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Book Review of The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train
robinmy avatar reviewed on + 2050 more book reviews


Every morning Rachel takes the passenger train to London. Every evening she takes it back home. She sits at a window seat and knows all the stops. At one stop there is a row of homes, one of which she used to live in. Now her ex-husband Tom, along with his new wife and daughter live in it. Not wanting to dwell on her ex-husband and his new life, Rachel concentrates on another home in the same development. She sees a man and woman that she names "Jason & Jess". Their lives seem perfect. They are her ideal couple...until one day she sees something that startles her. That day everything changes.

I heard a lot of good and bad things about this book, so I wasn't sure whether I'd like it. It took about 50 pages for me to really get into the story. The style of writing reminds me of "Gone Girl" with the story being told from three different perspectives. The characters are very human with real flaws. The main character, Rachel, is a train wreck. She drinks too much, has blackouts, loses her job, obsesses over her ex and his new wife, and makes some of the dumbest decisions I've ever heard of. But as I read the book, I wanted her to stop drinking and take charge of her life. Stop letting outside forces pull her down.

The mystery is pretty good with some twists and turns. Near the middle of the book, I took a stab at how it would end and guessed it right. But I didn't guess at how the author would let us see who the villain was in this story. My rating: 4 Stars.