The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - GBR - Starting February 1st 2017

[Sarah Elizabeth]

The debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people's lives.

EVERY DAY THE SAME
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

UNTIL TODAY
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

[Sarah Elizabeth]

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins will be our 1st GBR for February 2017.

Please read at your own pace, and hide any spoilers ☺ You are welcome to join at any time during the month ☺

Happy Reading Everybody!

[Sarah Elizabeth]

Pre-Reading Questions -

Anybody got any thoughts on this one before we start?

Has anyone read anything similar to this before?

Anybody read anything else by this author previously?

[Maria]

OMG, I have this book! Even more excited to read it now!

[A.S.]

Will read it very soon!

[Halley]

LOVEEEE this book! I will re-read! Excited to see the movie too.

Everyone says to read Gone Girl if you like this book and vis/versa. I'm much more of a Girl on The Train fan!

[Guinevere]

I wanted to read this book since last year! Will definitely try to read it this Feb :)

[Bhavik (Semi Hiatus)]

I did read a few chaps and then gave it up coz I got bored.
Maybe February GBR will help me through this.
I guess Danielle steel bummed me too much.

[Lucy]

Excited to read this! :)

[tiberius]

Can't wait! Definitely going to read it on February

[Sarah Elizabeth]

14% (view spoiler)[ I feel really sorry for Rachel, her whole life is just a mess and she has no-one to turn to. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

27% (view spoiler)[ going into the house and taking the child outside does not put her in a good light. that must have been the argument that Megan saw when she heard screaming in the garden. I do still feel sorry for Rachel though. (hide spoiler)]

[Halley]

Argghh still on hold for this! Next in line though, so should come quickly. :) I think it has been about a year and a half since I read this. Excited to revisit, especially with the new movie.

[Kirsty]

20% (view spoiler)[ Rachel is a mess, you can't help but feel sorry for her. She has no one in her life to help her. It's a little slow at the moment but I am hoping that the pace will pick up soon. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

60% (view spoiler)[ I still feel sorry for Rachel, everything is just awful for her. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

67% (view spoiler)[ poor megan, its no wonder she can't sleep if she fell asleep in the bath and killed her own daughter. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

78% (view spoiler)[ so the baby wasn't her husbands or her therapists. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

87% (view spoiler)[ they were married for years yet she's never met his parents?! that's weird! (hide spoiler)]

[Lucy]

Going to start this today :)

[Maria]

I just finished the book but I don't understand one thing- (view spoiler)[ since it was only Kamal who knew about the dead baby, it must be him who told the police about it right? He got the news published ...but why would he do that? What was his motive? (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

Maria wrote: "I just finished the book but I don't understand one thing- [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ it must have been him that told the police, I'm guessing the press found out when the police went to find the body though. (hide spoiler)]

[Sea]

15%
I'm loving the gritty, grimy neo-noir tone of the book.
(view spoiler)[I'm trying my best to keep up with the jumpy timeline of the narration, but it's a bit disorienting (purposefully, I'm sure). I feel like I'm inevitably going to miss some important detail at one point or another. (hide spoiler)]

[Kirsty]

54%: (view spoiler)[ I was expecting that from Megan's story when she started I thought she was going to say that she had a miscarriage but I was not expecting that. It must have been really difficult for her. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

Kirsty wrote: "54%: [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ such a sad story ☹ (hide spoiler)]

[Kirsty]

70% (view spoiler)[ This is getting better now. When I first started it, it was really slow but now the pace has really picked up. I can't wait to find out what happened there have been so many twists and turns. (hide spoiler)]

[tiberius]

3.5 stars.
From all them reviews and all the love the book got, I was expecting more.
It was a lovely read though.

[tiberius]

Bhavik wrote: "I did read a few chaps and then gave it up coz I got bored.
Maybe February GBR will help me through this.
I guess Danielle steel bummed me too much."

It got better towards the middle

[Kirsty]

Finished: (view spoiler)[ This wasn't as good as I was expecting but still a good read. It started off a little too slow for my liking but the pacing really picked up towards the end. I wasn't expecting how everything was going to end but I had guessed that Tom had killed Megan. (hide spoiler)]

[Sea]

@Kirsty (view spoiler)[I so did not see that coming. It makes everything about her understandable. Like, no wonder she feels the way she does, having held that secret to herself for so many years. (hide spoiler)]

61%
(view spoiler)[It was so nice when Rachel was focused and sobering up, when she had some intention. Now she's just starting to fall tighter and more completely into an orbit around creepy Scott. (hide spoiler)]

[Sea]

72%
(view spoiler)[Anna has got to be my least favorite character at this point. It's an interesting juxtaposition that Megan and Rachel were both terrible at the beginning, but you began to understand why, whereas Anna had nothing but the benefit of the doubt to start and is becoming horrible. (hide spoiler)]

[Sumayah]

Yourbooks wrote: "Bhavik wrote: "I did read a few chaps and then gave it up coz I got bored.
Maybe February GBR will help me through this.
I guess Danielle steel bummed me too much."

It got better towards the middle"

totally agree, I felt a little bit bored at the beginning and stopped reading for a long time, but then when I got to the middle I just couldn't stop

[Antonia]

Sarah wrote: "Pre-Reading Questions -

Anybody got any thoughts on this one before we start?

Has anyone read anything similar to this before?

Anybody read anything else by this author previously?" I haven't read a similar type of book before-though i really wanted to read it after all of the reviews

[Antonia]

Maria wrote: "I just finished the book but I don't understand one thing- [spoilers removed]"
When i finished the book I was trying to figure out the same thing!!! I was so surprised till the very end (view spoiler)[ when tom had actually killed her, from the beginning I thought it was Kamal!!! (hide spoiler)]

[Antonia]

Kirsty wrote: "Finished: [spoilers removed]"
Finished and quite liked it (view spoiler)[ really? I never thought that Tom was the one who actually killed her! When i got to the end i had to sit back and re think what had just happened and try and put all the pieces together (hide spoiler)]

[Angela]

I read this book earlier this month, actually the audio version. Which was awesome to listen to with the English accents and different voices - this also took care of any timeline jumping issues - the voices changed at the same time.

I really enjoyed it very much and its not my typical genre.

(view spoiler)[ I really enjoyed this book. Immediately felt something for Rachel and how she was stuck in her loop of alcoholism, but knew what she was doing wasn't good for her, but how her interest in this case kept her sober for a bit. I enjoyed the slow delivery of the story of Megan. I really enjoyed the end and the twist with Tom. I was also happy with how Anna did right by Rachel in the end. (hide spoiler)]

[Corrine]

20% (view spoiler)[ I feel bad for Rachel getting evicted as that takes another person from her. I am finding it slow to read, so I hope that changes soon. (hide spoiler)]

[Corrine]

45% (view spoiler)[I have to say that Anna seems threatened by Rachel and I can't blame her. On the other hand I feel bad for Rachel being shut out to any person she wants to talk to. (hide spoiler)]

[Maria]

Antonia wrote: "Maria wrote: "I just finished the book but I don't understand one thing- [spoilers removed]"
When i finished the book I was trying to figure out the same thing!!! I was so surprised till the very e..."

Of course! And when Rachel went to him, (view spoiler)[and he smiled at her, she said she saw the killer in him! How were we supposed to not take that seriously?! (hide spoiler)]

[Corrine]

71% (view spoiler)[ Anna is looking really guilty right now. Looks like she destroyed Rachel's life and now is trying to frame her. I can't wait to see how this book ends. (hide spoiler)]

[Corrine]

Finished (view spoiler)[ I found this book difficult to follow, but I couldn't stop reading. I am glad that Anna did right by Rachel. In the end they weren't so different after all (hide spoiler)]

[Marla]

I read this a few months ago with my real life book club, so I wanted to wait so I didn't give any spoilers.

I also thought the book started out very slow and I didn't like any of the characters. (view spoiler)[ I did like the part where Rachel dreams up stories for the people she sees from the train. But Rachel's alcoholism and misery were tough to watch. I thought the author did a good job about pointing us to different killers throughout the book. I'm glad that Anna redeemed herself in the end. (hide spoiler)]