The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Why is everyone drunk or drinking all the time? I can’t tell if this part was intentional to draw out the recovering alcoholic character perspective, that she the character is noticing it so it is being made extremely obvious to you as the reader, over explained in some parts of the story even. I kept wondering to myself am I supposed to notice all this use of alcohol or is it just page filler…

Anyway. It took some getting used to the back and forth between the timelines and I had a hard time getting into the book because of it at first, but after the first few chapters and perspective switches I got into the flow of the story and it was easier to follow. My husband said the same when he was reading it. When you’re about one-third of the way through the book the threads start to tie together a little more and then you reach those “can’t put it down right now” parts.

I was actually surprised on a few points, a pleasant change from similar psychological thriller type books. I enjoyed the book, once I got through those first few chapters and found the story flow. A few times I thought I was going to hate the ending, but when I finally got to the final chapter I was pretty pleased with the overall story experience. And I suppose that’s part of good storytelling, too, being able to leave the reader experiencing a wide range of emotions throughout the tale.

EVERY DAY THE SAME
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

UNTIL TODAY
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

In terms of book versus movie, I can’t really say much because I haven’t seen the movie. I was looking forward to it when I heard it was going to be a movie, but then they changed everything about the story so much that I was already annoyed just watching the trailer for the movie and just haven’t brought myself to see it yet. ….. update: Redbox rented the movie and really didn’t like it at all 🙁 definitely recommend reading the book instead!