“Yes, it is. It’s, like, when someone has an affair, why does the wife always hate the other woman? Why doesn’t she hate her husband? He’s the one who’s betrayed her, he’s the one who swore to love her and keep her and whatever forever and ever. Why isn’t he the one who gets shoved off a fucking cliff?”
Not quite the masterpiece that The Girl on the Train was, it still had that signature Paula Hawkins prose we are only just getting acquainted with. My biggest problem was neither plot or pacing--it was the insistent changing of narration that knocked my rating down just a bit. Once I grew used to it, I found the novel to be enjoyable; thrilling, thought provoking and maybe a little bit dangerous. As always, the psychological aspects of this mystery were on fire. You never know who to trust.
Paula Hawkins treats her fanbase to a story of love, loss and the damaging history of the waters in one small town. I enjoyed the elements of mystery and the questioning of deaths. The water has secrets of its own, I'm telling you. If water could talk... I'd certainly listen. Kicking things off with the mysterious element and dark history of the story at the center of things is one narrator we know only briefly--Libby. Her story is, perhaps, the darkest and most compelling. It leaves a mark on you even in the short moments we see the water through her eyes many, many years ago.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins | Rating: ★★★★★But then I think, this happens sometimes, doesn’t it? People you have a history with, they won’t let you go, and as hard as you might try, you can’t disentangle yourself, can’t set yourself free. Maybe after a while you just stop trying.
Let's start with one simple fact: this is one of my favourite mystery/thrillers from the last few years. I'm sure you've heard the buzz surrounding it, what-with it's big screen adaptation that came out this fall. A lot of people have been quick to call it out as literature's next Gone Girl. Which is equal parts fair and unfair: there are a great many similarities between the two novels but at the end of the day, it's its own story.
Paula Hawkins unleashed a deep, tangled up tale of mystery and intrigue with The Girl on the Train that won't be for everyone but it certainly was for me. I loved every minute on every page and couldn't help but to get lost in it. For the first time in years, I finished a novel only to reread it again that very week--I couldn't get enough of its inner workings and can honestly say that Hawkins is on the fast-track to being one of the next big authors in the literature world.
The Girl on the Train takes you by storm; weaving you into the minds of three women who all have at least a few things in common. Each voice is unique and full of life that you can't help but to love each of them in different ways. It is their flaws you love. It is their voice you love.
