The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Well worth the wait! I have been salivating over this book for months as it sat in my queue of Upcoming Books. From the moment I read the first sentence, I was captivated. It was hard to put down and it only took me two days to read!
A good suspense novel is always my Kryptonite. This book had so much suspense built up from the beginning. Just the description of the pile of clothing next to the train tracks was intriguing. But, the most intriguing was Rachel’s people watching from the train and the fact that she has made up an imaginary world about the people she sees every day. I think about all of the times I watch people in public places and make up stories about them. It’s such a day-dreamy thing to do and can be innocent but this book takes it to another level.
Usually when I read a book for book club, I mark pages that have great quotes. This book took me until well past the middle of the book to start making notes. And with good reason, I didn’t know I was waiting for Tom to be discovered. There are three quotes that, to me, make this book and send chills up my spine.
The first quote by Tom is simple: “I’m a good liar (page 237).” He actually says it a few times throughout the book but this recollection by Rachel of him saying this over and over again is chilling. Little did we know that everything about him is a lie and that Rachel’s life is all based on his lies. All of her memories and her current life is based on the lies he fed her and basically drove her to being an alcoholic.
This leads to Tom’s second chilling quote: “You were blind drunk, Rachel (page 257).” By “blind drunk”, he must mean that she blacked out and had no recollection of her actions while inebriated. But what he doesn’t say is that her recollections have been fed to her by him and they are all based on a lie. I think that this is how he got her out of his life by making her feel guilty for being abusive and being a terrible wife (all based on a lie).
The pivotal quote and the beginning of Tom’s demise has to be “I loved you both, I really did, but you can both be incredibly weak (page 293).” Everyone knows what happens when a man disrespects us like this…yup, death! I think as soon as he insulted Anna, he sealed his fate. Anna was not going to be clumped into a group with Rachel and seen as a weak person. Anna knew she had been duped and she would not stand to be manipulated by Tom, or anyone else for that matter. Her ally became Rachel but only as a means to an end.
I do have to admit that it wasn’t as good as Gone Girl for suspense and details but very read-worthy and got my head racing nonetheless.
Here are some questions to my readers:
Who was your first guess on who killed Megan? The husband? Rachel?
When did you figure out it was Tom or were you surprised until the end?
What did you think of the characters in this book? Are they all tragic? Are they all flawed? How?
Do you people-watch and do you create “lives” for strangers?
Did you like this book? Was it what you anticipated?
What was your opinion of Rachel? Did you sympathize with her or dislike her? Did your opinion change?
What did you think of the ending? Was it warranted or would you have chosen a different outcome?
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