Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Title: The Girl on the Train
Author: Paula Hawkins
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Publish Date: January 13, 2015
Source: Owned

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "EVERY DAY THE SAME
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 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.

UNTIL TODAY
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?"

My Two Cents:

Before the movie came out, I read "The Girl on the Train." Ever since reading "Gone Girl," I feel like I've been chasing the high of a good thriller. "The Girl on the Train" is one of those books that comes quite close. In this book, Rachel's life is falling apart and she feels that she must take the train everyday still in order to add just the barest amount of predictability back to her life. One day she sees something out the window of the train that will make her question everything she thinks and shows that sometimes the imagination can derail everything.

I found this book fascinating because as a fan of public transportation, I thought it was so interesting that Rachel looks out at the houses that she sees along her train route and makes up stories about the people that she sees. I do that too. Obviously in Rachel's case it doesn't work out very well but this book wouldn't be a thriller without it not working well. Rachel is an unreliable narrator, which makes this book especially engaging.

The writing of the book is good. I think Hawkins does a great job of keeping us in suspense as to whether or not we can actually believe Rachel or if she is nearly unreliable narrator who is hiding something. This book has a lot of twists, turns, and layers that I really liked. I think that the other does a good job of keeping you in suspense so that you want to continue to read the book. I know that I will be anxious to see what else Hawkins comes out with next!