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What Members Thought
Compelling and intense! Will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page.
Part of me can see the appeal of this, the acclaim it's received. But part of me doesn't quite: clearly the author is borrowing several old tropes (for example, a dash of Christie's 4:05 from Paddington) and not doing anything particularly original with them. I'm also tired of unlikeable narrators and while I grant that Rachel's alcoholism gives her the ability to make stupid decisions, like calling her ex multiple times a day/night, that didn't make her sympathetic.
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Depressing as hell, but I found the ending satisfying.
3.5. Entertaining, but plenty of plot holes and problems.
Perfect for reading on a plane.
I started "reading" this as an audiobook and simply could not get through it - no clue why as I liked the narrators well enough. I think it was probably just too slow-moving for me. So when I found it as an ebook I switched and finished within 2 days!
I mostly liked it. Once I got properly into it, it was very difficult to put down, and although Rachel's self-destructive behaviour really bugged me at times, it got better through the book, and obviously served a purpose.
The book had me guessing un ...more
I mostly liked it. Once I got properly into it, it was very difficult to put down, and although Rachel's self-destructive behaviour really bugged me at times, it got better through the book, and obviously served a purpose.
The book had me guessing un ...more
Normally I don't read books like this -- the hot new fiction thriller by a new writer -- but it seemed like everyone in the 50 Books a Year group was reading it, as well as someone I know and like, then it won for a group read, so I decided to see what all the fuss was about.
And for me, it totally wasn't worth it. I didn't like Rachel, the main main character. Her going on and on about her drinking made me skim SO much of the sections about her. I did like Megan, a secondary main character, and ...more
And for me, it totally wasn't worth it. I didn't like Rachel, the main main character. Her going on and on about her drinking made me skim SO much of the sections about her. I did like Megan, a secondary main character, and ...more
I had my doubts about this book, since people were comparing it to "Gone Girl," a book I loathed. But happily, the comparison between the two end with the "missing wife" scenario. The story is told by a few different narrators, but the most compelling in Rachel, an alcoholic who has an unhealthy obsession with her ex-husband and his new wife and baby. Rachel has been fired, but still takes the train every day to give her roommate the impression that she is still working. While riding the train,
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Aug 02, 2015
Marianne
added it
I had people telling me I had to read this, so I did. Very disappointed. I did not care for the alcoholic main character--unreliable. In fact, most of the characters I disliked. The plot did keep me reading, but with no connection with the characters I felt unsatisfied at the end.
Not bad; kept me turning the pages, and Rachel is a really great portrait of someone who knows exactly how her behavior is keeping her life in the toilet, but just can't seem to stop herself. So that's great.
There aren't really any likable characters (which is not a dealbreaker), and all the women are, one way or another, obsessed with the question of babies (not motherhood, but Having a Baby), and a lot of the plot hinges on lost memories that are miraculously recovered.
But yeah, I ploughed th ...more
There aren't really any likable characters (which is not a dealbreaker), and all the women are, one way or another, obsessed with the question of babies (not motherhood, but Having a Baby), and a lot of the plot hinges on lost memories that are miraculously recovered.
But yeah, I ploughed th ...more
I gave this novel 4 stars only because it was SO hard to like any of these ultra-needy, ugly characters. As far as a thrilling page turner goes, however, this one is off the charts.
Highly recommend as a murder mystery/thriller. One of the few books I have completed in 2 days!
Highly recommend as a murder mystery/thriller. One of the few books I have completed in 2 days!
It was fine. Actually not badly written. Super contrived and very unlikeable people.
Page turner!
May 08, 2016
Kelly
marked it as to-read
