MINM Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Unputdownable, with just the right level of plot complexity, expert pacing, and indelible characters one will not soon forget, The Girl on the Train delivers.

Violence: Mild-to-Moderate

Profanity: Mild-to-Moderate

Sexual Content: Mild

Explicit Language: Mild

Animal Cruelty: None

Thrilling Action: Mild

Red Herrings: Moderate

Twists and Turns: Mild-to-Moderate

Suspense: Moderate

Plot Development: Moderate-to-High

Character Development: Moderate-to-High

Pages: 325 (Hardcover)

Best for Crime Fiction Readers:

  • Who enjoy crime fiction featuring one or more unreliable narrators.

  • Who enjoy crime fiction featuring psychologically complex characters.

  • Who enjoy a first person narrative with an intimate, conspiratorial, conversational tone - like a friend confiding secrets.

  • Who enjoy reading true crime - there are elements of true crime in the style of the narrative. There is also an amateur detective.....with a twist!

MINM Overall Rating: 5/5

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Publisher's Blurb:

Every day the same

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. 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.

Until today

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?