The Girl on the Train is a popular suspense mystery novel, written by Paula Hawkins. This book is extremely well reviewed and has sold over 23 million copies worldwide. In 2016, it was adapted into a film starring Emily Blunt and Haley Bennett. It is a very well-written novel and gives the reader multiple perspectives throughout the story as well. 

This book is about a young woman named Rachel who lost her job due to her severe addiction to alcohol. However, Rachel neglected to tell anyone and continues to travel to London by train everyday to fool her roommate. Every day, she is haunted by memories of her recent divorce with her ex-husband, who cheated on her with another woman, as is shown by this quote: “I don’t want to see the other houses; I particularly don’t want to see the one four doors down, the one that used to be mine” (Hawkins 6). On the train ride twice a day, Rachel observes a seemingly perfect young couple whom she calls Jason and Jess. One day, she observes a shocking detail about the couple from the train. Later the same day, she finds out that Jess, whose name is actually Megan Hipwell, has gone missing. She decides to visit Megan’s neighborhood to try and figure out what had happened. The next day, she wakes up with no memory of the night before. Throughout the story, Rachel tries to piece together what happened the night Megan Hipwell went missing. 

Typically, I am not a huge fan of mystery novels. However, The Girl on the Train opened my eyes to a whole other world of books. I really enjoyed this book because the characters were very complex, meaning that when you think you can predict their next move, they do something completely different which changes the story. It was also very intriguing how the author gave three different perspectives because it gave me information about the book that I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. There are also many subtle details strategically placed throughout the book that don’t come into play until later, but are vital in the conclusion. 

One thing I also found very interesting and unique about this book was that the main character was not necessarily the “good guy,” as she can be unreliable and oftentimes is confused, which makes readers want her to succeed. I also liked that the author gave information about the characters in the past, in the form of flashbacks, or entire chapters dedicated to events happening before the story took place. 

Finally, I would definitely recommend reading this book because it kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the story and made me think twice about a character before judging them. If you enjoyed reading this book, you should definitely watch the movie too!