The Girl on the Train
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Characters too lightly drawn?
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B.A.
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rated it 4 stars
Jan 07, 2016 08:08AM
I was a bit late to the party here, but I read it quickly as it is a page-turner. However, I didn't really enjoy it as much as I expected, I felt the characters were too lightly-drawn to really exist. For me, it's always the characters that make me read on. I do like Hawkins' style of writing, though, and I'm looking forward to reading the next one.
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totally agree. other than the main character (the alcoholic), i didn't feel that the characters were very well developed. they were more shadowy or lightly drawn. you couldn't really tell them apart by their behaviors and manner of speaking.
Yes, I think the excitement over such an interesting concept may have persuaded the publishers to go a bit early, when another couple of weeks would have given her time to flesh out the others.
they're making a sequel?
Really? How? Girl on a bender?!
You said her next one so I thought you meant sequel lol
You said her next one so I thought you meant sequel lol
Brooke wrote: "You said her next one so I thought you meant sequel lol"Right! Ha!
B.A., did you go in knowing all the comparisons to Gone Girl?I presumed the secondary characters were deliberately lightly drawn as you say so that we couldn't get a grip on their individuality to prolong the mysteries. Who died, who killed, etc.
Yes, and I do take your point. She did have to withhold information to stop us from guessing whodunit too quickly. Am I being too mean?
No, you are not being mean. it has taken me this long to let go of my aggravation due to the expectations built up from comparisons to GG. While I thought it was a decent enough book, I just couldn't see it until now. I think I called it average and trite at best but again, that was the reaction to the build up and hype talking.
Why have three female narrators if they all sound alike and are all bored in their marriages? I felt like the author should have provided actual photographs of each--at least give the reader a shot at keeping them straight. Same for the two husband characters, actually. Sloppy plotting with alcoholic blackouts at the core. At a few points, I wondered whether I'd blacked out myself, finding myself reading particularly disjointed narratives. If the GG comparison must be made, I'll take Ms. Flynn. Any of her three novels surpass this drek.
Carol wrote: "Why have three female narrators if they all sound alike and are all bored in their marriages? I felt like the author should have provided actual photographs of each--at least give the reader a shot..." I still think she can write, I just wasn't pulled into the narrative. Like you said Gillian Flynn's plotting is superb!
I just finished this book and I'm struggling with my review. I really didn't like it and I feel bad for the author. She can write, but the plot was not thrilling, the characters dull, the ending flat and the title bugs the heck out of me! What GIRL???? She is a divorced thirty something WOMAN!
Not to mention there is an old movie 'Lady on the train" 1945, with a similar story.
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