From the Bookshelf of Drop Everything And Read…

The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins

Start date: December 1, 2016

Finish date: December 31, 2016

Discussion: Read

Why we're reading this: It won the BOTM Polls
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What Members Thought

Jun 13, 2017 Brenda H rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Girl on the Train is a debut psychological thriller by Paula Hawkins. Ms. Hawkins gave us a great book on her first time out. So much so that I will put Ms. Hawkins on my list of authors to check out further.

Rachel rides the train every day on her way into London. Having been a longtime passenger, she knows when the train will be stopping at various signals. The longest signal on the route is next to a modest neighborhood of cute little 2-story homes. In one of those homes, live Jason and Jess, ...more

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Mar 19, 2016 Steve Lindahl rated it really liked it

I am so glad Paula Hawkins included Cathy, Rachel's landlord, as a minor character in The Girl on the Train because she is the only decent person in the book. She's not a Mother Teresa type, but she has trouble abandoning her friend when she's needed and that's a good thing. The others are liars, adulterers, and drunks. Throw in a detective who isn't very good at her job because she prejudges the suspects and you have the main cast of this novel. It isn't so much a “who done it” as a “who cares ...more

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May 28, 2018 Madge rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-wish-i-never-read, thriller-mystery, one-and-a-half-stars

This was possibly the most boring and eye-roll inducing book I've read all year. I was *thisclose* to DNF'ing it, but around 40-50% it seemed like it was going to get interesting, so I powered through. I kind of wish I'd just abandoned it. I wrote a long rant about it, around 80%, but I try not to do that in reviews/otherwise online most of the time, unless I really hated a book. I didn't completely hate this book, but it's definitely on the list of books I wish I'd just passed on reading, and I This was possibly the most boring and eye-roll inducing book I've read all year. I was *thisclose* to DNF'ing it, but around 40-50% it seemed like it was going to get interesting, so I powered through. I kind of wish I'd just abandoned it. I wrote a long rant about it, around 80%, but I try not to do that in reviews/otherwise online most of the time, unless I really hated a book. I didn't completely hate this book, but it's definitely on the list of books I wish I'd just passed on reading, and I don't get the hype.

This is probably mostly just me. I'm starting to think that thrillers are just not my thing, because I don't often enjoy them. I want to, it just doesn't work out that way often, unfortunately, and I tend to get bored or really irritated by them.

The only reasons I even read this one was because A) it works for several challenge prompts, and B) I've seen it on lists for unlikable protagonists/characters, and sometimes I end up liking those books a lot more than most people I know. I can't even remember anyone's name for sure from this, and I just finished it like 2 hours ago. Even while I was reading I couldn't remember their names until they were mentioned :/ My feelings about the book aren't helped by me figuring out who the culprit was, and probably what their motive was, way before 50%, I think around 35%, maybe sooner. I wish I'd listened to my gut and given up then, because I kept expecting to get some twists and surprises, but it never happened.

(view spoiler) ...more

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Feb 22, 2016 Tor.com Publishing added it

I like book clubs for drawing me out of my comfort zone; I wouldn't otherwise read thrillers, as I find the squirm of dramatic tension to be not to my taste. Who likes feeling stressed & uncomfortable? Once danger starts up, I can relax as it moves into fantasy. --MK ...more

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Jun 19, 2016 Rachel Pruchno rated it really liked it

Fast-moving psychological thriller. Took a road trip from Philly to Boson with my husband and listened to the audio book. We didn't want to stop driving.

Great characters. Thoughtful story. I love the short chapters that keep you wanting to see what happens next.

The ending of the book was a little anti-climacteric, but all in all, I'll look forward to reading more by this new author. ...more

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Nov 28, 2016 Summer rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, audiobook

I'm about done with books whose selling points are unreliable narrators and a cast of unlikeable characters. They're starting to feel edgy for the sake of being edgy and as a result, rather self-impressed and trying. As a reader I want to have relationships with books and their characters, so my time is better spent elsewhere. ...more

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Feb 27, 2017 Misty rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-and-earlier

If you've ever read “At the Pitt-Rivers” by Penelope Lively, you will most certainly recognize the similarities here. A young lady, living vicariously through those around her whilst drowning her memories of the past in alcohol, creates a fantasy life for a couple she sees daily from her seat on the train. That fantasy takes on new dimensions as it collides with reality in a plot that may be a bit too predictable once the reader makes connections. The tangled mess of loose threads are one by one ...more

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