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The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Summary:
- Rachel rides the train every day into London. Every day, at one stop, she observes a couple in the backyard and through the windows of their home, noting how very in love they are and craving the same sort of intimacy. She nicknames them Jason and Jess, creating stories for herself about their lives and what kind of people they are. Rachel is divorced, an alcoholic, and very unhappy with her life. But, when she one day sees "Jess" kissing another man from the window of the train, she finds herself in the middle of a terrible situation that also places her face-to-face with her ex-husband, his new family, and the home she was forced to leave behind. Jess is missing, and it may be up to Rachel to help find her- if Rachel can only remember what took place the night it happened.
Suspense Characteristics:
- Narrow time frame- the majority the story takes place over a matter of only a couple of months.
- Flashbacks are shown to give context to current dramatic situations.
- The reader knows more than the protagonist due to alternating perspectives, creating tension in the protagonist's actions.
- A sense of uneasiness is present throughout most of the book.
- The reader empathizes with the protagonist.
- Poor weather sets the tone- rain, storms, or oppressive heat for bad days, and pleasant weather for good memories.
- There is a strong build-up towards one final confrontation between the protagonist and the fully-revealed antagonist.
- The story pulls the reader along with short chapters, headed by dates and times of day.
Read-a-likes:
- The Widow by Fiona Barton
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
- The Pocket Wife by Susan Crawford
- Her Every Fear by Peter Barton
- I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
- Having both read the book and seen the movie for this story, I actually prefer the movie. The book was an interesting read and I can definitely see the appeal for readers- chapters often end on a cliffhanger, then there is a perspective or time shift, and the reader desperately wants to know what happens next. For me personally, I think this effect is well-achieved through film, and I think I prefer to watch my adrenaline-based stories instead of reading them. Overall, it was still a good book and I did actually recommend it to a patron who wanted something exciting and thought-provoking to get herself back into reading.
Hi! I have not read this book, I have only seen the movie. I felt that the movie was suspenseful, and I think it is interesting that the chapters of the book often end in cliffhangers- I can see how that, and your description of the book, would attract readers.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kelly! After seeing both, I think the movie does the book justice- so, you're not missing much :).
DeleteAmy,
ReplyDeleteWhen the movie came out I did not realize it was actually based on a book until it became more popular with our patrons at the library wanting to read the book before the movie released. Having never read or watched the movie, I think the plot sounds interesting. It is interesting how the protagonist does not actually know the missing woman, but feels like she knows her based on her train rides to London every day. I love that you were honest and said you enjoyed the movie more than the book, sometimes the movie does a better job, which does not mean the book is any less worthy or less interesting-which was exactly your point! Also, nice choices for the read-a-likes.
Thanks Chelsea! The plot is interesting, but I still think that with most thrilling novels, I like a summary rather than getting too far into it, and a movie does that better for me! The one exception I've found so far was Gone Girl, which is fantastic in both book and movie, but I'd be curious to find more.
DeleteAmy,
ReplyDeleteWhen I read through your summary, I realized that it reminded me of another story: 'What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw' (also known as '4.50 from Paddington') by Agatha Christie! I had seen this book before, but as suspense isn't generally one of my go-to genres (outside of a few select series) I hadn't yet picked it up to read. Now, though, I'm curious to see how it feels next to Christie's book. From what I can gather reading your annotation, Mrs. McGuillicuddy might be a more 'gentle read' in comparison, but still have some of those same elements.
Great job!
Sarah
Thanks, Sarah! I've actually never read anything by Christie (although I feel like I should at some point). I can definitely see a comparison just from the title. It may have been an inspiration for the current novel!
DeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteWhat did you think of each of the characters? I was surprised at how much the author strung the readers along and made us guess who the murderer was. *Spoiler alert*! I thought for the longest time it was Anna, but looking back, there were clues that made it easy to believe it was Rachel's ex-husband. I was surprised at how Rachel and Anna teamed up at the end to stop him. Some content was unnecessary to write into the story, I thought.
Hello Dana!
DeleteI liked the author's stringing us along! I feel like they did a good job of making us believe it wasn't Kamal, but I did have a hard time believing it was Tom at first. I realized when I went back and read some of the scenes from Megan's perspective that sometimes, a name was never mentioned, but the reader probably assumed it was Kamal each time.
Anna was an interesting character for me. I almost didn't expect her to team up with Rachel at the end either due to her actions throughout the book. That being said, I thought the author did a good job of depicting how blind a person can be to someone's faults if they are desperate to have their life remain comfortable to them, so I appreciated that a lot about Anna's character!
It's great that you stepped outside your comfort zone to read a book in a genre that's not a favorite. For my annotation I cheated a bit by strategically choosing a suspense book (Origin: A Novel, by Dan Brown) that included other appeal factors I like, such as history, art, conspiracies, secret societies, and puzzles. I'm curious- how did you choose this title considering your dislike of the genre?
ReplyDeleteThanks Ricke! I chose this title based on a couple of things. It was very popular when I was a cataloger, so I had to hand-cover a lot of the copies- staring at it so much made me remember it! I also wanted something written by a woman, and about a woman's story. It helped as well that there was a movie comparison available. I did enjoy Gone Girl when I read it in the past, and this was supposed to be pretty similar- I think it was!
DeleteThis is a book that I read but it wasn't my favorite book. By the end I really wanted Rachel to die because she just kept putting herself back in the same situation over and over and over again. I do like you annotation and your description hit the high points of the book. Good job.
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura! I can respect that, as I wasn't a huge fan of Rachel's character either. I think the author did well with writing someone who has a dependent personality and finally seeing her break the cycle was a relief! It was incredibly frustrating to see her keep going back to the area, though.
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ReplyDeleteThis book sounds extremely similar to the book I annotated, "The Woman in the Window" by A.J. Finn. I may have to read this one so that I can compare the two, which will be useful to offering similar books to patrons who like these kind of stories. How long does it take to get to the major action of the story? Is the setting diverse or is the train the main setting?
ReplyDeleteYou hit upon many of the major suspense characteristics mentioned in our textbook. Great work!
Thanks Carter!
DeleteThe setting is relatively diverse and does not take place even mostly on the train! We get to see some different neighborhoods on the outskirts of London, plus the story shifts between three different women, so we get lots of perspectives. The main action that sets the plot in motion happens within the first 30-40 pages, but we get a nice backstory before that to set the scene.
Your mention that you liked the movie better for this one reminds me that I heard the same often for Gone Girl! This isn't my kind of book, but it can be my kind of movie, so I'm with you there! Definitely a good example of suspense, though, and I'm glad to have some read-a-likes to suggest to customers at work!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rachel! Gone Girl is probably my one exception to enjoying the book a little more since I thought the book did a much better job of getting inside the protagonist's head, and I wanted that explanation, but the movie was still great in my opinion.
DeleteHaving read the book and seen the movie, I really enjoyed your synopsis. I am typically a firm believer that a book is always better than the movie, but I have to agree with you in the case. I enjoyed the movie better. I thought the book was good, but the movie presented the things a bit clearer instead of so much jumping back and forth.
ReplyDeleteThanks Melanie! I agree, I think it might have almost been difficult for me to read the book if I hadn't seen the movie. Luckily it had been two years since the movie, so a lot of the elements were still fresh for me when I read the book.
DeleteHi, I have had many patrons at the library reading this book. I haven't read it or watched the movie, but I am starting to get curious about it. Your summary makes it sound really good, though I don't usually go for suspense reads.
ReplyDeleteGreat annotation! Full points! I enjoyed that you put your own opinion at the end. I read this when it first came out because of all the hype and I hated all the characters but loved the suspense. Your annotation also had many great conversations in the comments! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteI can see how the film version of this may have played better for suspense/thriller fans. I liked the book for what I took to be a pretty careful study of an alcoholic character, but that's pretty different than much of what the book seems to want to be about. That said, if I were to suggest the book to someone, I think the character side of the book is what I would emphasize. What do you think?
ReplyDelete