Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

21 reviews

aisclaradm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A really good thriller that had me trying to piece information together right from the very beginning. It was so fun to read a book with such unreliable narrators, because it allowed you to come up with so many different theories. Ultimately, everything tied up really well and I found the plotline and reveals made a lot of sense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Violence, Infertility, Murder, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Abortion, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Stalking, Grief, and Sexual assault

Minor: Drug abuse, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Car accident, and Drug use

vincef's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Death, Violence, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Child death, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Misogyny, Mental illness, Fatphobia, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Vomit and Abandonment

redisreading's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Violence, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Addiction, Child death, Blood, Kidnapping, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Rape, Abortion, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

nehaslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book took me on a journey! It was fascinating the whole way through. I love how effortless it felt to read and understand, how the events unfolded and were narrated by the three females' whose perspectives we view them from. I love how it shows how different things seem to others. I also find it amazing how they meshes together, and how the true events are revealed piece by piece.

I do wish, however, that we found out what happened to Scott and Kamal at the end, as the only thing that we are told is that the houses are left empty and we never hear of Kamal after his and Megan's last meeting, where she told him that she was going to tell Tom about the baby. I think it was okay to leave it out, but it would've provided a bit of closure and stopped the reader from wondering what happened to them, as well as Anna, Evie, and other characters, however, I think this is just a personal preference of mine.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Child death, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Toxic friendship, Violence, Infidelity, Grief, Toxic relationship, Racism, Death, Addiction, Blood, Infertility, Kidnapping, and Stalking

suchismita_2000's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

https://banerjeesuchismita17.medium.com/book-review-3-the-girl-on-the-train-by-paula-hawkins-b405bc9809ac
 
My thoughts? 

 

I loved this book & its disoriented characters. I have always loved a story being told from different perspectives. Here, we got to see the tale from three different protagonists. We would find the characters in their raw version. What I loved was, that the story was not shown in a way of who’s the wrongdoer & who is a saint. But it will unfold with you, who you think is at the fault. 

 

It wasn’t a fast-paced book for me, but I didn’t struggle with it. I totally hung in between as I was getting puzzled by the three different versions clashing. 

 

Almost every thriller lover, loves an irksome plotline that would keep you guessing & palpitating over the climax. But sometimes, the characters get so flawed that there’s no chance of their revival at the end. What makes me give this book a five-star, is the character development. 

 

I have also seen the movie based on this book starring ‘Emily Blunt’. She portrayed Rachel so well as if it was just the way I imagined the character. I didn’t hate movies as most did, but I felt they lacked something which jumbled the plot. 

 

Would I recommend this book? 

 

If you love reading dark storylines but flawed & alarming characters, this is the one for you. People who have liked ‘Gone Girl’ would totally be the audience for this book. 

 

If you planning on watching the movie as well, it would be best to read the book first. Otherwise, you wouldn’t like the film nor will be able to dive into the book. It will just hamper the whole experience. 

 

*trigger warning* for people about alcoholism, blood depiction, death & abuse. This book depicts a lot of negativity in the characters in it, so some scenes might be too intense for some readers. 

 

& thriller lovers, just get your hands on it already! No questions asked. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, Misogyny, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Abandonment

People who are a little sensitive of the trigger warnings should be careful. As some scenes might be too intense for some readers.

mtthplc's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Violence

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Blood, Drug use, Abandonment, Body shaming, and Vomit

s__'s review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

The way people talk about this book, you'd think it was the epitome of a crime-thriller. 

1. The only salvageable thing about this book is the explanation given for Rachel's
   memory loss
   . That was brilliant, but it wasn't enough to make up for the rest of the book being boring.
2. The characters in this were extremely unlikable, which is saying something, since I typically don't care about the "likability" of characters. How can you write a book in which your main character is that unlikable?! No, I didn't find her unlikable because of her
   alcohol addiction
   . She was unlikable because she was
   a stalker who kept groveling to her cheating ex
   (Yes, I would have said the same thing if she weren't a woman). How can you make your main character stupid, pathetic, obsessive, and lack self-respect????? I kept waiting for a character arc and it didn't come until the very last page of the book (if you even want to call it that!). The only true character arc was given to Megan/Jess. 
3. The book is written in a convoluted irritating way. I don't have a problem with the different POV's, but why do the chapters have to be divided based on the time of day as well?! You are not doing a good job telling a story if you have to rely on telling the reader what time of day it is even after giving them other details.
4. The book was littered with details that weren't important (No, they didn't help build the atmosphere). Most of the book just felt repetitive and as if the author is just trying to increase their word count.
5. You'll easily figure out the culprit before the halfway mark if you frequently read mysteries. The book lacks all the "thrill" of a thriller (which is especially important if your culprit is predictable), and there's no real shocking, big twist that makes it worth reading through all those pages.
6. I didn't appreciate the negative attitude the book had towards stay-at-home wives and moms.
7. I'm bored of thrillers having the most overdone motive and culprit, or at least do it in a clever and creative way. If you're looking for a thematically similar book, I'd suggest The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. It might not be a 5-star read (at least for me), but it's much more clever in the way it reveals the culprit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Child death, Alcoholism, Addiction, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Stalking, Murder, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Physical abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Death of parent, Infertility, Vomit, Excrement, Pregnancy, and Racism

sheadunlop's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed reading a thriller/mystery written by a modern woman. The everyday elements and deepest fears of being a woman brought me closer to the lives of these characters, even if all of them couldn't really be considered "likeable." The book kept me guessing the whole way through and left me satisfied with the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Stalking, Death, Pregnancy, Vomit, Child abuse, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Emotional abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Addiction, Infertility, and Misogyny

wowitsmadison's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

scruffie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I actually enjoyed reading this book. I've seen people compare it to Gone Girl but I haven't read that one so I can't say anything about that debate. Two things bothered me the most: (a) all women in the book seem to be defined by the men in their lives and/or their feelings towards motherhood, and (b) the end was somewhat out of character, given what you've learnt about the characters throughout the book. I liked the plot overall though, but then again I have very little experience with the crime/thriller genre so I don't know how novel it really is. (3.75/5.00)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement and Vomit

Minor: Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Abandonment, and Animal cruelty