Books Read: Paula Hawkins - The Girl on the Train

Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy. 

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. 

Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar. 

Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…

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During the latter part of 2014 there was a lot of hype surrounding The Girl on the Train, the first thriller written by the author as Paula Hawkins although she has previously published novels as Amy Silver, so when I saw it was available to request on NetGalley I downloaded a copy.    

We're introduced to Rachel who travels the same route on her daily commute where she finds herself watching the scenery as she passes but she has a particular fascination with one house along the rail track and couple who live there who she calls Jess and Jason.  But during one journey she sees something that causes her concern and her curiosity to discover what happened soon sees her life spiralling out of control.  However as we soon discover it's hard to know when Rachel is telling the truth as she's battling her own demons, so how much of what she thinks she saw is true and how much is fantasy?... 

On the most part I did enjoy The Girl on the Train and did find myself wanting to read 'just one more chapter' to see where the story was going to take us next through it's twists but at the same time I sometimes struggled as I didn't really like ANY of the characters.  Normally when I'm reading a book I find myself connecting with at least one character and find myself routing for them but in this book all the central characters were flawed, especially Rachel, but in a way I think that's why it worked so well and could definitely see this playing out well on screen.   

For me The Girl on the Train didn't quite live up to the hype, I'm definitely glad that I read it but it's certainly not one of the few books that I would read again in the future.  However I definitely will be keeping an eye out for news as to what Paula Hawkins has in store for us in her next novel.