The Girl on the Train in What's the Name of That Book???

Mar 08, 2016 El rated it it was ok

Shelves: peer-pressure, 21st-centurylit

Everyone has been raving about this book for so long now, including my endocrinologist. He mentioned it to me last year, being used to seeing me with a book in my hand at each of my appointments, and he insisted I read it. Like maybe as part of my treatment. I said I'd get around to it originally. He was all "But it's the next Gone Girl!" as if that would be reason for me to drop everything to pick this book up. Keep in mind, I gave Gone Girl (and Dark Places and Sharp Objects) three stars. It w Everyone has been raving about this book for so long now, including my endocrinologist. He mentioned it to me last year, being used to seeing me with a book in my hand at each of my appointments, and he insisted I read it. Like maybe as part of my treatment. I said I'd get around to it originally. He was all "But it's the next Gone Girl!" as if that would be reason for me to drop everything to pick this book up. Keep in mind, I gave Gone Girl (and Dark Places and Sharp Objects) three stars. It was good, but not amazing.

This wasn't amazing, nor did I find it particularly good either.

I found the writing to be clunky and, at times, a bit confusing. One moment the character is doing one thing and then the next she's on the train, but there's no transition, so it's jarring. I don't like that.

As far as a mystery goes, it was okay, though rather uneventful and somewhat obvious. I'm not one of those people who goes out of her way to try to figure out the plot twist or the whodunit, and then complain about how I'm so smart that a book didn't work out for me. That's not the case here, I swear. I didn't go into it trying to figure it out, but knew that something would happen (because people keep talking about something happening), and it just sort of made sense to me. The thing that makes this book different from many other like it is a lot of the perspective is from the woman on a train. But there even wasn't nearly enough of that for what I expected. (view spoiler)

Anyway, it was fine, and I would love to be able to tell my endocrinologist that I read it finally except he's leaving the system and I'm in mourning over it. I should send him an email telling him reading this book made my non-existent thyroid hurt.

It felt to me as if the author was trying too hard to be the next Gillian Flynn (which is an unfair statement to make about any author, and I apologize for that) and/or to be the next Andrew Weir and get the book turned into a movie pretty quickly. The latter has happened again, so kudos on that. I will see the movie when it's released, and I'm already eager about one of the casting choices.
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Jan 04, 2016 Kate rated it really liked it

Shelves: age-adult, thriller, 2016

Rachel likes to watch people from the train - especially Jason and Jess, the perfect-looking couple who live down the street from where she used to live. They help her not think about her ex-husband and the woman he was cheating with, and their new baby, until the day Jess goes missing... coinciding with a night Rachel drunkenly (as in black-out drunk) wandered down to her old house.

Jess's real name is Megan, and in entries from before her disappearance, she chronicles a life with a jealous, pos ...more

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Apr 19, 2015 Jeff rated it it was amazing

Shelves: hardboiled_crime_read, cult_books

Okay, interesting back story on how I came upon The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. I really didn't pay any intention to this book before I started noticing insane numbers on the hold list for this book. A good example is The Philadelphia Free Library which has, as I write this review, 1172 patrons on the hold list for it.

It was then I remembered getting a copy of it when it first came out and, like The Other Typist and A Pleasure and a Calling, wasn't sure I'd ever get around to reading it, ...more

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Jun 06, 2015 Jennie rated it liked it

3.5. Entertaining, but plenty of plot holes and problems.

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Jul 05, 2015 Ruth Soz rated it really liked it

Shelves: novels, suspense-thriller

I can understand why this has raced up the charts. This is one of the best thrillers I have read in a very long while. I loved how the author kept me changing my mind about the characters and kept me guessing until close to the end.

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