give the book the benefit of the doubt, I've been craving a little more violence in my books lately and this was a change of pace from what I've been reading. It's not a bad book at all. Just way overhyped.
  • A glimpse an event changes everything

    5
    By YayaNetski
    A young woman’s life is changed in ways she never could have conceived of. Events unfold mysteries are solved lives forever altered.
  • Binge reading novel

    5
    By tigrepor3
    Wow!!! A tapestry of clues woven together resulting in a satisfying final literary finale!
  • Loved it

    5
    By jildef
    Great read!
  • Amazing

    5
    By Meghan Harris
    So good! I couldn't put it down!
  • H Downing

    5
    By downyowl
    Just re-read The Girl on the Train again after several years, and I appreciated the authors skill even more. Her ability to hold your attention,inscribe events indelibly on your minds eye, and make you want to never put the book down is truly remarkable. I’m sorry it’s over. Sigh!
  • Just okay for me

    3
    By king kos1
    Was an entertaining read up until the sloppy climax. I understand that she needed another twist but the climax was poorly thought out and hastily made
  • Good

    5
    By Kandi fhdhevfbdh
    Like it very interesting and entertaining
  • Unreliable narrator(s)

    4
    By Dfswagga
    Good plot, took a while to pick up speed, but once it did it was hard to put it down. The extreme alcoholism however was kind of difficult to stomach, but I suppose it created a very realistic viewpoint.