It's been awhile since I've posted a book review, and silly me: I started my own book club! Since I've always wanted to be a part of a book club (wine, snacks, good friends, and discussing books, what's not to love?) I decided to host my own!
Books and Babes is a book club dedicated to badass women who enjoy discussing and reading books. I thought it would be fun to make the club female-oriented, so we choose only books written by female authors. So far, we've read three books and I'm disgustingly behind on reviewing them for this blog. Life, work, and my dogson constantly demand my attention, I apologize. However, that will change because here is my review of our very first book club novel, The Girl on the Train.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins was an experience. Even though it was our January book club novel, I still remember the narrative like it was yesterday. Everyone who read the book in our club was fully immersed into the world of the three women we meet: Rachel, Anna, and Megan.
Our main protagonist is Rachel. Right off the bat, we learn she's a recently unemployed alcoholic recovering from a brutal divorce. As a reader, her drunken stupor throughout the novel forces you to find her a potentially unreliable narrator, which keeps things interesting, for sure. We go on to learn that she takes the same exact train route to and from work, even though she was fired from her job. Taking that same route gives her a sense of comfort. On that route, she lives vicariously through a couple she sees from outside her train window, who she's adoringly named Jess and Jason. They are the couple she aspired to, but we soon learn they are actually Megan and Scott: and they aren't the perfect couple, not at all.
The second voice we become acquainted with is Megan Hipwell, the woman living what Rachel believes her fantasy to be. As it turns out, Megan's life is pretty chaotic. I won't spoil things for you though.
Our last narrator is Anna, the shiny new wife of Rachel's ex-husband, Tom. Initially, I found her to be fake and overwhelmingly aggressive when it came to Rachel in Tom's life, but as you journey through each of these women's lives, you start to see the full picture that is Anna.
This book is a real page turner, and takes several different twists and turns. It certainly didn't turn out the way I thought it would, and I was really pleased with that. Also, I really enjoyed all the different themes surrounding the novel such as gender culture/norms, addiction, friendship, marriage, and sexuality.
If you're a fan of crime thrillers with some deep themes, this is the right book for you!
Fun fact: They are officially making this book a movie! The fantastic Emily Blunt will be playing the main character of Rachel, and I'm beyond stoked to see how the adaptation plays out in theaters.
Have you read The Girl on the Train? Let me know your thoughts on the novel in the comments below!
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