This is a sponsored feature. All opinions are 100% from Her Campus.
Hailed as the “new Gone Girl”, Paula Hawkin’s The Girl on the Train is a thrilling and unsettling mystery novel that’s bound to keep you guessing.
The book is told through three different perspectives, most prominently that of Rachel, an isolated alcoholic still mourning the loss of her marriage. There’s also Megan, vibrant and creative, but restless in her new life as a housewife. Lastly there’s Anna, Rachel’s ex-husband’s current wife, whose life revolves around their young daughter. When a violent crime rocks the community, the three women’s lives intertwine in ways that none of them would ever expect or wish for.
The important thing to know about this book is that none of the characters are 100% likable. That may bother some people, but I think that Hawkins used it to the book’s advantage. I could never decide who to trust and that kept me from guessing the major twists of the story.
The mystery itself is what I loved about this book. It starts with a seemingly simple storyline made up of straightforward characters. It then goes on to showcase their dark sides and make you question everything you think you know.
While I’m a definite fan, I have to warn you that this book is no casual beach read. It touches on some hard aspects of life and reading it can be emotionally draining at times. But if you don’t mind books that are a bit harrowing, you’ll be fine. Its dramatic nature that centers on an unreliable female character is what has earned it so many comparisons to Gone Girl.
Comparisons between the two reached a whole new level when it was announced that The Girl on the Train will be adapted into a movie, to be released this October. It stars Emily Blunt as Rachel and promises to stay close to the original story, the only major change being the change of setting from London to Manhattan. If the movie is anything like the book, I’m sure it will captivate audiences and leave them feeling like they went through the whole ordeal themselves.
Overall Rating: 7.5/10 The Girl on the Train is a well-written mystery that should make for a great movie. Filled with three-dimensional characters that I neither loved nor hated, the story sucked me in from the beginning and had me reflecting on it for days afterward. I recommend it to anyone who has even a minor interest in mysteries. And yes, that one Nancy Drew book you read a decade ago counts.