The Girl On The Train ~ Book Review

I read The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins after a bit of procrastination, and found it was brilliant!

The Girl On The Train - a gripping and intriguing story of 3 women and how their lives got entangled in a mystery.

I read this book in my Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. Before I started reading, I got a sneak peek of its sample. As it has repetitive scenes from the same train journey to and fro, I got tired and decided not to continue. This book was a bad choice, I thought. It was left untouched for more than a month. You bought it, cos you wanted to read. So better continue, my mind echoed. I resumed the book, only expecting this train journey was going to be a boring one but the track changed, so was my view on the book. Once I got the grip, the book turned out to be one hell of a journey that I did not want to end sooner. It came as a surprise and kept me hooked till the end. 

As the story opens, we first meet the main narrator - Rachel, the girl on the train, who is miserable, wrecked and a total drunk, longing for a so called perfect life with her Ex. She boards the same commuter train every morning from Ashbury to London. The train stops at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. Evidently, that was where she lived once with her Ex and she has memories associated with that neighborhood. As she glimpses out of the train window, she sees a couple in one of the houses every day. Now, bored and desperate, Rachel starts to observe them. She calls them 'Jess and Jason’. She delights herself with the fantasy of watching that couple living a pleasant life. And then one day, she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s more than enough to change her course of life. She finds herself caught up in a mystery and got a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.

Then comes Megan. She is apparently, Jess in Rachel's view. Megan is married to Scott aka Jason. As the plot thickens, we get to know her better. The main story revolves around what happens with Megan.

There's Anna, who lives in the same street of Megan. She’s the wife of Rachel's ex husband Tom and they have a kid. She is paranoid with Rachel's bombarding behavior.

I was literally traveling with these 3 women, each with their own flaws and intricacies. I enjoy reading different perspectives in stories and so, Paula Hawkins's storytelling style allows me to see through these three characters. The story travels between past and present and it helps me to see things clearly.

This is the author’s first thriller and her writing is excellent. Well paced, neatly structured story line made me glued to the book as much as Rachel's addiction to her drinks. The flow was superb. If I've to say a thing that confused me, they are the dates. I had to turn the pages back to reassure the dates but then I loved this timeline.

One night drunk Rachel returned home bleeding and she remembers nothing what happened to her and how she got injured. With her blackout, she couldn't recollect the memory. As she tries to find out what happened that particular night, eventually that leads her to the mystery and she becomes much more than just the girl on the train.

Blackouts happen, and it isn't just a matter of being a bit hazy about getting home from the club or forgetting what it was that was so funny when you were chatting in the pub. It's different. Total black; hours lost never to be retrieved. ~  Excerpt from The Girl On The Train.

The author superbly interlinked Rachel's subconscious memory and her imagination. The progress, of Rachel discovering the truth behind her blackout, takes time but it is slow enough to enthrall the readers.The plot is convincing and no loose ends. The character building and their relationships were complex. Nobody is reliable and their life, messy. It was interesting to see such flawed characters in the lead. With such unreliable narrators, particularly Rachel, this is a spectacular read. 

Basically, there’s a mystery to be solved and it's thrilling to figure out the truth. My mind constantly works when I read any thriller by guessing the twist and most of them fall right in place, but this book did not let me guess, not even once, not until I almost finished, which I believe is the strengthof a good thriller.

The Girl On The Train is a terrific book which has every right element for a mind blowing psychological thriller. It is definitely worth the read.

Altogether, it is a compelling story that keeps you arrested throughout. Perfect book to read on a journey.

Grab this book in Amazon.in.

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