The Girl on the Train – A Psychological Thriller
A Rapid Review
The Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins
Publisher: Penguin Audio | January 2015
Format: Audio Download | 11 hours | Rating: 4 stars
Audio Listening Level: Intermediate
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.
And then she sees something shocking . . .
The story is told primarily from the point of view of Rachel, but we also get alternating points of view from Anna and Megan, the two women whose lives intersect with Rachel’s. All three are unreliable narrators and often unlikable—not the kind of group I’d pick for friends, but interesting to watch from the distance.
Rachel is the most troubled and flawed with a broken marriage and alcoholism resulting in frequent blackouts and boughts of bad behavior. And while some of what she thinks may really be happening, we are never sure when her point of view is fantasy or reality. Pieces of the puzzle slowly come together while at the same time the plot zips along with each new piece of information.
I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers and found this to be a worthy addition to the genre. While at times predictable, there were enough plot spins to make this a compelling read.
Audio production
The narration was performed by Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, and India Fisher, each providing a distinct voice and personality to one of the three women making it easy for the listener to stay focused.
Audio Sample
[Audio Sample on SoundCloud.]
——————————–
Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
Under My Apple Tree 
Loved loved loved the book, would love the audio, a must read or listen to
LikeLike
I didn’t figure things out until close to the end so I loved this book!
LikeLike
Me too. I usually have my eye on the one who did early on, but this one I didn’t figure out until almost the end.
LikeLike
I’ve got this on my TBR list, but that lists just keeps getting longer,
LikeLike
I loved this one, too, despite how unlikeable (and unreliable) the narrators. Thanks for sharing.
LikeLike
I did the eBook but ended up with the same rating as you — yes Rachel was a piece of work LOL
LikeLike
Great review! I love a good psychological thriller, and this one kept me quite entertained (especially since I didn’t see the ending coming) haha
LikeLike
I usually don’t like unreliable narrators, but this time it worked really well for me as well. I thought the audio was really good and it was so helpful to have 3 different voices
LikeLike
This on my TBR – so many positive reviews.
LikeLike