From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…

The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins

Start date: May 10, 2015

Finish date: June 5, 2015

Discussion: 2015 Challenge Prompts

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2015 Challenge Prompts

Prompt 25: A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
By Ann · 67 posts · 992 views

last updated Jan 17, 2023 03:51PM

Prompt 39: A book with magic
By Ann · 48 posts · 446 views

last updated Jan 02, 2019 05:46AM

What Members Thought

Feb 21, 2015 Sara rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015-reads

There have been many comparisons made between this book and Gone Girl. I will start by saying that I detested Gone Girl. Honestly, had I been reading that book in print rather than on my Kindle I would have thrown it against the wall. The good news is that I did not have a similar reaction to this book! I can't say it was an amazing book, but it held my attention. I pretty much read this in one sitting (it was snowing and I didn't have much else to do) and found myself wanting to know what had r ...more

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Nov 19, 2016 Megan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: international-reads, mysteries-thrillers-suspense, tea-and-tomes-book-club-books, uk-and-ireland, europe, contemporary, library-loans

To be rated/reviewed closer to next month's book club discussion (combining Nov & Dec selections :))

While I had a hard time feeling much empathy for most of the characters, I enjoyed the twists and turns the story took, which is probably why I enjoyed this one more than the book club member who nominated it. I didn't figure out where the story was going and liked that it kept me guessing, and slightly off-kilter. Although, some of my guessing had to do with asking myself WHY Rachel was doing wha ...more

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Feb 21, 2015 Lisa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller-action-mystery

This book was an intense page turner yet one that took me forever to read. If you have read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn then you get the same general vibe from reading this book. The characters are all unlikable and the narrators are unreliable. This book made me stressed out in such a way that I had to read other books at the same time to give me a break from it all. Even though I needed to find out the ending, I dreaded the thoughts of being in these character's minds.
The story is told from the ...more

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Jan 02, 2017 Kristin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I usually get to 'hyped' books late in the game but this one was on my 'To Read' list when I started hearing about it all the time, so I figured I'd read it while it was still pretty popular. It was a pretty good book, but not among the best I've ever read nor one I think I need to read again to understand everything, as Hawkins tells the story in meticulous detail. Generally, I stay away from books set overseas simply because I have a hard time geographically imagining the scenes. If an author I usually get to 'hyped' books late in the game but this one was on my 'To Read' list when I started hearing about it all the time, so I figured I'd read it while it was still pretty popular. It was a pretty good book, but not among the best I've ever read nor one I think I need to read again to understand everything, as Hawkins tells the story in meticulous detail. Generally, I stay away from books set overseas simply because I have a hard time geographically imagining the scenes. If an author writes about taking a Philadelphia to New York bus, I know it's about an hour long bus ride, but if a bus is going from London to Cardiff, Wales, I have no idea if it's a short commuter trip, an overnight journey, or something in between, nor what either city looks like or the cultural markers the characters may encounter. However, 'The Girl on The Train' had a very American feel, so I didn't feel so lost. In fact, the author referred early in the book to a distance measured in feet, then another measurement in meters in the next sentence, which did strike me as odd, as I can't say I ever use the metric system outside of work, where it's easier to work with volumes in mL and L than cups/quarts/gallons etc., so the casual flipping between the two systems in the book surprised me (unless editors changed measurements to make the book more appealing to Americans).
The plot itself was intriguing, as Rachel, the title 'Girl', rides a commuter train back and forth every day and passes the neighborhood where she used to live with her ex-husband, Tom. Tom still lives in the house with his new wife, Anna, and their baby, but it's another house in the neighborhood, occupied by 'Jess' and 'Jason' that intrigues Rachel. Although she has never met this couple and thus doesn't know their real names, the few seconds of their lives Rachel observes every day convince her they are the happily married, successful couple living the life she always dreamed she would have with Tom, before he left her for Anna. She still longs for Tom and despises Anna, but her attempts to contact him and convince him to reconcile never turn out well.
One day on her way to the train station, she sees in the paper that something has happened over the weekend that makes her question whether Jason and Jess were living the perfect life at all. Rachel also realizes she was in the neighborhood, on one of her attempts to reconcile with Tom, that Saturday night. However, she is also an alcoholic and is fully aware she experienced a blackout, but feels that if she keeps returning to the neighborhood, much to the displeasure of Tom and Anna, that something will jog her memory and she may be able to help the police.
I wouldn't call this a romance, but romance plays a big part. It is a mystery, though the suspect pool is rather small, and I was convinced the book would turn out completely different than it did, though I can't figure out how 'my' ending would have been justified. The majority of the book is narrated by Rachel, but Hawkins also gives us the perspectives of Jess (aka Megan) and the year of her life leading up to that fateful Saturday, and Anna as she deals with the constant presence of her husband's crazy drunk ex at certain pivotal plot moments.
Overall, an enjoyable, fairly quick read. I would probably read another book by Hawkins if the plot sounded interesting, but I won't add her to my 'must read' authors list.
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Aug 07, 2015 Alexandra rated it liked it · review of another edition

Stop comparing this to Gone Girl! Great read with enjoyable pacing and engaging format. But it is thankfully not a Gillian Flynn-style book. Swift read with a unique reveal. Go for it!

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