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Original poster

The Girl on the Train

36 replies

Boogers · 30/12/2015 08:43

What an excellent book! Just that really.

If anyone is looking for a recommendation for a brilliant thriller I heartily recommend this book. It's taken me less than a week to finish it and DH says he can't remember the last time I did that with a book. Excellent debut novel!

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VashtaNerada · 30/12/2015 08:49

I didn't enjoy it at all! Found it very predictable and disappointing. But each to their own! I liked Gone Girl and hardly anyone else did Smile

TheWoodenSpoonOfMischief · 30/12/2015 09:08

I really liked it too. I ve only recently started reading thrillers, thanks to mumsnet recommendation of Into The Darkest Corner, and I get really drawn into them.
I finished Girl on the Train in 4 days and can't remember the last time I managed that!

Quogwinkle · 30/12/2015 09:53

It wasn't bad as a good old fashioned type thriller and I enjoyed it for what it was, but don't understand why it got so much hype - it isn't any better than any of the other thrillers out there that don't get the big promotion.

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes which was published a few years ago is better.

tillop · 30/12/2015 10:43

First post.

I am reading Disclaimer by Renee Knight.

Phew its good...

Original poster
Boogers · 30/12/2015 16:26

I think my next reads will be Disclaimer (courtesy of tillop) and Darkest Corner (courtesy of Quog and Wooden Spoon). Might take a while to get them from the library but thanks for the recommendations! Smile

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ChipsandGuac · 30/12/2015 16:30

Vashta I Liked both of them!

They were filming Girl on the Train at a town close to me a few weeks ago. The movie is set in the US which I think sucks a bit, tbh.

ChipsandGuac · 30/12/2015 16:32

I forgot to add, the only downside of GOTT was I worked it all out very quickly. I blame that on reading too many relationship threads on MN! Grin

Redglitter · 30/12/2015 16:35

I thought it was totally over hyped I much preferred A Girl on A train which I bought by accident. Hated gone girl and I hate so many books are compared to them.both

Original poster
Boogers · 30/12/2015 16:38

Chipsand - in a rare time of self-restraint I didn't read the last pages or flick through for spoilers. Probably what kept me hanging on until the last page, though I skipped a couple of pages where x was doing nasty things to y (spoiler averted) but it was still a gripping read!

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Shadow1986 · 30/12/2015 16:38

My sister recommended girl on the train to me and I did enjoy it but also found it quite predictable! So no shock ending for me.

Original poster
Boogers · 30/12/2015 16:40

I've not yet read Gone Girl and though I know there's a twist I don't actually know what the story is about. That's one on my To-Do list too.

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RiverTam · 30/12/2015 16:43

I thought it was massively overhyped. I knew nothing about it but guessed what happened. I never guess. So I don't think it was all that, tbh.

wonkylampshade · 30/12/2015 16:44

I enjoyed it too! Our book club subsequently read 'The Book of You' which was great as well, quite creepy though.

Original poster
Boogers · 30/12/2015 16:46

Lots of recommendations on here, thank you all for the suggestions. I might just find my reading mojo again!

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wonkylampshade · 30/12/2015 16:57

Check out Wolf Winter by Cecilia Eckback, and The Miniaturist too - I've just got back into reading after a looong break (cheers children), and enjoyed both of those.

Quogwinkle · 30/12/2015 17:10

Gone Girl has divided opinion on MN quite a lot, but I'm firmly in the liked it camp. I loved the sheer nastiness of it - twisted, manipulative spite - and the ending I thought was very fitting.

I've been enjoying the Shardlake historical (Tudor) crime thrillers by C J Sansom recently. I've read four, with two to go. Big novels, well written, good plotting and satisfying conclusions. I have also read S J Parris's Giordano Bruno thrillers (Elizabethan era, he works for the spy master Sir Francis Walsingham) and enjoyed the tight plotting and good writing here too.

Original poster
Boogers · 30/12/2015 18:34

Don't tell me what happens in Gone Girl (fingers in ears, eyes closed, la la la la la) I've seen the film posters in the train station but genuinely do not know the story!

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Quogwinkle · 30/12/2015 18:57

Wouldn't spoil the plot for you, Boogers - just encouraging you to read it - it's well worth it :)

southeastdweller · 30/12/2015 19:45

I found it enjoyable but nothing special. Her publisher should win awards for the marketing of this book, if they haven't already. The passages on Rachel's alcoholism were very well-done, harrowing and credible.

5Foot5 · 30/12/2015 19:58

I really enjoyed The Girl on the Train. I liked the way that characters are not quite who you first thought they were. It kept me absorbed on a very long journey this summer.

However, I disliked Gone Girl very much and was cross with the ending

TenTinyTadpoles · 01/01/2016 19:01

I've had it and Gone Girl on my kindle for ages, I never seem to be in the mood to tackle them. Admittedly it's not been helped by hearing a lot of people saying that they didn't much like it or couldn't get in to it. I'll have to have a go at it soon. However, I'm a bit of a wuss so will it give me nightmares if I read it in bed?

Debsmumof3 · 01/01/2016 19:28

I persevered with Gone Girl but was really disappointed. But Girl On A Train was brilliant. Live Cormoran Strike Trillogy And for easy reading Elly Griffiths is fab. I love the characters.

everydayinMK · 01/01/2016 21:54

Girl On The Train & Gone Girl are not bad books at all. Wine

The other one that I'm hearing noises about is Obama's alleged fave of the year, Fates and Furies. That's my next book to read. Grin

But the one I still can't stop RAVING about to anyone who will listen is The Theseus Paradox. Truly, if you like twisty thrillers - this was my absolute best book of 2015. Knocks spots off anything else because you don't know what's fact and what's fiction.Xmas Shock It has ruined me for other novels! <a class="break-all" href="http://<a class="break-all" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B015UDFYQ6"?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-what-were-reading-2537454-The-Girl-on-the-Train" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B015UDFYQ6" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B015UDFYQ6

everydayinMK · 01/01/2016 23:49

Sorry - last link seems to be broken.

The Theseus Paradox - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/099342631X/

myotherusernameisbetter · 05/01/2016 00:32

I read The girl on the train over the last couple of days. It was okay but I feel vaguely disappointed. I'd worked it out too early and was hoping I'd be wrong so it would be more exciting. I loved Gone Girl though.