I’d been seeing The Girl on the Train
The story centers on Rachel, an out-of-work, alcoholic, thirty-something that takes the 8:04 train into London every day. Every day the train stops right behind a row of houses and Rachel, looking for a distraction, notices a couple that lives in one of the houses. They look so happy and as the days pass, she feels like she gets to know them pretty well. Their life seems to be perfect, and their marriage seems to be happy.
But one day, Rachel sees something from the train that ruins all her fantasies. From that moment on, things get muddled and fuzzy. Rachel drinks too much so she’s a completely unreliable narrator. The book sometimes changes points of view and time so you have to pay close attention or things get confusing. I wanted to like this story a lot, I wanted the twist to be really good, and I wanted to be completely caught off guard, but those things just didn’t happen. As the end neared, I just wanted the book to be over and not just because I wanted to know the ending, it was just too wearing. I didn’t want to keep going with the story, I felt it was taking too long.
Have you read The Girl on the Train
my mom read it first and said it was good, but confusing because it centers on different people..and she thought it was all one person, which different personalities haha…i enjoyed it, but i didn’t have anything to compare it to (like girl with the dragon tattoo – since I’ve never read it). some of my friends said this book wasn’t all what it was cracked up to be, though.
I think there are smarter thrillers than this, it just felt lazy. You should read Gone Girl and then tell me if you still like Girl on the Train. 🙂
I just finished this book 2 days ago and I had the exact same reaction as you! I didn’t know much about the book going into it, just that it is hugely popular and had been compared to Gone Girl. I thought it was very disappointing with unlikeable characters, confusing jumping around in times and perspectives and otherwise just wearing as you said. I finished it because I kept thinking there would be a pay-off at some point but there never was. I am still surprised by all the hype.
Exactly! I need at least one character to like or feel sorry for or the book just doesn’t work for me. There was no one in Girl on the Train that I cared about even a little bit.
I picked up this book because I heard an interview with the author on NPR. It sounded so interesting, the premise of looking at what you see out the train window and imagining the peoples’ stories. But it was a bit more “dark” than I was expecting. And kind of depressing, to see life thru the main characters’ eyes. I would have gone a totally different direction with the basic premise.
I missed that interview but, you’re right, there was so much potential that was lost in the actual execution. Blah.
I was not a fan of this one! I hated every single character, and I found it to be a little too predictable (but then again, maybe I just read too many mystery novels growing up!). i also felt like there was so much dead air (figuratively, of course). There were certain chapters that I think should have just been cut completely during the editing process because NOTHING HAPPENED.
I agree! I actually wondered who edited the book and let so much fluff go through! (I mean, I couldn’t write a fiction novel, but I’m a really good critic. ha.)
I read it a couple months ago, it was a disappointment, but not terrible. There weren’t any likable characters really.
Not a single one! They were all horrible, I agree.