The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

I am currently juggling between novels. My hands are full of them. Recently on my visit to Crossword bookstore I bought four books that I wanted to read and there are still twenty or so books remaining on my To-Read list. Out of the four books one is The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins. 

The novel comes under the Crime and Mystery Thriller genre and the lines written under the name of the book "You don't know her. But she knows you." gave me creeps. 

I loved the cover page of the novel with the in-motion title. I wanted to read this novel because on a website I saw that it has become very popular in the United States and also because of my undying love towards crime, suspense, detective and the synonyms that describe this stuff, my favorite being The Godfather and Sidney Sheldon's novels.  

To be really frank, in the beginning I was quite unsettled with the way the protagonist Rachel is portrayed. The novel is written like the protagonist is writing a diary. The time, day and date is mentioned whenever the scene shifts. It is in the first person narrative and there are multiple narrators in the novel. One chapter shows what Rachel is thinking and doing. Next chapters shows what Anna is thinking and doing and another chapter shows what Megan is thinking. The thing which confused me was that the date and time of Megan's activity is in the past. It gets really confusing in the beginning but then some incidents make you want to read it and collect the clues and put it together. The novel follows the troubled Rachel and daily life as she takes the train to London everyday. 

Rachel is alcoholic, drunk most of the times. Her drinking habit got worse after getting separated from her husband  Tom. 

Anna is the second wife of Tom who lives with him where Rachel used to live.

Megan is the neighbor of Tom and Anna, she lives with her husband Scott and has a dark past. 

Rachel is the woman who takes the train from Ashbury to London every weekday for work and sees past the her old house, and Megan's house which lie alongside the railway tracks. Everyday she is witness to the activities taking place in the house which makes her believe that she is also a part of them.  

The novel is a psychological thriller and inlcudes some serious brainwashing. If you are into such serious thrillers then probably you should read it. At first the novel will seem boring but then as you progress through it, the tension builds up. 

I would say that it is a good read. But there is a just a tiny drawback because of all the multiple narrators and the shift in time. It just gets confusing. 

The novel is serious and seeks full attention of yours to understand the nuances which the narrators describe. 

I would suggest to read a rom-com after it. Trust me you do not want another thriller after this. 

I haven't disclosed any climax and have just given a little introduction to the novel. If you are interested then please do read it. I hope that this post helped you. 

Happy reading! :) 

Love, 

The Bibliophagist

P.S : I have submitted my assignment which was due this week. I might be a procrastinator but i get things done on time. B) 

And i have also finished Mrs. Funnybones and soon i will be posting about it. 

I am currently reading To Kill A Mockingbird.