(Contains Spoilers)
Author - Paula Hawkins
Genre - Thriller
No. of Pages - 395(US)/ 320(UK)
Year of Publication - 2015
Rating - ❤️❤️❤️
This book has won 2015 Goodreads Choice award in best mystery and thriller category and it was at No. 1 among The New York Times Fiction bestsellers of 2015. My hopes were high, but it did not match my expectations. When you read a thriller, you expect something out of everything. Like each word seems like a clue and you try to solve the mystery on your own by cracking those clues. I didn't get any major clues while reading this book. And it was quite exhausting.
The readers who have already read this book would relate more to my review.
Rachel is a 32 years old alcoholic, divorced from her husband Tom, who is now married to Anna, the 'mistress'. Another couple lives a few houses away from Tom and Anna's house(where Tom and Rachel lived once), their names are Scott and Megan.
First, the protagonist Rachel Watson is an alcoholic and trying to cope with the loss of her marriage, her divorce. She goes to and fro on the same train without any aim(she lost her job months ago), to London and roams around. Who does that? I mean it's OK that she is depressed and all that stuff and it's also OK to go on meaningless train journeys once in a while but for months? It's too much.
Second, Rachel is obsessed. She watches a couple from the train living in house number fifteen, a few houses away from where she lived with her husband. And she is so obsessed that she even names them as Jess and Jason and imagines what there life must be like.
P.S. - Jess and Jason are actually, Scott and Megan.
Third, I had many unanswered questions.
Year of Publication - 2015
Rating - ❤️❤️❤️
This book has won 2015 Goodreads Choice award in best mystery and thriller category and it was at No. 1 among The New York Times Fiction bestsellers of 2015. My hopes were high, but it did not match my expectations. When you read a thriller, you expect something out of everything. Like each word seems like a clue and you try to solve the mystery on your own by cracking those clues. I didn't get any major clues while reading this book. And it was quite exhausting.
The readers who have already read this book would relate more to my review.
Rachel is a 32 years old alcoholic, divorced from her husband Tom, who is now married to Anna, the 'mistress'. Another couple lives a few houses away from Tom and Anna's house(where Tom and Rachel lived once), their names are Scott and Megan.
First, the protagonist Rachel Watson is an alcoholic and trying to cope with the loss of her marriage, her divorce. She goes to and fro on the same train without any aim(she lost her job months ago), to London and roams around. Who does that? I mean it's OK that she is depressed and all that stuff and it's also OK to go on meaningless train journeys once in a while but for months? It's too much.
Second, Rachel is obsessed. She watches a couple from the train living in house number fifteen, a few houses away from where she lived with her husband. And she is so obsessed that she even names them as Jess and Jason and imagines what there life must be like.
P.S. - Jess and Jason are actually, Scott and Megan.
Third, I had many unanswered questions.
- The blue cloth Rachel saw, lying on the tracks, twice, while her journey on the train. What was that about? I thought throughout the book that it had something to do with the mystery but nothing came out.
- The deja vu Rachel had of Anna wearing a blue dress with black belt going into the car or running away from her. What was that all about? I found no explanations.
- I know Megan had an affair with Kamal, her therapist. That was quite clear. But later, we find out that she had an affair with Tom too. That was quite disgusting and confusing at the same time.
Fourth, women are shown as a total fool. You will understand this point when you read the book. I won't spoil the mystery completely.
Fifth, I knew that Scott or Kamal were not guilty, from the beginning. I just knew. And the kind of climax I was expecting, it wasn't up to that mark. I wanted more clarity and answers.
I won't say that I disliked this book but I didn't love it. I wanted to love it. It is quite popular and I had longed to read it for a while. Considering the amount of curiosity I had, I was disappointed. I don't know whether it's just me with lots of questions and confusions or there are people who can relate to me but this is what I felt. I'll certainly recommend this book to the readers who love reading thrillers because if I didn't love it, doesn't mean you won't love it.
Review by Bhumika Singh (Blog Author)
Review by Bhumika Singh (Blog Author)
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