Review: The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

the lowdown
In a suburban area outside of London, Rachel rides the train into the city every morning and every evening. She is able to see the lives of those she passes each day, especially those of Jess and Jason, a couple whom she sees from the train every day. She sees their life as perfect - perfect husband, wife and home. Until one day, Rachel sees something she wish she hadn't. She unexpectedly becomes involved in a case and tells the police what she knows. Now Rachel is on a mission to put the pieces together and figure out what really happened that night and how she is involved in it all.

I literally just finished this book ten minutes ago and already I want to pick it up and start all over! I cannot get over the plot, the characters, the twists and the turns. I got goosebumps while reading, and only a fair amount of books have been able to do this to me. Paula Hawkins put her heart into this book and it shows. I am so glad I went out and bought and read it because this is a book not to be missed. The mind games that were played are great and it had me guessing at every turn of the page. I wanted to know what would happen next and if answers would be given. There was always a need of wanting to know and that made it hard to put the book down once I started reading. This book makes you think about the lives of those around you and what secrets they have and it makes you question your judgement of character. If a book ever makes you feel this way, then you know the author did a wonderful job at achieving their goal for their audience. This book is a must read for anyone a fan of Gillian Flynn and the thriller/mystery genre.

the good

• The characters in this book are so complex and their personalities shine through the pages. The way they interact and think make them feel as if you've known them your whole life. I wanted to jump into the book and sit there with Rachel and talk to Anna and have coffee with Megan. I wanted to help solve the case and bring forth justice to my 'friends'.
• The way Hawkins switches between the characters throughout the book really makes it all that more interesting because instead of begin given one point of view from one character, you get two or three and its their experiences, their feelings, their actions and their description of how things happened and what they were seeing, feeling and thinking when it was happening. You are able to get a whole picture and its not just one-sided or bias. 
• The writing and the descriptions throughout the book are amazing. I found myself willing to hear a train pass by and wish I lived near the tracks. I could see every detail Hawkins gave as if it was all on a map set out in front of me. The detail was down to "the pink curtain in the nursery" and its great to find an author who can give you all the minute details in a book. 

the bad

• The book had few spelling and grammatical errors. I found myself focusing on the errors as I found them along the way which took time away from my reading. I think the editing team should have tripled check to make sure the writing was up to par to what the author expected out of them. The errors are common and can be overlooked.

the quote
Because this book was really good, I found so many quotes that I wanted to list here but I only chose two.

"Life is not a paragraph, and death is no parenthesis."

"There are tears on her cheeks. She wipes them away, and as she does so something in her expression changes and her face loses all color. She's not looking at me, but over my shoulder, and as I turn around to follow her gaze, I see him at the kitchen window, watching us."

skip it/borrow it/buy it
 No doubt about this one: buy it! You'll thank me for it later. This book is one of the most thrilling and goose bump giving book I've read in a while.

overall score:9/10

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