Book of the Week: The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins

Oh man. I recently finished reading The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and holy heck, friends, this was a killer!!!

A psychological thriller like none you've read in a while, this book was gooood. Seriously. Really good.

I picked this book as one of my must-reads when I wrote a list of books you need to read in 2015 over at SITS. Many of my readers have found me from that list, so I wanted to keep you all posted on what I've tackled so far, and how they've been for me.

And this book? Great choice, if I do say so myself.

We find ourself with Rachel, the main character. Literally - the GIRL on the train. Rachel's a woman who has lost pretty much everything. Her husband. Her job. Much of her life.

She's also someone with an active imagination. Or perhaps it's her crushed heart that leads her to dream some of her dreams?

As a commuter she finds herself developing a bit of a relationship with a couple she sees from the train window. She watches them on their balcony - or terrace. Or deck. There are too many words I can use here - they're outside of their home and she sees them regularly. Even looks forward to it.

She's dubbed them Jason and Jess - which was kind of weird to me for a bit because I have friends who are married and those ARE their names. So Rachel was freaking me out for a minute.

But eventually her dream for the magical couple - the couple she adores and watches with hope? Shatters. It shatters and crushes our poor Rachel.

And then more mystery unfolds. I can't tell you what happens - but it's hearty stuff. It's so bad it's good. We get most of the story from Rachel's perspective, but we also meet "Jess" and learn more about her, and we also find ourselves meeting Anna, Rachel's ex-husband's new wife. The story told from three women, each one with her own perspective, draws you in. It's a must-read. I promise you that.

The Girl on the Train was fantastic. I think that it would be a perfect book club book. I love mysteries of this nature - and this was a true "who-done-it" kind of story.

I think you'll love it. I do. I know I did. I want to talk about it with everyone who reads it. I want to review and see if they figured things out and what they thought about all of the things Rachel went through before the story ended.

But for now I'll just stop here.

And tell you again. Get yourself a copy. You won't regret it. Promise.

* Not-quite-disclaimer: Because I do so many reviews, I want to let you know that this is not sponsored - I bought the book on my own and decided to review it. Not that that ever impacts my review or opinion - but I figured a reverse disclaimer might be needed so none of y'all look for the disclaimer that wasn't!

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