"The Holes In Your Life Are Permanent. You Have To Grow Around Them, Like Tree Roots Around Concrete; You Mold Yourselves Through The Gaps"

You know what is another good way to have nothing to do but read? Flying. I had a job interview in New Jersey on Monday and I forgot to bring Pride and Prejudice. I had it sitting on the dining room table but forgot to shove it in my bag. So in lieu of logging into one of my laptops to do work on the flight (yes, because of work, I travel with more than one laptop), I bought The Girl On The Train at the airport. And proceeded to read the entire thing in approximately 4 days. I mistakenly assumed that the book was the same author as Gone Girl, since there were so many comparisons made in the commercials for the movie. But it is actually the first novel written by Paula Hawkins.

As I've mentioned before, I'm a sucker for a good whodoneit. Which is why I always fly through books like this. The story is a about an alcoholic divorcee, Rachel, who rides the train to and from London every day while fantasizing about the lives of a couple whose house she sees on her daily commute. But then you find out that she used to live in a house only a couple doors down. And you learn that she has lost her job due to her drinking and is just riding the train to hide the fact that she was fired from her roommate. And then the woman that she watches from the train disappears and Rachel involves herself in the investigation and was actually in the area the night of her disappearance. So from there the story unfolds of Rachel, her ex-husband, his new wife, and the husband of the missing girl.

The main thing I liked about the writing of the book was the unreliability of Rachel and her memory from drinking and the way the author conveyed so much of her feelings and her shame. Because so much of it felt so accurate and honest. About the blackouts, and how drastically people change when they're drunk, and the struggle she would go through trying not to fall down the rabbit hole and start drinking again. Her spotty memory and severe emotional swings made you question her for sure, and wonder if she was capable of doing some terrible things. But also affected how you saw the other characters too. So I felt like that was a very clever lens through which to tell the story.

However, I did guess the end of the book. Not that it was super obvious, but I think if the reader figured out some of the hints early on, you could figure it out. I did like the book though overall, and am looking forward to seeing the movie (although side note: while I very much like Emily Blunt, I feel she was a bit miscast. The woman in the book was constantly described as heavy and definitely not attractive. So while they can try to ugly her up, Emily Blunt is still far too attractive to fit the description of the character in the book).

Now that I'm on a roll and reunited with Pride and Prejudice, I have a feeling that I'm going to fly through the rest of that one too. Long days spent doing nothing but reading? Could a girl ask for anything more??