The Girl On the Train
This year I set a goal for myself to read more books. My current goal was one book a month, and so far I have been right on track! I love using the website Goodreads to keep track of my books. If you are not familiar with it I suggest you check it out. If you like to read a lot then this site is for you! It gives you recommendations, lets you share your reviews about books, and as I said you can set a reading goal for the year and track of it.
My latest book was The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. The book focuses on Rachel, recently divorced, she is finding it difficult to deal with the aftermath of that divorced. She has turned to drinking to cope with the mess of her divorce. She is still hung up on her husband and is reluctant to leave his new wife and their baby alone. The story takes off when a young woman goes missing and Rachel finds herself tangled in the drama. The book is a thrill ride wrapped in mystery. It isn’t till the very end that your jaw drops because of the huge twist that is revealed.
Paula Hawkins presents a distraught female in Rachel, and really showcases the problem of alcoholism. I have never had any issues with alcohol nor do I know anyone with this issue, but I could really understand the reasons behind her drinking. It is easy for us to judge people who drown their problems with alcohol, but it is really difficult for some people to deal with so much heartbreak. Rachel loses everything in her life, and she struggles to deal with something she will never be able to have. It breaks her, she has no support and finds that drinking is the only thing she can count on. Paula Hawkins also presents two other female characters in the book, and since we get different chapters with first person narrative we get a really good read on each woman.
Megan and Anna are the other two women in the book we get to know on a personal level. Megan is the woman who disappears, and Anna is Rachel’s ex new wife. We get more perspective from Megan than Anna in the book, and I personally like Megan’s story over Anna’s. Anna was a bit too cliché for me. Don’t underestimate her though; she did surprise me by the end of the book.
I also watched the movie that was released based on the book recently. Emily Blunt was fantastic in it, and as always I feel like they left too much out in the movie. It was still very interesting to see, and I enjoyed watching it. I recommend both the book and the movie.
“Hollowness: that I understand. I’m starting to believe that there isn’t anything you can do to fix it. That’s what I’ve taken from the therapy sessions: the holes in your life are permanent. You have to grow around them, like tree roots around concrete; you mold yourself through the gaps”
― Paula Hawkins, The Girl on the Train
