Book Review: The Girl on the Train

I became interested with "The Girl On The Train" when I first saw the trailer online. I loved Emily Blunt in "SICARIO" and seeing her in another suspence thriller definitely caught my interest. 

Criticis have been calling "The Girl On The Train" as the next "Gone Girl" and while I have yet to read Gillian Flynn's novel, the movie has become a cult culture phenomenon, the nightmare of every modern day marriage. (Thank you David Fincher!)

So I had so much expectations as I started to read Paula Hawkins' "The Girl On The Train", which is about Rachel, a middle-aged divorcee coping with being cheated on her husband with alcohol; a lot of it actually. 

Rachel spends her days traveling in and out of the city on the train, sometimes she'd have a small bottle of alcohol in her bag, other times shed actually make it to a pub for a few-err a lot of drinks. This has been Rachel's daily routine, even after she lost her job after an outburst at work, while intoxicated. 

Emily Blunt as Rachel. 

Rachel has been pretending to still be going to work for the sake of appearances since she has moved in with an old college friend. 

During Rachel's daily commute she has become obsessed with a young couple, whose life she sees as perfect. Every day, Rachel would spy on their house, as she passed it on her daily train rides. From their she would imagine the epitome of a happy marriage, just like the one she lost.

Rachel's world turns upside down when "Jess" the beautiful blonde in her ideal couple goes missing. 

Rachel swears she saw "Jess" the night she dissapered but then she's not sure, nor could she recall the details of that night clearly. Did she have a few drinks that night? Was she actually sober enough to remember accurate and vital information that could save a life? 

"The Girl On The Train" goes through a rotation of narrators, who are all characters in this "who-did-it" tale, surrounded by modern marital woes. The timeline does not follow the traditional linear one and this effectively pulls the reader into the mystery and intrigue of the story. 

Check out the trailer! 

I remember in my High School English, we used to study the tragic heroes of Greek. Mythology and of William Shakespeare and I can't help to think that the women of "The Girl On The Train" are the same, tragic characters whose daily lives have become empty and miserable because of the choices that they made. The irony of it all is that there are people who are cruel enough to take advantage of this weakness for their own personal gain. 

I must admit that it was hard to feel sorry for the women in the book, in fact I actually hated them. I know that "hate" is a strong word but that's how I really felt toward them. It was hard to read through the misery the characters were going through but that surprise twist towards the end made it all worth it. 

3/5 "The Girl On The Train" is another tale where "there really is more than meets the eye" and that even the most mundane and ordinary people can be hiding deep, dark secrets you can never imagine. 

The movie adaptation, starring Emily Blunt is slated for release in October 5, 2016 in the Philippines. Movie Review here!