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From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…

The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins

Finish date: September 13, 2015

Why we're reading this: An audiobook
Published in 2015 and lots of good reviews.
The author was born and raised in Zimbabwe, though…more
[close] An audiobook
Published in 2015 and lots of good reviews.
The author was born and raised in Zimbabwe, though she lives in London now.

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What Members Thought

Dec 21, 2015 Kristen rated it it was ok

Listened to as an audio book and I struggled to see the hype. It felt tedious, and the characters were mostly unlikeable and only occasionally empathetic. I also didn't find the mystery particularly compelling. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 17, 2016 Lacey Louwagie rated it liked it

Shelves: 2016-aty-reading-challenge, literary-fiction, thriller, infertility

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #3: A Winner of the Goodreads Reader's Choice Awards

I probably would have given this book four stars if it hadn't been for all the hype.

It wasn't a bad book; it held my interest all the way through, which is something many three-star books do not do. I found Rachel to be sympathetic despite her flaws, and I liked the narrative choice to tell the story from the perspectives of three women whose lives were only tenuously connected to one another. All three wo Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #3: A Winner of the Goodreads Reader's Choice Awards

I probably would have given this book four stars if it hadn't been for all the hype.

It wasn't a bad book; it held my interest all the way through, which is something many three-star books do not do. I found Rachel to be sympathetic despite her flaws, and I liked the narrative choice to tell the story from the perspectives of three women whose lives were only tenuously connected to one another. All three women were fairly well developed, although the male characters remained fairly one-dimensional throughout.

Perhaps what really ruined this book for me were the rampant comparisons to Gone Girl. While both books deal with unreliable narrators and troubled marriages, this one does not have near the psychological dexterity or astuteness of "Gone Girl." It resorts far too often to plot devices that seem merely convenient -- such as Rachel's blackouts, or the vagueness of Megan's interactions with (view spoiler) Whereas in Gone Girl each piece felt meticulously fitted together, in this book I got the feeling that the author was making it up as she went along, so that when the killer was finally revealed, it didn't feel so much like a revelation as like the author looked at what she had written and decided, "Eh, I guess I can make this work."

The book's small cast of characters makes it feel claustrophobic, which is actually a point in its favor as it heightens the sense that danger is near and inescapable. I'm not quite sure what to make about some of its themes, though. While, on the one hand, I really liked (view spoiler), I was a little uncomfortable with the way the book seemed almost obsessed with babies and motherhood, from (view spoiler) While I understand that motherhood or the desire for motherhood can be a compelling motivator for women, this book made it feel like motherhood was the defining feature of being a woman.

In the end, this book is interesting because it's a bit of a small-casted soap opera with a murder thrown in, and not because it has something particularly substantial to say or a twist that you never saw coming. And I can't help but think less of the book because it puts on airs of accomplishing both those things. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

May 05, 2015 Megan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, bookclub, contemporary

Ahh, so good! I love that there are so many unlikeable characters and unreliable narrators. I can't say much because of spoilers, but if you like Gillian Flynn you should like this one. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 13, 2015 Marisa rated it it was ok

Shelves: grown-up-books

I bite my thumb at thee, The Girl on the Train.

This was like Gillian Flynn fan fiction. Totally Kool aid, none of the humor, none of the bite, none of the character development, very predictable plot twists. Blurg.

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Mar 28, 2016 Lissa Tsu rated it did not like it

Like Gone Girl, not my kind of read. Felt like a waste of my time with some really despicable people.

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Jul 16, 2016 Halsted Bernard rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I didn't enjoy listening to this audiobook, despite the talent of all three narrators. The story was dull, the "twist" obvious, and there isn't a single likable character in the entire book. I guess it *is* like "Gone Girl" in those respects. ...more

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Apr 08, 2015 Sandhya rated it liked it

Shelves: readforbookclub

April 7, 2015

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Mar 19, 2015 Julie rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015, 40-before-40-list

Mar 24, 2015 Mary rated it really liked it

Shelves: thriller

Apr 03, 2015 angeleen rated it liked it

1 like · Like

Apr 07, 2015 elise rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Apr 12, 2015 Ehrrin rated it really liked it

Shelves: completed-2015, book-riot-read-harder-2016

Apr 26, 2015 Leah Fitzgerald rated it really liked it

Shelves: kobo, 2015

May 21, 2015 Tamella rated it really liked it

Jun 07, 2015 MaryJean rated it liked it

Shelves: public-library

Jul 05, 2015 Mandy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015

Aug 13, 2015 Caroline Donahue rated it liked it · review of another edition

Aug 28, 2015 shera rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-on-kindle, read-in-2015

Sep 07, 2015 Jason Hensel rated it liked it

Sep 08, 2015 Anna West added it

Oct 15, 2015 Heather rated it really liked it

Dec 12, 2015 aimee rated it really liked it

Dec 21, 2015 Hannah rated it it was ok

Jan 11, 2016 Mary rated it liked it

Jul 01, 2016 cam rated it really liked it

Apr 02, 2017 Jessica rated it liked it · review of another edition

Sep 30, 2016 Kate McCartney marked it as to-read

Oct 06, 2016 Jenny marked it as to-read

Oct 08, 2016 Gwennie marked it as to-read

Jan 18, 2017 KT rated it really liked it

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