The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

"Every day Rachel rides the train into London, gazing out the window at her old street. She often sees a young couple that lives a few houses down from where she once lived, when she was married and happy. She likes to pretend that the couple she sees is passionately in love but when she sees something that shatters that dream, she decides to get involved and is soon entangled in a desperate web of lies, half-truths, betrayal and murder. This book once again had all the hype but for me, it just didn't quite deliver." 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pros: Another book that kept me guessing and curious until about 60% of the way through. Since I’ve read that far, I might as well finish it but it’s been a frustrating reading trend lately. 

Cons: None of the characters in this book were honest or very likable IMO/Another book that had all the hype but just ended up being obnoxious and tiresome by the end. 

Full Review: 

Rachel rides the train into London every morning. And every morning she passes by an old Victorian where she sometimes sees the couple who lives there. She’s made up a life for them. One of love, beauty and understanding. It brings her comfort on her daily commute. 

It’s much needed comfort as we soon learn that Rachel is not well and her life is far removed from the one she imagines for that couple she sees from the train window every day. She’s divorced, an alcoholic and quickly spiraling towards rock bottom. 

The house she sees every morning also happens to be on the same street where she used to live. Where she was married, happy and in love with her husband Tom. She tries not to look at her old house since it only causes her pain and she has enough of that now. 

Things take a turn when she sees the woman on her terrace and a man comes out to kiss her. A man who is not her husband. Rachel is filled with rage, knowing first hand what an affair does to a marriage. She decides that it’s up to her to tell the man that she sees from the train of his wife’s unfaithfulness. 

Of course, when she goes to do so later that night, she’s so wasted that the next morning she has no memory of what she said or did. All she knows is that she’s covered in blood and bruises and fears something terrible has happened. She soon learns that the woman is missing and Rachel is horrified, wondering what part she may have played in the woman’s disappearance. 

This was another book that had all the hype but failed to deliver. All of the characters were unreliable, dishonest and extremely unlikable and the plot, though interesting enough to keep me reading just became overdone and obnoxious by the end. I’m glad I read it because I finally know what all the hype was about but unfortunately, it failed to deliver any sort of satisfying conclusion.