A review by angievansprang
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I finished this within 36 hours of starting it, so I obviously had a good time with it. Read this if you want to hate men more! I promise you, there are zero redeeming male characters in this that are mentioned more than 3x. They are all complete trash. Hawkins paints a drearily pitiful scene over an otherwise picturesque suburbia outside of London. This follows 3 different POVs of women who are all connected via relation to the same neighborhood where something - or someone - sinister is brewing. I felt that the author did a good job in allowing you to feel just enough sympathy towards a character before twisting your stomach into knots with a horrific reveal of who they truly were. Most of these characters are hopelessly tragic, yet very realistic. The circumstances by which each main character finds themselves in this neighborhood make it believable why they might behave the way they do. While it may not initially seem like it, this is a chilling tale about the strength in women following their instincts and sticking together despite being very much so at odds with one another. A true feat of a debut from Hawkins, and it has reignited my love for thrillers. 
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