Book Review : The Girl On The Train

Book Title : The Girl On The Train

Author : Paula Hawkins

Genre : Murder Mystery

ISBN : 9780857522320

Publisher : Random House Publication 

Publication : 2015

Pages : 324

Binding : Paperback

PopSugar Reading Challenge 2016 :

2/(40+1)《a murder mystery-》

Goodreads 2016 Reading Challenge :

2/40

Plot :

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?

Goodreads Rating : 3.84 ☆'s

My Rating : 4.5 ☆'s

Review :

The book is written in self narrative of three women in form of their diary entries. It is an interesting format, but makes it a little bit difficult to grasp what is happening in the beginning when the time stamps of the three women is drastically different. It truly confuses the reader - I myself went forwards and backwards a several times. But once you get the hang of the events and their occurrence, you will manage to sail through easy.

So, once you're into the story - it's a fast paced, nail biting mystery. Towards the middle of the book, I felt like I am not reading fast enough - as the suspense build-up was so strong that you just wanted to know who killed the lady; but there were too many loose ends to be tied before you could get to the centre of the whole mystery.

It's a very nicely woven plot, the way the lives of the three women has been interlinked is so smooth. The suspense factor is great too as you cannot nail down one person - who is the murderer; you keep jumping the suspicion from one person to another as the story moves ahead and then back.

But once the culprit is revealed, the story doesn't end quickly making it a bit of a drag towards the end. Despite that, the end is quiet unexpected.

Leaving aside the two factors of the story, it being confusing in the beginning and a drag at the end (the reason for a 4.5 rating and not a 5.0 rating), it is a great read. A complete page turner which won't leave you disappointed rather wanting to know - what next? So pick it up and get ready for a roller coaster ride as you move through the lives of the three women.

Happy Reading!