RossA reviewed The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Great thriller / mystery
5 stars
A great book that kept me gripped until the very end. Told for the viewpoint of three women, each with their own issues.
The Girl on the Train is a 2015 psychological thriller novel by British author Paula Hawkins that gives narratives from three different women about relationship troubles (caused by coercive/controlling men) and, for the main protagonist, alcoholism. The novel debuted in the number one spot on The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 2015 list (print and e-book) dated 1 February 2015, and remained in the top position for 13 consecutive weeks, until April 2015. In January 2016 it became the #1 best-seller again for two weeks. Many reviews referred to the book as "the next Gone Girl", referring to a popular 2012 psychological mystery, by author Gillian Flynn, with similar themes that used unreliable narrators.By early March, less than two months after its release, the novel had sold over one million copies, and an additional half million by April. It occupied the #1 spot of the UK hardback book …
The Girl on the Train is a 2015 psychological thriller novel by British author Paula Hawkins that gives narratives from three different women about relationship troubles (caused by coercive/controlling men) and, for the main protagonist, alcoholism. The novel debuted in the number one spot on The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 2015 list (print and e-book) dated 1 February 2015, and remained in the top position for 13 consecutive weeks, until April 2015. In January 2016 it became the #1 best-seller again for two weeks. Many reviews referred to the book as "the next Gone Girl", referring to a popular 2012 psychological mystery, by author Gillian Flynn, with similar themes that used unreliable narrators.By early March, less than two months after its release, the novel had sold over one million copies, and an additional half million by April. It occupied the #1 spot of the UK hardback book chart for 20 weeks, the longest any book has ever held the top spot. By early August, the book had sold more than three million copies in the U.S. alone, and, by October 2016, an estimated 20 million copies worldwide; by 2021, the book had sold an estimated 23 million copies worldwide. The audiobook edition, released by Books on Tape, was narrated by Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey and India Fisher. It won the 2016 Audie Award for "Audiobook of the Year".The film rights were acquired before the book was published, in 2014, by DreamWorks Pictures for Marc Platt Productions. The American film adaptation, starring Emily Blunt and directed by Tate Taylor, had its world premiere on 20 September 2016 in London before it had its theatrical release in the United States on 7 October.
A great book that kept me gripped until the very end. Told for the viewpoint of three women, each with their own issues.
This was a grim, interesting story pinned down through alcohol-fogged memories, a morass of lies and splintered memories colluding to make it a challenge to see the ending coming somewhat. I didn't click with the characters as I had hoped, and although it excelled at being a dark, compelling British read, I wasn't as hooked as I could have been.
a page turner that had a ridiculous ending. when I closed the back cover, my reaction was: meh. blackout drunks that can function (walk, talk, navigate)? and bringing other people into the husband's lies that could easily corroborate them (or not) wouldn't have happened. and, as a fellow bookclub member said: you knew who was the killer as soon as the third narrator showed up 1/3rd through the book (which is late for a narrator, and could only be for one purpose). so I'm glad I read this, since it's such a summer phenomenon, but it wasn't anywhere as good as Gone Girl.