I Just Finished The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and I feel kinda gross. I feel betrayed, dirty, unsure, and confused. Like a line from the late David Bowie’s song:Â Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed pretty much sums up how I feel about Girl on the Train.
I confess to listening to this on audio during my commute. The main reader was lovely. The minor readers were ok. Still, there were times when I FORCED myself to drive more so that I could continue listening to the story. So I guess going in I knew that our narrator was unreliable. But not in the way that I suspected, so I kept second guessing myself and wondering when she would betray me. Ha! Little did I know! Many comparisons have been made to Gone Girl, which I guess is partly accurate: you don’t know who to trust, you’re flattened by the behavior of certain characters, and you’re edgy not knowing who to trust and whose story is believable. I think Amy’s story is more sickening because you learn early on that she’s messed up. We don’t learn about Megan’s mindset until later and it feels a bit contrived. Like an afterthought.
This is a great title for book clubs if you have time for a thorough decomposition of each of the characters’ flaws. Otherwise, a room full of “Oh he’s a jerk” and “I didn’t see THATÂ coming” will become redundant quickly.