The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

ISBN-13: 9780857522313
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: 15 January 2015
Format: Hardcover, 320 pgs
Source: Purchased

Honestly speaking, this book isn't supposed to be on my priority reading list. Well, I do want to read it at some point but the hype and all the glowing reviews I read have made me change my mind. 

To avoid spoilers, my thoughts on this book would be vague and the characterisations is about all I could say. The story is told in three perspectives: Rachel, Megan and Anna. Three different women who aren't really happy with their life. Rachel is a divorcee but couldn't seem to get her ex-husband, Tom, out of her mind. She is also an alcoholic. Megan is a married woman who seems blissful in her marriage but she has a secret no one knows. She's also living in an area where Rachel used to live before the divorce, and there's a railway track nearby. Anna is the current wife of Tom. The three women's lives become inexorably intertwined after Rachel found an interesting couple during her regular train rides that would later change all their lives altogether. 

After reading The Girl on the Train, I can understand why it is a top seller. It is suspenseful and there is something about unreliable narrators that makes you wonder about their voices and behaviours and whether or not should you believe them. And in most cases they aren't likeable characters, either. Still, I enjoy reading books with such narrators because they are unpredictable and it is always fun to see if my guess is correct in the end. 

I know there are mixed reviews on this book, and while I felt it compelling it didn't 'wow' me the way I had wanted it to be. Still, it was a page-turner and I enjoyed reading it. I wasn't surprised that this book has been optioned for film by DreamWorks and I am curious to see how it would turn out with the film adaptation. I would definitely be on a look out for Ms. Hawkins' next release.