Paula Hawkins had me hooked with her debut novel The girl on the train. That’s what made me pick this book. Well, that and some reviews I read. I would give it to the author for using the same narrative style in two consecutive books and still managing to keep the readers on tether hooks. While reading The girl on the train, I couldn’t help but read a bit ahead as I was unable to contain myself. Thankfully, the narrative style didn’t spoil it for me. So, I was extra careful not to read ahead with this book. I wanted the suspense to build up in the way Paula had intended and it did. However, when I reached the end I should say I was disappointed a little. Some things may have gone over my head, but I expected more.

Highs:

~ Narration. Succinct and clear, Paula has done it again with so much ease.

~ Keeping the plot progressing. There’s not a page where I felt the story to be stagnant. It kept building on and on. The scenes that were built with every page were all leading to something. It felt like you are getting close to finishing a jigsaw puzzle with every page.

~ Characters in the plot. The variety in thinking, behavior, and interpretations helped the thriller novel to throw the readers off the hook whenever and wherever needed.

Lows:

~ The last piece of puzzle still doesn’t give that much meaning to the picture once it fits. It does complete the plot and hence the story but doesn’t do anything beyond that. Maybe I am wrong in comparing this with The girl on the train where the last piece of the puzzle gave the story an entirely different twist.

~ Some gaping holes that come with a story built on the interpretations of different characters. I could have gone easy on this if the ending had given me the clarity I wanted.

My verdict:

I was hoping for a 5 star book but I would only go as far as 3 stars for this one. Blame it on the high expectations or comparative mindset with The girl on the train, but that’s as much as I can say.

Until later 🙂