Book: The Girl on the Train by Paula HawkinsGenre: Suspense/Thriller/Mystery
Rating:★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
For: Book Club
From: Bought it at Costco
Short Synopsis: Rachel rides the train to work (or is she going to work?) everyday. The trains stops every day at a signal located by the house where she used to live before she got divorced. She notices the people who live in the apartment a few doors down from her old place. She fantasizes about them and makes up stories. Then one day, the girl in this apartment turns up missing. Rachel thinks she knows stuff and gets all involved in the whole sordid affair. All while trying to deal with her own massive life issues.
My Response: Gah! This one turned out to not be at all what I expected! I thought it was going to be much more suspenseful and brain twisting. Sort of in the vein of The Rear Window or something! (If you aren't familiar with The Rear Window... please, go out and watch it NOW!) Anyway, it was more about adultry, and depression and drinking and lusting and. . . there was not one redeeming character to root for. Not one. Of course I know that I won't like every character I read, but you know I can be pretty forgiving and will love even the most hateful of characters (Heathcliff anyone?) But these guys in this book? No. And it turned out to be a fairly simple mystery... what happened to the girl and whodunnit? And we know that the characters are all involved so it's just a matter of figuring out which one did it. I went back and forth a few times, but it becomes pretty clear pretty fast who the true bad guy is. Though, really, they are all the bad guys! Ugh.
Bottom Line: I gave it three starts at first because I was intrigued and it's easy reading, but I decided it really was only two stars worth because it was just "okay." I enjoyed the intrigue, but I suffered through the crap these characters forced on me and was glad to be done.
Let's Talk About: You know that thing when you expect one thing from a book, because of buzz and or whatever, and then it doesn't, in your mind anyway, turn out to be anything like you thought it would? You know that? What do you think? Does it happen often? Do you just deal with it? Does it make you crazy or have you just come to expect it now and then?
Other Reviews:
I gulped this one up. I was completely enthralled. From Alternate Readality
It worked for me as a suspense novel – as the story went on, I did become quite invested in the resolution of the mystery. From Dear Author
Although I believe it to be seriously flawed, it is most definitely entertaining and will no doubt help hundreds of thousands of readers while away a few hours of their (our) lives, getting from this station to that. From Fantasy Book Critic
While it is easy to thoroughly enjoy the action and the thrills of The Girl on the Train, it is ultimately one of those novels that can never live up to the generated hype. From That's What She Read
Incredibly well-written, expertly crafted, this is one of those thriller that will generate reviews and reactions that run the gamut of positive and negative. From Jenn's Bookshelves
Every book I read is usually not what I expected. Sometimes it's for the bad and sometimes it's for the good.
ReplyDeleteHype can definitely give me expectations that don't match a book and I often enjoy the book less when that happens. I pick up books I'm in the mood for, so something I don't expect is less likely to be something I enjoy.
ReplyDeleteYes!! The characters had SO MANY issues, and it was frustrating!
ReplyDeleteI kind of liked that none of the characters was likable, especially because you aren't even aware that they aren't right away. I could have used with a little less of the drunkenness but I did think it was intriguing.
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