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The Girl on the Train Paperback – July 12, 2016

4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 493,938 ratings

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The #1 New York Times Bestseller, USA Today Book of the Year, now a major motion picture starring Emily Blunt. 

The debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people's lives, from the author of Into the Water and A Slow Fire Burning.
 
“Nothing is more addicting than The Girl on the Train.”—Vanity Fair

The Girl on the Train has more fun with unreliable narration than any chiller since Gone Girl. . . . [It] is liable to draw a large, bedazzled readership.”—The New York Times
 
“Marries movie noir with novelistic trickery. . . hang on tight. You'll be surprised by what horrors lurk around the bend.”—USA Today
 
“Like its train, the story blasts through the stagnation of these lives in suburban London and the reader cannot help but turn pages.”—The Boston Globe

Gone Girl fans will devour this psychological thriller.”—People 
 
 
EVERY DAY THE SAME
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

UNTIL TODAY
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?
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From the Publisher

The psychological thriller that shook the nation. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.
Take another thrilling ride with the bestselling author of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Girl on the Train has more fun with unreliable narration than any chiller since Gone Girl. . . . The Girl on the Train is liable to draw a large, bedazzled readership too. . . . The Girl on the Train is full of back-stabbing, none of it literal.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

The Girl on the Train marries movie noir with novelistic trickery. . . hang on tight. You'll be surprised by what horrors lurk around the bend.”—USA Today

“Like its train, the story blasts through the stagnation of these lives in suburban London and the reader cannot help but turn pages. . . . The welcome echoes of
Rear Window throughout the story and its propulsive narrative make The Girl on the Train an absorbing read.”—The Boston Globe

“[
The Girl on the Train] pulls off a thriller's toughest trick: carefully assembling everything we think we know, until it reveals the one thing we didn't see coming."—Entertainment Weekly 

Gone Girl fans will devour this psychological thriller. . . . Hawkins’s debut ends with a twist that no one—least of all its victims—could have seen coming.”—People 

“Given the number of titles that are declared to be 'the next' of a bestseller . . . book fans have every right to be wary. But Paula Hawkins’ novel 
The Girl on the Train just might have earned the title of 'the next Gone Girl.”—Christian Science Monitor 

“Hawkins’s taut story roars along at the pace of, well, a high-speed train. …Hawkins delivers a smart, searing thriller that offers readers a 360-degree view of lust, love, marriage and divorce.”—
Good Housekeeping

“There’s nothing like a possible murder to take the humdrum out of your daily commute.”—
Cosmopolitan

"Paula Hawkins has come up with an ingenious slant on the currently fashionable amnesia thriller. . . . Hawkins juggles perspectives and timescales with great skill, and considerable suspense builds up along with empathy for an unusual central character."—
The Guardian

“Paula Hawkins deftly imbues her debut psychological thriller with inventive twists and a shocking denouement.  … Hawkins delivers an original debut that keeps the exciting momentum of 
The Girl on the Train going until the last page.”—Denver Post

The Girl on the Train, Hawkins’s first thriller, is well-written and ingeniously constructed.” – The Washington Post
 
“The novel is at its best in the moment of maximum confusion, when neither the reader nor the narrators know what is occurring” – 
The Financial Times

“This fresh take on Hitchcock’s 
Rear Window is getting raves and will likely be one of the biggest debuts of the year.”—Omaha World-Herald

“Hawkins’s tale of love, regret, violence and forgetting is an engrossing psychological thriller with plenty of surprises. . . . The novel gets harder and harder to put down as the story screeches toward its unexpected ending.”—
Minneapolis Star Tribune

“A gripping, down-the-rabbit-hole thriller.”—
Entertainment Weekly Hotlist 

“The Thriller So Engrossing, You'll Pray for Snow: Send in the blizzards, because nothing as mundane as work, school or walking the dog should distract you from this debut thriller. A natural fit for fans of Gone Girl-style unreliable narrators and twisty, fast-moving plots, 
The Girl on the Train will have you racing through the pages."—Oprah.com

“It's difficult to say too much more about the plot of 
The Girl on the Train; like all thrillers, it's best for readers to dive in spoiler-free. This is a debut novel—Hawkins is a journalist by training—but it doesn't read like the work of someone new to suspense. The novel is perfectly paced, from its arresting beginning to its twist ending; it's not an easy book to put down. . . . . What really makes The Girl on the Train such a gripping novel is Hawkins' remarkable understanding of the limits of human knowledge, and the degree to which memory and imagination can become confused.”—NPR.org 

“[L]ike 
Gone Girl, Hawkins's book is a highly addictive novel about a lonely divorcee who gets caught up in the disappearance of a woman whom she had been surreptitiously watching. And beyond the Gone Girl comparisons, this book has legs of its own.”—GQ.com

“Paula Hawkins’ thriller is a shocking ride.” 
–US Weekly 
“An ex-wife indulges her voyeuristic tendencies in Paula Hawkins’s film-ready 
The Girl on the Train. In the post-Gone Girl era, crimes of love aren’t determined by body counts or broken hearts, but by who controls the story line.” –Vogue  
 
The Girl on the Train [is] a harrowing new suspense novel…a complex and thoroughly chilling psychological thriller… The Girl on the Train is one of those books where you can’t wait — yet almost can’t bear — to turn the page. It’s a stunning novel of dread.” –New York Daily News 
 
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins is a psychologically gripping debut that delivers.” –The Missourian
 
The Girl on the Train is the kind of slippery, thrilling read that only comes around every few years (see Gone Girl).” –BookPage 
                                              
“Hawkins, a former journalist, is a witty, sharp writer with a gift for creating complex female characters.” –
Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Girl on the Train is as tautly constructed as Gone Girl or A.S.A. Harrison'sThe Silent Wife, and has something more: a main character who is all screwed up but sympathetic nonetheless. Broken, but dear. . . . No matter how well it's written, a suspense novel can fall apart in the last pages, with an overly contrived or unbelievable ending. Here, The Girl on the Train shines, with its mystery resolved by a left-field plot twist that works, followed, surprisingly, by what you might call a happy ending.”—Newsday

“I’m calling it now: 
The Girl on the Train is the next Gone Girl. Paula Hawkins’s highly anticipated debut novel is a dark, gripping thriller with the shocking ending you crave in a noir-ish mystery.” –Bustle 

“Rachel takes the same train into London every day, daydreaming about the lives of the occupants in the homes she passes. But when she sees something unsettling from her window one morning, it sets in motion a chilling series of events that make her question whom she can really trust.”—
Woman’s Day

“Hawkins’s debut novel is a tangle of unreliable narrators, but what will have readers talking is her deft handling of twists and turns and her eerily fine-tuned narrative. This is one creepy, dark thriller. . . . The book is smartly paced and delightfully complex. Just when it seems Hawkins is leading us one way, Rachel, Anna, or Megan change the game. Nothing can be taken for granted in 
The Girl on the Train, not even the account of the girl herself.”—Las Vegas Weekly 

"Psychologically astute debut . . .  The surprise-packed narratives hurtle toward a stunning climax, horrifying as a train wreck and just as riveting."—
Publishers Weekly (starred review) 

“[A] chilling, assured debut. . . . Even the most astute readers will be in for a shock as Hawkins slowly unspools the facts, exposing the harsh realities of love and obsession's inescapable links to violence.”—
Kirkus (starred review)

“intricate, multilayered psychological suspense debut, from a staggered timeline and three distinct female narrators. Rachel, who is unabashed in her darker instincts, anchors the narrative. Readers will fear, pity, sympathize and root for her, though she's not always understandable or trustworthy. . . . En route to a terrorizing and twisted conclusion, all three women—and the men with whom they share their lives—are forced to dismantle their delusions about others and themselves, their choices and their respective relationships.”—
Shelf Awareness

"This month we're gearing up for Paula Hawkins's mystery 
The Girl on the Train. Its three narrators keep readers guessing as they try to suss out who's behind one character's shocking disappearance. Can you figure out who did it before they do?"—Martha Stewart Living

“What a thriller!”—
People Style Watch 

“Hawkins keeps the tension ratcheted high in this thoroughly engrossing tale of intersecting strangers and intimate betrayals. Kept me guessing until the very end.”—Lisa Gardner, #1 
New York Times–bestselling author of the Detective D. D. Warren series

“I simply could not put it down.”—Tess Gerritsen,
 New York Times–bestselling author of the Rizzoli and Isles series

“Gripping, enthralling—a top-notch thriller and a compulsive read.”—S. J. Watson,
New York Times–bestselling author of Before I Go to Sleep

“Be ready to be spellbound, ready to become as  obsessed. . . . 
The Girl on the Train is the kind of book you’ll want to press into the hands of everyone you know, just so they  can share your obsession and you can relive it.”—Laura Kasischke, author of The Raising 

“What a group of characters, what a situation, what a book! It’s Alfred Hitchcock for a new generation and a new era.”—Terry Hayes, author of 
I Am Pilgrim

“Artfully crafted and utterly riveting. 
The Girl on the Train’s clever structure and expert pacing will keep you perched on the edge of your seat, but it’s Hawkins’s deft, empathetic characterization that will leave you pondering this harrowing, thought-provoking story about the power of memory and the danger of envy.”—Kimberly McCreight, New York Times–bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia 

About the Author

Paula Hawkins worked as a journalist for fifteen years before turning her hand to fiction. The Girl on the Train is her first thriller. An international #1 bestseller, published in 50 countries and over 40 languages, it has sold over 11 million copies worldwide and has been adapted into a major motion picture starring Emily Blunt. Hawkins was born in Zimbabwe and now lives in London. 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Riverhead Books; Reprint edition (July 12, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1594634025
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1594634024
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.14 x 0.82 x 7.98 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 493,938 ratings

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Paula Hawkins
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PAULA HAWKINS worked as a journalist for fifteen years before writing her first novel. Born and brought up in Zimbabwe, Paula moved to London in 1989. Her first thriller, The Girl on the Train, has sold more than 23 million copies worldwide. Published in over fifty languages, it has been a Number 1 bestseller around the world and was a box office hit film starring Emily Blunt.

Paula's thrillers, Into the Water and A Slow Fire Burning, were also instant Number 1 bestsellers.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
493,938 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book well-written and engaging. They describe the story as suspenseful and intriguing. The writing style is described as fantastic and brilliant. Many readers find the book hard to put down and easy to follow along. However, some feel the first quarter of the book is depressing and boring.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

24,664 customers mention "Suspenseful"21,016 positive3,648 negative

Customers enjoy the suspenseful story. They find the parts compelling and the mystery intriguing. The book is described as a psychological thriller, similar to Gone Girl. Readers appreciate the clever setup and characterizations. The book is told from multiple perspectives, with revelations occurring at the end.

"...aftermath of loss, with their own pathologies and pathos, shines as a hypnotic and nimble new comer in a genre burdened down with rigid rehashing of..." Read more

"...It's a great first novel. That is, the story. The story is very creative and her telling of it, writing excluded, is engaging and makes you not wish..." Read more

"...Other important topics discussed in this book are mental illness, the role of women in society, whether you can really know someone, and when, if..." Read more

"...From there the novel unfolds as a mystery/thriller, not unlike Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl,” as Rachel becomes involved with the lives of those whose..." Read more

23,602 customers mention "Readability"23,317 positive285 negative

Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find it an interesting and enjoyable weekend read with well-done narrators and excellent plot and characterization. The book is described as an excellent movie.

"...The characterizations are spot on...." Read more

"...It's a great first novel and I sincerely hope that Ms. Hawkins won't feel overwhelmed and cursed by it...." Read more

"...This book would make an excellent movie. I hope that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck stay far, far away from it though. The key will be in the casting!" Read more

"...I think this is a great novel for those of you who are not big readers, or perhaps you are transitioning from young adult to adult books...." Read more

9,866 customers mention "Writing quality"7,539 positive2,327 negative

Customers enjoy the book's writing quality. They find it readable and engaging, with a good pace. The author has an imaginative style that brings the story to life. Many readers found the ending satisfying but not too tidy.

"...The selected sentences in this book were truly great quotes on what is a grueling battle, for some of us, to get through life...." Read more

"...While the pacing is generally very quick, I did feel a bit bored during the middle of the book, when I felt like the action slowed down a bit...." Read more

"...The books deserves 4.5 stars for story, characters, and writing, but the ending, with its unrealistic confession, was such a letdown and so poorly..." Read more

"...Does that mean it wasn’t well-written and well put together? No...." Read more

2,423 customers mention "Page turner"2,373 positive50 negative

Customers enjoy the book's engaging style. They find it easy to read and keep turning the pages until the end. The story keeps readers guessing and captivated from the start.

"...It’s definitely a page-turner, but it has a slow start. If you enjoy this genre, then I definitely recommend this book...." Read more

"...Any book, to me, that keeps me turning the pages and ignoring my work, my kitchen, and my dirty laundry for two straight days because I can’t put it..." Read more

"...If you want a real page turner and "whodunit" to read, put this one on your list." Read more

"...It was a compelling story and had aspects of a thriller which made it a page turner...." Read more

1,341 customers mention "Difficulty to put down"1,074 positive267 negative

Customers find the book engaging and easy to follow. They appreciate the seamless transition between the three main characters' voices. The set-up is good and the stories are complex but not confusing, keeping readers interested and unable to put the book down.

"...It's easy to read, easy to follow and there is no confusion, but hearing myself explain it, it did sound complicated...." Read more

"This book was hard to put down. It was a very fast and entertaining read. Would definitely read this one again!" Read more

"...It’s actually a perfect commuter read. Engaging but not too challenging – ideal for the girl (or boy) on the train." Read more

"...If I had the time, I would have read it all in one day. It's not hard. It's an easy, gripping read. That's why I'm giving it 4 stars...." Read more

7,382 customers mention "Character development"4,211 positive3,171 negative

Customers have different views on the character development. Some find the characters rich and nuanced, with a clear grasp of their motivations and personalities. Others feel that many of the characters are likable, with an overweight, drunk main character making poor decisions. The male characters are also mentioned as being given less attention.

"...She is a flawed but realistic character, one that I’ve identified more with than maybe any in any book I’ve read in a long time...." Read more

"...The imagery was strong but the characters seemed a little light; but that is what you come to expect from a thriller...." Read more

"...In addition to the well crafted plots, characters, terror, and suspense this book tells us how far we as a society need to go to respect women and..." Read more

"...train, is an alcoholic who has blackouts, which makes her a very unreliable narrator...." Read more

4,256 customers mention "Value for time"239 positive4,017 negative

Customers find the book depressing and boring. They find the characters unlikable and uninteresting. The ending is lackluster and not thrilling enough for them. Overall, the story feels unoriginal and clichéd.

"...Yes, many of the characters in this book do horrible and deplorable things, but I see most of them as having redeemable qualities as well...." Read more

"...is waking up in her bed, naked, bloodied, and hungover, no memories from the night before...." Read more

"...Her chapters were almost meaningless to read, and she was very boring. The men in the book were terrible too!..." Read more

"...Then, the ending came and it was lackluster...." Read more

3,428 customers mention "Pacing"762 positive2,666 negative

Customers find the book's pacing slow and dragging towards the end. They mention it lulls in certain parts and bounces back and forth through time.

"...bit bored during the middle of the book, when I felt like the action slowed down a bit. This is especially true, for me, in hindsight...." Read more

"...It’s definitely a page-turner, but it has a slow start. If you enjoy this genre, then I definitely recommend this book...." Read more

"...The women in this novel are unreliable, calculating and flighty, and the men are unquestionably flawed...." Read more

"...How emotive, cerebral and delicate this thriller truly is...." Read more

Page turner!
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We love an unreliable narrator and a Gone Gorl-type thriller. 10/10 would recommend
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2015
    Paula Hawkins melancholy tell of what happens to the survivor’s of murder victims as they go on living in the aftermath of loss, with their own pathologies and pathos, shines as a hypnotic and nimble new comer in a genre burdened down with rigid rehashing of the procedural tropes in many mystery thrillers.

    The story starts with Rachel piecing her life back together after being fired from her job. She is living with her flat mate Cathy, pretending to still be employed by riding the train into town each day, and generally snooping in the lives of her neighbors, imagining their specifics and superimposing her wishes on couples in her local park.

    She’s a lonely, self-loathing alcoholic, approaching the hill’s bend who may or may not have murdered a familiar woman in a blackout fit of rage. She keeps reaching into the missing spaces in her memories for those lost hours in hopes of discovering just what happened to the pretty blonde reported by the local press as missing.

    Along the way Rachel makes more than her fair share of missteps like attracting police attention toward her as a potential suspect when she really meant to aid the investigation, to identifying the wrong man as the murderer, causing his life undue pain, and even becoming friends with the victim’s husband, which blows up in her face when he confronts her about her lies.

    The characterizations are spot on. Thirty-somethings, self-involved and reflecting on their experiences to find meaning in their identities and daily lives. Enter Rachel the character with the story’s biggest narrative perspective, filled with angst and despairing after being fired for an alcohol fueled emotional breakdown at work. She looks for meaning in the lives of others and hopes to find someone to love her chubby body and crows feet ridden face.

    Meagan, the hot blond that everyman wants and every woman wants to be, is in similar shape. Her beauty is better, but her loneliness and longing are equally as strong as Rachel’s. The beautiful thing about Hawkins writing is she portrays these ladies desperate situations with striking visceral-ness. Their thoughts, feelings and perspective lunge from the page and right into your mind as the pieces of a real experience, though virtually distributed through the medium of the novel. In short these ladies breathe and live on and off the page.

    I would find myself feeling like, “Poor pretty Meagan—so sad.” not knowing that I’d feel less connection to her after I learned what she’d done to motivate her potential murderer.

    The roles were reversed for Rachel the books protagonist. I thought her quite unappealing at first when I thought she was a depressed and aging alcoholic. But when I discovered that she had several psychological pathologies, I loved her the way I love traffic pile-ups across the median.

    Memories and how they fade over time is the biggest thematic concept discussed in the pages of The Girl On The Train. From Rachel’s pure blackout, to Meagan’s more nuanced memories of darker days locked within the vault of her lonely feelings we get a cobbled together view of the past life events that motivate the characters’ current actions.

    Rachel’s cognition issues come from her drunken blackouts that leave holes in her memories. Meagan and Scott, her husband are both driven by faulty memories, either romanticized through distance from the events that inspired them, or due to constant rehearsal that glosses over the truest features from the past, respectively.

    Loss and how we as people deal with it plays huge in the themes category as well. Rachel as the barren mother turned alcoholic tries to fill the void in her life by helping Scott find his missing piece—just who murdered his wife. But she had in turn lost her dream of being a mother when it was discovered her womb was barren. Scott lost his wife Meagan to the hands of an illusive murderer. Meagan, before dying had lost her way in life due to the deaths of two key people from her past and her resulting disillusionment that sees her seeking to fill that void by cheating on her husband to prove to herself that she is desirable/lovable to men.

    Rachel’s pathological lying and constant meddling are attributes I loath to see in people I know, but on a character as nuanced and just plain crazy as Rachel, they are the life and breath of this narrative, which plays in the—what-about-the-people-who-knew-the-victim, realm.

    And that is the fresh air that Hawkins brings to the genre. Every detective mystery I’ve read or even watched in movie theaters shows the detective’s perspective, or the victims—you know through flash backs. This one discusses what happens to those waiting to hear that the police have captured the slayer of their wife, neighbor, or the girl the protagonist obsessed over as they road the train to town.

    Rachel, as an OCD nightmare stalker/private investigator sizzles as an unexpected suspense novel star who is an unreliable narrator and gets as close as law enforcement would to solving the murder when using their tactics.

    The author mingles a bit of the lead character’s own paranoia and pathological nosiness into her sincere attempts at exposing the murderer—thereby exonerating herself from the memory gap she has of the night in question. How emotive, cerebral and delicate this thriller truly is.
    From wondering if Rachel is the blackout killer, to the red herring of Dr. Adbic as the wanted murder, and then back to wondering if Rachel has actually killed Meagan again, I totally bought the slight of hand that author, Hawkins does right before my very eyes.

    A novelist as skilled at misdirection as she, would definitely make a great up-close street magician. And that’s what the first half of this novel plays out as. A card trick of a tome that kept me wondering who-done-it, while all road lead to the sketchy protagonist in the genre specific trope of the detective did it, but doesn’t remember—this time the detective is a blackout drunk with self esteem issues and a histrionics complex to boot.

    Read this dazzling New York Times Best Seller and recommend it to all your friends.
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2015
    I normally don't write reviews for books that have anything over a few. I mean, what can a single person add when there are so many? It's all been said probably. Finding it is a problem, but it's all been said.

    Either way, I feel compelled to say a few words about this book. It's a great first novel. That is, the story. The story is very creative and her telling of it, writing excluded, is engaging and makes you not wish to put it down until you're finished, which is fortunate because it's a short read. I read it yesterday, in fact. I'll add that I'm a slow reader and it took me from about 11:00 until about 2:00 a.m. with a few short interruptions. It was raining and I lazed about the house yesterday, but I digress. The point is that if you're a fast reader, you'll likely finish it much more quickly.

    I don't understand this trend of "I look up and see *insert something here*... I am watching television... I am making tea.. I am standing in the doorway looking out..." I can't stand overly active first person novels. No one ever talks that way. Ever. I first noticed the overuse of that voice with Hunger Games. It annoyed me so much, that I didn't get past the first outdoor announcement scene. I couldn't stand it any longer. I got through this one, however. Perhaps because I simply had to see what was so Hitchcockian about it. I'm an enormous Hitchcock fan and it's a sure bet that if I hear a few people call it Hitchcockian, I'm going to do my darndest read it.

    The second thing that bothers me is its predictability. I figured out, very early on, where this was going. On the other hand, to be completely fair, being a Hitchcock fan, I read a lot of mystery and suspense so I'm a bit more intuitive about it than say the average reader. Provided of course, that the author doesn't cheat. This one didn't so I applaud her for that. I hate cheats.

    My best example of cheats is Matlock, the TV show from the 1980s. I still liked it, but there was no way anyone could ever figure it out because only at the end did Andy Griffith say, "So when you killed her, you slammed your arm in the doorway and broke this watch, which we found at the repair shop on 49th street." Well why didn't he tell US about the watch and the repair shop on 49th street?! Had I known, I would have figured it out too... maybe.

    The point is that in this instance, Ms. Hawkins provides the bread crumbs, you just have to find the trail. That's always a good thing.

    Story wise, I have one word to sum that up: WOW. It's not just the story, but her understanding of depression, unhappiness, misery and everything else in our lives. If she hasn't experienced all of these feelings before, then she deserves some sort of national book award for totally fooling us all.

    Reading books in Kindle (yes, I have a point, just please bear with me now) has its benefits and drawbacks. There's nothing at all like smelling the new crisp paper pages of a brand new novel. You can see where you're at, where you're going. You can take it in public and read and it's proof that you're not reading some sort of smut and so on. However, Kindle has its benefits too. It's lightweight, you can have it on your phone in fact. You can take all your books with you anywhere and such. One thing too that Kindle does, at least in a couple of its apps (I don't think the phone) is see what other people highlighted in the book; that is, commonly highlighted. It's always fun to see what words touch a bunch of others.

    The selected sentences in this book were truly great quotes on what is a grueling battle, for some of us, to get through life. For people who have either experienced it, or for those of us who have had family that has, it's a relief to see that they're not alone. It's kind of a kindred spirit.

    As for the story itself, it's woven very well. Trying to explain the story to my mother and daughter, both blanched and said it was "overly complicated". That was interesting because when you're reading, it truly does not feel that way. It's easy to read, easy to follow and there is no confusion, but hearing myself explain it, it did sound complicated. That shows how clever Ms. Hawkins is with her writing. It's easy to understand.

    All in all, I highly recommend it, even with it's minor shortcomings. It's a great first novel and I sincerely hope that Ms. Hawkins won't feel overwhelmed and cursed by it. From here on out, any novel she publishes will be under much scrutiny and compared to this one. I would just like to shake her hand and whisper in her ear that it was the same for Agatha Christie and look how prolific she is today.

    Enjoy it everyone!
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • carmen
    4.0 out of 5 stars Buen libro.
    Reviewed in Spain on June 22, 2023
    Buena lectura para verano.
  • paola gamez
    5.0 out of 5 stars Could not put it down
    Reviewed in Mexico on May 5, 2018
    This is the first book I finished in less than 4 days. It is addictive and you just can't stop reading. I hesitated a bit to buy it, because I read that the amount of characters was confusing, and it is not true at all. Quite an easy and enjoyable reading. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to enjoy an intriguing story.
  • Greg at 2 Book Lovers Reviews
    5.0 out of 5 stars A ride on a crazy train!
    Reviewed in Canada on August 26, 2017
    Whenever there is one of these books, you know the ones, where the movie rights are sold as soon as the book comes off the press, I am two things: intrigued and skeptical. Intrigued - what is it about this book that has captured so many people so quickly? Skeptical – what did the marketing machine do to get this book out to so many people so quickly? Usually I don’t trust the big brotheresque marketing machine that seems to decide what the population is going to like before we even get it.

    With that being said, I like to think that I go into these things with an open mind, and to be honest, I was immediately drawn into Rachel’s story. I loved the back and forth start of the story; I found that it complemented the confused storyline going on within Rachel’s mind. At several points in the story, I found myself asking (just like Rachel) – “Wait, what just happened?” I felt like I was right there with Rachel on that train ride to hell.

    I’ve read quite a bit of complaining about the characters in The Girl on the Train. Personally, I thought that they were created brilliantly. Not one of them likable, hardly a redeemable characteristic amongst them. From the cheating spouses, the raging alcoholic, to the liars and manipulators…I loved to hate them all. Normally, I like to have a connection with a character, but with The Girl on the Train I was in complete shock at the depths of self-important assholery these characters could reach. It was a character train wreck, and I could not look away.

    I dragged my wife to the movie shortly after I read the book (she actually came quite willingly). Did it live up to the book? No. Did it do the book justice? Yes. And my wife loved it! Will I read another book by Paula Hawkins in the future? Absolutely!

    The Girl on the Train truly was a ride on a crazy train.
  • Juliano Oliveira
    5.0 out of 5 stars Instigante
    Reviewed in Brazil on April 15, 2017
    Comprei para treinar a leitura em inglês. Livro interessante, com a história com diversos desdobramentos. O kindle tem vários recursos de leitura em outra língua, que não conhecia, e são ótimos.
  • Barbara Soldani
    5.0 out of 5 stars Bel libro, meglio del film
    Reviewed in Italy on June 3, 2018
    Ho scaricato questo ebook sul mio kindle paperwhite e l'ho letto in poco tempo perché la storia è avvincente e curiosa.
    L'ho letto molto prima che uscisse il film in america e in italia e devo dire che la storia come spesso accade è molto più interessante in versione originale quindi consiglio di leggere questo libro, scaricandolo sui vostri ebook preferibilmente per l'ecologia e anche perché l'esperienza di leggere su kindle (nel mio caso) è davvero unica, niente riflessi, in spiaggia è comodissimo...ma questa è un altra recensione. buona lettura a tutti, salviamo gli alberi!!