The Girl On The Train

Hmm. Where do I even begin with this book? I purchased The Girl On The Train back in March or something like that off of a voucher that I specifically saved for it as I loved the look of the cover. There was (and still is) a lot of hype surrounding this novel on how it was as good as 'Gone Girl' and it was one of the best books of the year. I really wanted to love this book and I literally took so many pauses reading it that I only finished it today but there was just something that was missing for me. I did get really into it towards the end though because I start to get impatient and need to know what happens ha!

The Girl On The Train follows the story of a woman named Rachel who takes the same commuter train everyday going past her old house that her ex husband now shares with his new wife. A couple of doors down lives Jess and Jason who Rachel sees as being the perfect couple living the perfect life. She has pretty much created their whole life story from her imagination and attentively watches them for afar. Jess and Jason turn out to be not so perfect after all as we found out they are actually Scott and Megan when she disappears mysteriously one night and is never seen again. Rachel remembers something that night and she can't just quite figure out why. She also saw Megan in her garden one day with who she believed to be another man so she uses this piece of 'evidence' to get involved with the case as she just can't keep away. The novel revolves around Megan's disappearance and gradually unravels telling us just what happened that night she went missing.

I really enjoy murder mysteries so this book seemed like it would be right down my street. One of my biggest struggles for me was that I could not find any one of the characters likeable. The book is narrated by three woman: Rachel, Anna and Megan. Rachel is very bitter about her divorce and cannot distance herself from her ex husband, Tom and his new wife, Anna. Rachel has a lot of issues and I honestly don't think she helps herself sometimes with the situations that she gets herself into but I did feel I felt sorry for her towards the end of the book. She really is a bit of a lost cause who can't let go and I feel the other characters can be a bit mean to her. I found Anna to be a bit irritating for this reason as she was very defensive and quick to jump at Rachel for 'harassing' her family. I will say she did redeem herself a little by the end of the novel though! Megan seems to narrate the story less the other two and like Rachel, she's a very complex character. She is also a bit of a loss cause who I couldn't help feel a little sorry for but like Rachel, she just couldn't help herself at times. The two male leads, Scott and Tom were very interesting with their behaviour at times too. I just didn't feel a connection with any of them and I always have a favourite character in everything I consume entertainment wise.

I found the book to be a little slow at times and sometimes confusing the way the narrative jumped about whether it being in the past with Megan or relieving a moment with Anna that we had just read as Rachel. It could be a little repetitive in this sense but I did find the book very gripping on the last 50 pages or so when the answers were revealed. I thought I had it sussed but it took a completely different turn at the last moment! I feel that because it took me so long to read it, I forgot a lot of the fine details so I may have been more gripped and likely to have sussed the killer out accurately if I read it quicker. The last couple of chapters were nuts though and I can't say much more than that to keep it spoiler free! I think like Gone Girl this is going to be a love/hate novel but I'm sad to say I enjoyed that much more. I will watch the film version of The Girl On The Train though as I think it will play out well on the big screen. Kate Mara is rumoured to be in it too so that totally sells it for me!

If you've read The Girl On The Train, what did you think of it?