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The Girl on the Train | Complete Summary & Analysis With Bonuses!
Paula Hawkins has very successfully plotted a story around three female characters which tells and narrates the different colors of human life. She has depicted in this story the importance of relationships and love in human’s life. It is the internal peace and affection of our relationships which keeps us going all the way. Whenever there is any kind of distress in these relationships, we cannot keep ourselves composed and result is a compete turmoil. It is because, human, whether a man or a women, is a social entity who can never ever live on his own, in isolation.
This story is truly a debut psychological suspenseful narrative that will everlastingly transform the way you look and imagine the life of other people. It is an interwoven and complex thriller having variable themes of domestic violence, abuse and drug addiction.
This story of slow disintegration of a woman's life after her husband left her for a new mistress. The breakup further worsened her drinking problem which made her lose her job. Now the girl, Rachel Watson, is reduced to commuting everyday on the train to and from London as she pretends to her friends and family that she still has a job. In order to escape the melancholy, she drinks to forget what had happened. Rachel created a fantasy involving a couple living in of the houses along the railroad track. She gave them names and imagines they have a perfect life. She envy's that it should had been her and her husband. All of a sudden things she never expected happened, and turned her world upside down. Read more to find out.
You Will Also Get..
Key Analysis Character Analysis Detailed Plot Author's Information Bonus Information So Much More!
Available on PC, Mac, Kindle, Tablets, Iphones & Androids
©2015 All Rights Reserved
This story is truly a debut psychological suspenseful narrative that will everlastingly transform the way you look and imagine the life of other people. It is an interwoven and complex thriller having variable themes of domestic violence, abuse and drug addiction.
This story of slow disintegration of a woman's life after her husband left her for a new mistress. The breakup further worsened her drinking problem which made her lose her job. Now the girl, Rachel Watson, is reduced to commuting everyday on the train to and from London as she pretends to her friends and family that she still has a job. In order to escape the melancholy, she drinks to forget what had happened. Rachel created a fantasy involving a couple living in of the houses along the railroad track. She gave them names and imagines they have a perfect life. She envy's that it should had been her and her husband. All of a sudden things she never expected happened, and turned her world upside down. Read more to find out.
You Will Also Get..
Key Analysis Character Analysis Detailed Plot Author's Information Bonus Information So Much More!
Available on PC, Mac, Kindle, Tablets, Iphones & Androids
©2015 All Rights Reserved
67 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 14, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
July 9, 2020
I'm giving it 4 stars but still not sure if I Like it or not. The main female character was so depressing. I was hoping she would have changed throughout the book but she really didn't. I felt so sorry for her. Men called her fat, she had a drinking problem, and she was depressed. The reason I am giving it four stars is because I did feel sorry for her and the author really did a great job showing the character her flaw so you can feel sorry for her. You wonder throughout the book who did it and the author keep you guessing which makes a good thriller for me. So in the end it was a good read and I do recommend it for someone who loves thrillers. Depressing but good.
April 2, 2025
4.25 star! The unexpected twists and turns kept me wanting to turn the page!!! So interesting and a great book!
July 29, 2023
Kinda boring until the end
March 15, 2021
Just finished this book. Was crazy had me guessing constantly til the very end. Was a quick read and a very good book!
September 8, 2023
This books provided me a new world to explore in terms of silence and how there are many things possible to happen in our surrounding without actually knowing about them. Even though this is fiction it does sparks my creative mind that this relates to reality in some aspects. Just like how not everyone doesn't care at all and that everyone have their own world to live into.
May 7, 2023
Book review: The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins
Short summary
The hole book is about Rachel. Rachel is a woman working in London. To go to work she has to take the train every day. With the time she recognizes other people who also catch the train at the same time. She had a happy life but one day her husband left her to come together with a younger woman. Rachel was absolutely desperate. In this hard time she found the only joy in drinking. The more the days passed and Rachel understood that the relationship was over, the more she needed a way out. As a result, her alcohol consumption increased. This affected not only the amount of alcohol but also the time. In the meantime, she drank her coffee in the morning mixed with schnapps. The people on the train knew her too, of course, and noted her condition. Her job also noticed this, which is why she was fired. Nevertheless, she continued to drive to work to hide it from her friends. As she did so, she began imagining more and more the lives of the people she saw out the window of the train one minute each day when it stopped briefly.
The style of writing is interesting. As a reader you can immerse in the story. However it is difficult to follow at the beginning of the book. There are a lot of names and the reader needs enough time to get in the plot and immerse in the story. When that happens, your own visual imagination of the scenes begins and the book becomes really exciting. The tension also increases and Rachel's emotions are felt. The readers absorption is high because nearly all four dimensions are given. As mentioned there is an emotional engagement and a mental imagery. The reader feels what feels Rachel and develops emotions towards the character and the plot. The reader also has the possibility to imerge deeper in the plot and get a mind visual imagery. This helps the reader to get a deeper concentration wich leads to a better concentration when reading this book.
The order of the whole plot is given and it is easy for the reader tho follow the structured story once you remember all the characters. The text duration is a big part f the plot. This is the reason why the story goes hand in hand with the reading speed of the reader. During the story are a few accelerated parts. Short segment when Rachel is sitting in the train are a longer period of the story in order to help the reader to understand the situation, what Rachel sees and feels.
Personal part:
Every person reacts in a different way when decisive experiences occur or major changes take place in life. Everyone channels their emotions and looks for a distraction or a way out. So I could understand why Rachel was looking for this, even if alcohol was her way out.
Nonetheless, I found the book to be very interesting and I was able to visualize a lot of things. i had trouble getting in at first because there are so many names and i had to concentrate not to mix up the different characters. but once that was done, it was fun to read and the ending is also completely different than expected. it has fully met my personal taste and is recommended for anyone who likes an unexpected twist in the story towards the end.
Short summary
The hole book is about Rachel. Rachel is a woman working in London. To go to work she has to take the train every day. With the time she recognizes other people who also catch the train at the same time. She had a happy life but one day her husband left her to come together with a younger woman. Rachel was absolutely desperate. In this hard time she found the only joy in drinking. The more the days passed and Rachel understood that the relationship was over, the more she needed a way out. As a result, her alcohol consumption increased. This affected not only the amount of alcohol but also the time. In the meantime, she drank her coffee in the morning mixed with schnapps. The people on the train knew her too, of course, and noted her condition. Her job also noticed this, which is why she was fired. Nevertheless, she continued to drive to work to hide it from her friends. As she did so, she began imagining more and more the lives of the people she saw out the window of the train one minute each day when it stopped briefly.
The style of writing is interesting. As a reader you can immerse in the story. However it is difficult to follow at the beginning of the book. There are a lot of names and the reader needs enough time to get in the plot and immerse in the story. When that happens, your own visual imagination of the scenes begins and the book becomes really exciting. The tension also increases and Rachel's emotions are felt. The readers absorption is high because nearly all four dimensions are given. As mentioned there is an emotional engagement and a mental imagery. The reader feels what feels Rachel and develops emotions towards the character and the plot. The reader also has the possibility to imerge deeper in the plot and get a mind visual imagery. This helps the reader to get a deeper concentration wich leads to a better concentration when reading this book.
The order of the whole plot is given and it is easy for the reader tho follow the structured story once you remember all the characters. The text duration is a big part f the plot. This is the reason why the story goes hand in hand with the reading speed of the reader. During the story are a few accelerated parts. Short segment when Rachel is sitting in the train are a longer period of the story in order to help the reader to understand the situation, what Rachel sees and feels.
Personal part:
Every person reacts in a different way when decisive experiences occur or major changes take place in life. Everyone channels their emotions and looks for a distraction or a way out. So I could understand why Rachel was looking for this, even if alcohol was her way out.
Nonetheless, I found the book to be very interesting and I was able to visualize a lot of things. i had trouble getting in at first because there are so many names and i had to concentrate not to mix up the different characters. but once that was done, it was fun to read and the ending is also completely different than expected. it has fully met my personal taste and is recommended for anyone who likes an unexpected twist in the story towards the end.
Read
August 9, 2020OK, so I knew of this book before I started it in connection with the phrase "unreliable narrator". I probably heard about it in connection with the term "gaslighting" as well, but that was a tricky concept for me, so I forgot.
First, I love trains and a book about riding trains was just the ticket. Yes, I said that.
Second, it was fun guessing which narrator was unreliable.
I really enjoy switching narrators, which may or may not have begun very enjoyably with Wilkie Collins in his "Moonstone", been used by George RR Martin, and then (sometimes over-) used again with that "My Sister's Keeper" novelist. Either Paula is no Wilkie, or I am not subtle enough in my reading, or the characters we hear narrate, though they see and hear different things, all happen to be so similar that they speak in almost the same voice. I didn't feel like one was intellectual (they all had their moments) and one constrained and refusing to give out information, another angry. They all felt very much the same.
The mystery was kind of fun. Not too challenging, and not too drawn out. About halfway through, I was beginning to tire of the same questions, but then more information got thrown into the mix and it got more interesting, and the pace held up acceptably to the end.
Having one of the narrators be alcoholic and forgetful was cool. Writing about trains was cool. The train gimmick was wonderful and the narration gimmick was even better. I don't know if it would have been as fun, had I not known ahead of time what was going on.
I could probably say that this writer didn't think too much of men, but that really didn't bother me any.
Almost all of this is so far outside my life experience that I just enjoyed it as a simple play.
For gimmick merit, it's fun if you don't know who did it. For literary merit, it's not badly written, just unimaginatively. I know I wasn't the best reader this week, but I have read stories where someone was holding information back, or multiple characters showed their personalities through their writing. Yes, these are all decently-educated women of similar ages, but...
Fun, didn't hate it, needed more trains.
First, I love trains and a book about riding trains was just the ticket. Yes, I said that.
Second, it was fun guessing which narrator was unreliable.
I really enjoy switching narrators, which may or may not have begun very enjoyably with Wilkie Collins in his "Moonstone", been used by George RR Martin, and then (sometimes over-) used again with that "My Sister's Keeper" novelist. Either Paula is no Wilkie, or I am not subtle enough in my reading, or the characters we hear narrate, though they see and hear different things, all happen to be so similar that they speak in almost the same voice. I didn't feel like one was intellectual (they all had their moments) and one constrained and refusing to give out information, another angry. They all felt very much the same.
The mystery was kind of fun. Not too challenging, and not too drawn out. About halfway through, I was beginning to tire of the same questions, but then more information got thrown into the mix and it got more interesting, and the pace held up acceptably to the end.
Having one of the narrators be alcoholic and forgetful was cool. Writing about trains was cool. The train gimmick was wonderful and the narration gimmick was even better. I don't know if it would have been as fun, had I not known ahead of time what was going on.
I could probably say that this writer didn't think too much of men, but that really didn't bother me any.
Almost all of this is so far outside my life experience that I just enjoyed it as a simple play.
For gimmick merit, it's fun if you don't know who did it. For literary merit, it's not badly written, just unimaginatively. I know I wasn't the best reader this week, but I have read stories where someone was holding information back, or multiple characters showed their personalities through their writing. Yes, these are all decently-educated women of similar ages, but...
Fun, didn't hate it, needed more trains.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 6, 2022
Definitely not my usual genre of historical fiction. This is more of a suspenseful murder story. I thought it was well written and the readers for the ebook were impeccable. Some of the most engaging I have listened to. Unfortunately, I thought all of the characters were pathetic and some even despicable. There was not one character in the book besides the baby and Kathy that had any redeeming qualities. Rachael- a drunkard, Anna- a husband stealer and cheater, and Megan- an irresponsible flighty woman that can't grow up. Add to your cast of characters a cheating husband that is full of evil and malice, a wounded psychologist that crosses the boundaries of practicing ethically, a husband that could have been the only salvageable character but anger, hate, and hurt come to define him and then an old beau of Megan's that is actually a drug addict, etc.- and you can't find one that you like. I did feel very interested in where the story was going and it did twist for me which was a bit of a surprise. I don't want to spoil anything- so if you like this dark type of read, then you are going to enjoy it more than me!
November 1, 2022
a good read/page turner. Here is a review:
Definitely not my usual genre of historical fiction. This is more of a suspenseful murder story. I thought it was well written and the readers for the ebook were impeccable. Some of the most engaging I have listened to. Unfortunately, I thought all of the characters were pathetic and some even despicable. There was not one character in the book besides the baby and Kathy that had any redeeming qualities. Rachael- a drunkard, Anna- a husband stealer and cheater, and Megan- an irresponsible flighty woman that can't grow up. Add to your cast of characters a cheating husband that is full of evil and malice, a wounded psychologist that crosses the boundaries of practicing ethically, a husband that could have been the only salvageable character but anger, hate, and hurt come to define him and then an old beau of Megan's that is actually a drug addict, etc.- and you can't find one that you like. I did feel very interested in where the story was going and it did twist for me which was a bit of a surprise. I don't want to spoil anything- so if you like this dark type of read, then you are going to enjoy it more than me!
Definitely not my usual genre of historical fiction. This is more of a suspenseful murder story. I thought it was well written and the readers for the ebook were impeccable. Some of the most engaging I have listened to. Unfortunately, I thought all of the characters were pathetic and some even despicable. There was not one character in the book besides the baby and Kathy that had any redeeming qualities. Rachael- a drunkard, Anna- a husband stealer and cheater, and Megan- an irresponsible flighty woman that can't grow up. Add to your cast of characters a cheating husband that is full of evil and malice, a wounded psychologist that crosses the boundaries of practicing ethically, a husband that could have been the only salvageable character but anger, hate, and hurt come to define him and then an old beau of Megan's that is actually a drug addict, etc.- and you can't find one that you like. I did feel very interested in where the story was going and it did twist for me which was a bit of a surprise. I don't want to spoil anything- so if you like this dark type of read, then you are going to enjoy it more than me!
August 9, 2024
*The Girl on the Train* by Paula Hawkins was, unfortunately, a bit of a disappointment for me. I had high hopes given the book's popularity, but I found it to be a slow read that struggled to keep my interest.
The story, which is set near London, centers around Rachel, a troubled woman whose daily train ride becomes entangled with the lives of others. The plot is meant to be a psychological thriller, but the pacing felt sluggish, making it difficult to stay engaged. The narrative is filled with depressing themes—alcoholism, infidelity, and mental health struggles—that weigh down the reading experience.
Additionally, the setting near London meant that some of the terms and cultural references were hard to understand, which added another layer of difficulty to an already challenging read. The book also jumped between three narrations, each narration beginning on a different date so I found it challenging to skip around timelines.
While there were moments of suspense and intrigue, they were too few and far between to make up for the overall slow pace and bleak tone. I can see why some readers might enjoy the complex characters and dark atmosphere, but for me, it was a struggle to get through.
The story, which is set near London, centers around Rachel, a troubled woman whose daily train ride becomes entangled with the lives of others. The plot is meant to be a psychological thriller, but the pacing felt sluggish, making it difficult to stay engaged. The narrative is filled with depressing themes—alcoholism, infidelity, and mental health struggles—that weigh down the reading experience.
Additionally, the setting near London meant that some of the terms and cultural references were hard to understand, which added another layer of difficulty to an already challenging read. The book also jumped between three narrations, each narration beginning on a different date so I found it challenging to skip around timelines.
While there were moments of suspense and intrigue, they were too few and far between to make up for the overall slow pace and bleak tone. I can see why some readers might enjoy the complex characters and dark atmosphere, but for me, it was a struggle to get through.
February 13, 2025
I listened to The Girl on the Train during my drives to and from work. It wasn’t my favorite, but it wasn’t totally dull either—just not what I was expecting. The book had some good parts, but overall, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.
Paula Hawkins weaves a story around three female characters, each dealing with their own struggles. The book really focuses on how relationships, love, and loss impact our lives, showing how easily things can spiral when those connections fall apart. It has themes of domestic violence, addiction, and deception, which add to the psychological suspense.
The story follows Rachel, whose life is unraveling after her husband leaves her. She numbs her pain with alcohol and clings to a fantasy about a seemingly perfect couple she sees from the train every day. But when something unexpected happens, she gets pulled into a mystery that turns her world upside down.
While I appreciated the depth of the characters and the suspenseful build-up, I think I was hoping for something a little different. It’s a well-crafted thriller, but maybe just not my type of book.
Paula Hawkins weaves a story around three female characters, each dealing with their own struggles. The book really focuses on how relationships, love, and loss impact our lives, showing how easily things can spiral when those connections fall apart. It has themes of domestic violence, addiction, and deception, which add to the psychological suspense.
The story follows Rachel, whose life is unraveling after her husband leaves her. She numbs her pain with alcohol and clings to a fantasy about a seemingly perfect couple she sees from the train every day. But when something unexpected happens, she gets pulled into a mystery that turns her world upside down.
While I appreciated the depth of the characters and the suspenseful build-up, I think I was hoping for something a little different. It’s a well-crafted thriller, but maybe just not my type of book.
December 20, 2020
This is a story about Rachel who believes she sees a crime from her commuter train. The author does a nice job of pulling you between believing she actually saw something and thinking she is not stable so everything is just in her head. Eventually, it is made clear which of the 2 options is reality and some very surprising truths are revealed about her and what she saw. I found the 1st part of the novel where she is a bit disturbed hard to slog through---it would but once past this part, the story became much more engaging.
September 9, 2022
What an amazing suspense thriller it was! Indeed a page turner by itself.I had never read something so compelling as this one.I did not even know how I completed it in such a small span of time amidst my exams.It was truly gripping story.a lot of scope for imagination. Excellent storytelling that could hold the readers to the point.Highly recommended!
August 4, 2023
HOW did this book get so many good reviews!? and become SO popular??? It was awful....absolutely, positively AWFUL! I would give it 0 stars if I could. There was NOTHING to like about any of the characters, and I felt like the book was on repeat chapter after chapter after chapter! Wow...just wow. My sister-in-law warned me this book was bad, but I didn't expect it to be THIS bad!!
August 12, 2017
I really liked this book but was a little bummed that all of the female characters were basically the same woman and the male characters were basically the same guy. Also saw the ending coming from too far away
March 2, 2021
This is the second time reading this. First time was about 5 years ago and I couldnt put it down. This read was for the book club. Took longer to read it, because I had to. Why didnt Tom and Anna just change their phone number? Block Rachel from the cells?
November 26, 2023
Read this book when I heard they were making a movie about it. I liked the book better than the movie! I really felt for the main character and wanted to help her so badly! I never saw the villain coming at the end. Very surprising ending.
September 9, 2017
This was a thriller for sure! I took this book everywhere with me for a week or two, reading it when I could. Definitely kept me intrigued & on the edge of my seat! Took me a minute to adjust to the way the author tells her story in the beginning, but I very much enjoyed it.
June 23, 2020
Great read!
July 25, 2020
more insanity due to infertility
July 30, 2020
Enjoyed it eventually but ruined as I'd watched the film twice before
February 26, 2021
Enjoyed this book very much. It had so many twists and turns and the characters were very believable. It was suspenseful right until the end. Highly recommend.
March 21, 2021
Lots of twists and turns. Loved it!
June 4, 2021
Didnt really enjoy this... way too overhyped. Movie adaptation was terrible tho
September 20, 2021
Oh man. I could not put this book down! It was such an intense and thrilling read. Highly recommend if you like drama and suspense.
November 2, 2021
good lots of who done it
December 2, 2021
Nice page turner, not my genre though. Overall good.
September 14, 2022
Deeply moved by having a view into human psychology and heartbreak. The end didn't quite meet my expectations, but definitely worth the read.
January 2, 2023
Good thriller
February 6, 2023
I’m not one for thrillers but if love them (think: Gone Girls), you won’t be able to turn the pages fast enough. Graphic look into the affects of abusive relationships, alcoholism, & deceit.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews