The Girl on the Train
by Paula Hawkins
★ ★ ★ ★(3.5 stars)
I have to admit that when my husband picked this out for me to read this month I was a little weary because of all the negative things I’ve heard about it. I’m glad to say that I finally read it and I actually liked it.
It’s kind of hard to talk about this book without giving anything away but I’m going to try.
This book was told from Rachel’s point of view mostly but there was some chapters told from Megan and Anna’s. All of which are all pretty much unreliable narrators. On top of that none of the characters were likable. Rachel’s behavior was annoying and appalling at times however I sympathized with her a lot throughout the book. Megan and Anna were just ugh I can’t stand them. Plus all of the other characters were unlikable.
The plot of the book is what pulled me in and kept me wanting to read. Because the book is mostly told in Rachel’s point of view I found myself feeling what she was feeling and it was driving me crazy. Like you know what’s happened but you don’t have all the details. It was like I was the one who couldn’t remember what happened to me.
The twist at the end wasn’t surprising to me at all. I guessed whodunnit pretty early on so when it was finally revealed I was just like see I knew it.
Overall I really enjoyed this book even though I had my doubts about it going into it. If you like plot driven books I think this is one you might enjoy.
I agree. it didn’t really live up to the hype. I liked the film though.
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I haven’t seen the movie yet.
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The characters were awful. I don’t know if they were written that way or what but…by the end of the book I was so irritated with all of them.
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Yeah I don’t think any of them were meant to be likable characters but it would have been nice to have at least 2 likable character.
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Totally. I liked the movie better. This is first where I liked the movie better then the book.
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I’ve had a few where I’ve preferred the movie to the book. I need to watch the movie now.
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🙂 I am so glad I wasn’t the only one that didn’t like the characters…..The book was so hyped.
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I had a similar feeling while reading this book. I didn’t like any character even Rachel. I kept reading just to find out the ending to the mystery 🙂
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Yeah the plot is what kept me reading. I had to know what happened
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I liked it too but was annoyed with Rachel; her narration was so unreliable. It drove me crazy but it also made me like the story. I knew who did it but the plot kept me reading until the end.
https://kristinasteiner.wordpress.com/2017/01/22/the-girl-on-the-train-when-you-sober-up-but-the-double-vision-stays/
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Yes she drove me crazy. Actually all of them did but needing the answers to all those unanswered questions made me keep reading. I literally felt like Rachel did. It was like I didn’t know what happened to me and I had to find out. To me it was kind of an obvious choice for who did it. I suspected that person right off the bat.
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Great review, Misty! Like you, I couldn’t relate to any of the narrators – I couldn’t even sympathize with Rachel most of the time… this book didn’t wow me very much, either but it indeed kept me intrigued til the end!
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I could hardly sympathize with Rachel either but there were a few instances where I did.
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Yeah the characters were irritating right! Plus I guessed whodunnit too early (the first Megan’s POV) And I still liked the book. . .
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Yeah I was pretty sure I knew whodunnit as well pretty early on.
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