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A review by shorshewitch
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
4.0
The first question we ask ourselves while reviewing a mystery/thriller is - could we guess the perpetrator till the final disclosure or was it a complete revelation? In that I rate this one a 10/10. You keep guesstimating as you turn the page and you attempt to do a lot of permutations and amalgamations and you stumble upon something completely else.
The plot grips and then loosens and then again grips and loosens – so in that I found a little inconsistency in the narration, but it is adaptable and absolutely pardonable as the story unfolds. The multiple POV approach has worked out well and you get into diverse characters in a matter of seconds but for those of us who are not very comfortable with it, it might get slightly exasperating.
I read some reviews about the book on a couple of websites where people say that ALL characters in the book are a complete mess. But I ask who isn’t? The real us, and I mean it, all of us, are a psychological mess here and there, and hence the book didn’t surprise me in that at all. Two things that the book reiterated to me – 1) Drunk black outs are disastrous and 2) Many times what you see is just a figment of your imagination. It is what you WANT to believe that you believe and your mind negates everything else that doesn’t concur with your fancy.
Hawkins has come up with a plot that will take you through the basic human sentiment of the need to drive life in the direction one wants, the disappointment that we experience when it doesn’t happen that way, how multiple people deal with this frustration with their own conducts and the total dilapidation of rationalities that can make a complete mess of the lives of many individuals. I would say if it is not on your TBR, put it. You won’t regret it.
The plot grips and then loosens and then again grips and loosens – so in that I found a little inconsistency in the narration, but it is adaptable and absolutely pardonable as the story unfolds. The multiple POV approach has worked out well and you get into diverse characters in a matter of seconds but for those of us who are not very comfortable with it, it might get slightly exasperating.
I read some reviews about the book on a couple of websites where people say that ALL characters in the book are a complete mess. But I ask who isn’t? The real us, and I mean it, all of us, are a psychological mess here and there, and hence the book didn’t surprise me in that at all. Two things that the book reiterated to me – 1) Drunk black outs are disastrous and 2) Many times what you see is just a figment of your imagination. It is what you WANT to believe that you believe and your mind negates everything else that doesn’t concur with your fancy.
Hawkins has come up with a plot that will take you through the basic human sentiment of the need to drive life in the direction one wants, the disappointment that we experience when it doesn’t happen that way, how multiple people deal with this frustration with their own conducts and the total dilapidation of rationalities that can make a complete mess of the lives of many individuals. I would say if it is not on your TBR, put it. You won’t regret it.