Review: The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked up this book *exactly* because I enjoyed the movie “Gone Girl”, and lots of reviews characterized this as a grittier and faster “Gone Girl”. I have enjoyed it, and the comparisons to the aforementioned hit is unavoidable. Since I didn’t actually read “Gone Girl” (only saw the movie), I cannot say whether it’s grittier and faster-paced, but it didn’t strike me as either.

What did strike me was the character building in the book. The small cast is well developed, with layers upon layers of reasons, secrets, regrets, desires, and all sorts of emotional baggage. Not that there aren’t any holes in the characters stories - there are huge gaps in their history, in their thinking, there are many things that get only alluded to but never explained. Also, I get the impression that the author (a woman) and her characters are all basically sexists; the women are defined by their relationship to men, and by their pregnancies and kids, while the men are mostly misogynist sociopaths. Still, they are all complex, realistic and generally messed up individuals (hey, all societies are full of women and men just like that!).

The story centers on Rachel, an alcoholic whose life is in shambles, but that one day witnesses something from the train that puts her in the middle of a murder mystery. Her story is tortuous, sometimes torturous; it’s painful to hear it. This is not an action-packed thriller, it’s a slow unraveling of people and mysteries. I found it very enthralling; I suppose it’s a car-crash rubbernecking effect. The denouement is not specially surprising, but the execution is good enough. In the end, it’s an interesting read.

View all my reviews