The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

 

From Goodreads

A debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives.

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. 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.

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 offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

Compulsively readable, The Girl on the Train is an emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller and an electrifying debut.

My thoughts

This book kept appearing everywhere and it was recommended to me several times by different quiz, survey type things that were appearing on FB and other similar sites. With all the other hype surrounding it and with seeing so many good reviews, I decided that maybe fate was dictating that I read this book.

So it was while searching for it, that I decided to reserve it at my local Library, I was in position 352 or so when I placed my reservation. Eventually the day came that it was available to be collected and I had limited time to read it, as it already had other reservations against it.

I loved the premise of the story, the way Rachel travelled the same train journey to and from London daily making up lives for the people that she saw as the trains passed their homes. Rachel has a problem she thinks that all that is wrong in her life, will appear better after a drink, BUT one drink is never enough. She is an alcoholic and the fact that she is a drinker has caused her more problems, than the ones that she was hoping would appear better. She won't admit the full extent of her problems to other and has a coping mechanism of sorts.

As her life begins to unravel and her alcoholism and it's associated problems become more evident to those around her, she unwittingly sees something happen to someone that she sees quite often as she's travelling by train. As her life becomes more embroiled in the real lives of others, will her life ever be the same?

This is a debut psychological thriller by this Author, I do hope she writes more as this was a joy to read and a very clever premise.

I wanted to hate Rachel in some ways, but you can't help but feel sorry for her as you take her journey with her on the train and through life. I love people watching and thought the way she made up names and lives for the people she watches daily.

This would have had a higher mark from me, if I'd not guessed who the villain of the story was. To be honest I found it quite obvious.     

I gave this an 8/10 and feel that it would make a great reading group read.