After posting my intended summer reading list last week, I knew that I would need to get off on the right foot and get into the list with plenty of momentum, so I decided to choose a book that had been recommended to me by multiple people as a real page-turner. I selected The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. Thanks to summer break I was able to complete the book in less than 24 hours. So yes, it was a page-turner.
However that is not to say that the book was easy going. I can honestly say that I have never encountered the types of characters created by Hawkins in my life. Every single one of the main characters in the book are completely depressing. Between alcoholism, depression, anxiety, and pathological lying the reader is exposed, from the first page, to the extreme issues plaguing the primary players throughout the story. The author has created characters so troubled that to learn what goes through their minds throughout the story proves incredibly challenging to read...to the point of causing physical discomfort to the reader. But maybe this is an example of Hawkins' writing abilities.
She has created a story that weaves the viewpoints of three different women together in such a way that the troubles of each woman, emotional and psychological, are completely real. This writing style in Hawkins' book is very engaging and overall well done. The plot itself, an absolute mystery thriller, is very good and complete with a stellar twist. If readers can stomach Hawkins' characters then they are in for a well done and fast paced story.
However that is not to say that the book was easy going. I can honestly say that I have never encountered the types of characters created by Hawkins in my life. Every single one of the main characters in the book are completely depressing. Between alcoholism, depression, anxiety, and pathological lying the reader is exposed, from the first page, to the extreme issues plaguing the primary players throughout the story. The author has created characters so troubled that to learn what goes through their minds throughout the story proves incredibly challenging to read...to the point of causing physical discomfort to the reader. But maybe this is an example of Hawkins' writing abilities.
She has created a story that weaves the viewpoints of three different women together in such a way that the troubles of each woman, emotional and psychological, are completely real. This writing style in Hawkins' book is very engaging and overall well done. The plot itself, an absolute mystery thriller, is very good and complete with a stellar twist. If readers can stomach Hawkins' characters then they are in for a well done and fast paced story.