Before I even begin this post, let me acknowledge that I am quite behind in reading what’s new and popular since I just got around to reading The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins last month. So my apologies for the less than timely review; however at this point, most fiction fans have already read it, so I hopefully won’t be ruining anything for anyone.
My mother always taught me that if I didn’t have anything nice to say, I shouldn’t say it at all, but I am still scratching my head trying to figure out why so many people liked this book and why it became such a huge hit. Sure, I love me a good fast-paced, page-turning psychological fiction just as much as the next person, but I was mostly bored in all honesty. And to prevent boring you blog readers, I won’t get into the plot in any detail, except to mention the central voice in the book is that of Rachel; poor drunk, alone and pathetic Rachel. Accompanied by two other female characters Anna (whom is now married to Rachel’s ex husband, living in their old home) and Megan (the missing woman with whom Rachel becomes obsessed in solving her disappearance due to an alcohol induced black-out that has left her wonder about her involvement). To round out our cast of dysfunctional characters, we have Tom (Rachel’s ex who isn’t as he seems) and Scott (the distraught but potentially creepy husband to Megan). All in all, I didn’t find any of the characters overly interesting, but I felt a strong sense of annoyance reading Rachel’s narrative. I like to consider myself an empathetic person, but I remember thinking at one point, “what is wrong with this woman?” I also wasn’t all that interested in the plot or its twists; it felt mostly contrived and I actually thought the ending was rather weak.
Okay, now that I’ve said my scathing two-cents, I wouldn’t be a decent librarian if I didn’t conclude by suggesting some alternative titles in the same general genre that may be more worth the read…
And of course, if you have a differing opinion about The Girl on the Train, I’d love to hear from you!
For the Love of Books 