I think I put off reading this one because of the hype that surrounded it when it first came out in 2015. Then there was the first movie adaptation in 2016, followed by a 2021 Indian Hindi-language version directed by Ribhu Dasgupta and produced by Reliance Entertainment. I don’t generally like or watch movie adaptations of the books I read because I am more creative and accurate with my imaginative perspectives of the settings and characters than Hollywood (also, Bollywood, in this case, I guess). I am going to watch both versions for this one after I finish reading, though. It was a really great psychological page-turner, if not a little confusing at times, due mostly to Megan and Rachel’s hazy mental states. Paula Hawkins may have done it on purpose.
Full disclosure: This book opened some doors and shut some doors for me personally. Alcoholism and addiction are things that have brushed my life very closely and have changed the absolute course of my life in some respects. I have never read a first-person view that so accurately depicts the aftermath of an addictive episode; the guilt, the desperate attempts to remember, the embarrassment that comes in waves, the depression that goes hand in hand with addiction and binging. Rachel is the catalyst that makes me begin to examine some of my own drinking habits and reevaluate whether or not alcohol is even something I want in my life at all. It also helps me understand some of those who have experienced similar circumstances and humanizes them for me better than I can on my own.
Pretty Colors Unabridged 