Photo Courtesy: Goodreads
Tesla Bethel
Lantern Staff
“The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins was not a major trainwreck. It was well written, and the plot line flowed wonderfully. The writing style was a bit uniquebecause of its diary styled format, but it wasn’t a difficult read.
The plot line followed three strong female leads, but all had their own problems to deal with. The first is Rachel, who is unstable and has an alcohol problem. The second character introduced is Megan, who goes missing. Her life is in a wonderful place, but she’s drowning in her own guilt. Then there is Anna, who is an adulterer and is involved with Rachel’s now ex-husband.
It does have its fair share of female drama though. Rachel wishes her life was perfect like Megan’s, Megan feels empty and Anna thinks Rachel is trying to kill her baby. I must say I was fairly impressed with how Hawkins managed to constantly keep readers guessing as to who the real culprit was, that was until three quarters of the way through the book. Then I had it figured out.
The only major complaint I have about this book is the lack of a falling action. With such a large climax, it should have taken more than six measly pages. With the book also switching between characters, they should have had at least six more pages for other characters in order to tie up their end. The only reason a book wouldn’t have all the loose ends tied up is if there is another book coming soon after in part to a series. However, this is a stand-alone novel that should have had all the loose ends tied up.
What gave me the desire to read this book was the movie coming to theaters. However, after reading the book and then seeing the trailer, it dawned on me that there was no real character description about any of the characters other than Megan. The only physical description given for Rachel was that she gained weight since drinking, and for Anna was that she was blonde hair, blue eyed. Only Megan had more of a character description. However, that’s just because of Rachel’s instability, and her frequent stalking.
Overall, I would rate this book a 3.8 out of 5. Though it was a good easy read, with a moderate mystery, there was just no real falling action. This just goes to show that, “Life is not a paragraph, and death is no parenthesis.”
