A love of crime/thriller novels is one I think I've inherited from my mum, after first borrowing her James Patterson books I discovered a love for all things gruesome and grisly (I know, how weird does that make me sound) so when I first heard about this book I was dying to read it. This post won't contain any spoilers. Zero, zilch, nil!

The Girl On The Train* is told through the perspective of three different women; Rachel, Anna and Megan. Rachel is ultimately the girl on the train. She makes the same two journeys each day in and out of London and in the morning her train stops, like clockwork, at the same signal. From the train she can see into the lives of a couple that live in a house that backs onto the train tracks.

She names them; 'Jason' and 'Jess' and day in, day out she watches them, making guesses about their lives and relationship until one day the train stops at the signal and Rachel sees something that changes everything and she finally has a chance to become more than just the girl on the train.

The story is gripping, with insane amounts of twists and turns, some slightly predictable and if I am completely honest - which I always aim to be when writing my bookshelf reviews - the ending for me was less of a surprise and more of a confirmation of suspicions I'd had throughout. That's okay though, as it's not always necessary to be kept entirely in the dark where crime and thrillers are concerned, you'll want to keep reading regardless to find out if your theories are proved right in the end.

I quite enjoyed the fact that I found Rachel a difficult lead character to like, she had traits that I'm sure most women can relate to on some level but at times I was frustrated with her and I've rarely felt like that about a protagonist in a novel before.

It's tricky for me to talk about The Girl On The Train without spoiling aspects of the plot but I would 100% recommend this novel if you're a fan of twisting and turning mysteries and thrillers. This book isn't as gruesome or grisly as some others I've read, like YOU by Caroline Kepnes, but it's gripping nonetheless with a lot more insight into the emotional damage left behind by betrayal and broken relationships which is the recurring theme throughout.

Let me know if you've read The Girl On The Train, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

*This book was sent to me for review by Transworld Publications.

BOOKSHELF: DEATH CURE BY JAMES DASHNER

This book, guys. I can't even. I finished it a few weeks ago and hadn't got round to writing up my thoughts on it until now but I suppose I should start by saying there will be no spoilers in this review, as always.

I've mentioned many times now that the Maze Runner series by James Dashner is one of my favourites ever and this third book just had me curled up in a giant ball of emotions. This book follows on from The Scorch Trials and the Gladers are trying to figure out what the hell is going on - still. They've endured two hugely challenging trials, the Maze and the Scorch and are now faced with another two challenge, maybe a little closer to home - having their memories back or not and finding out if they are actually immune to the dreaded flare or not.

This book is the final chapter for Thomas, Newt, Teresa, Minho and the other characters and it's hard to talk about the story in depth without giving too much away. The Gladers get separated at WICKED HQ and Thomas, Newt, Minho, Brenda and Jorge are on a mission to escape the wrath of WICKED once more and they venture to a new city, built behind tall walls and supposedly safe from cranks, to find the friends that they've lost. Here they encounter a blast from the past as well as discovering that nowhere is safe from WICKED and the deadly virus that is sweeping the earth.

This book is intense and honestly I never wanted to put it down until I read a certain chapter - when you read it, you'll know which chapter I'm talking about - and then all hell broke lose and I was a wreck, more of a wreck than I was when I read PS. I Love You or The Fault In Our Stars. Yes, that emosh.

I loved it though and the only thing that will stop me missing reading about these characters is knowing that I'll be able to do it all again when The Fever Code is released in 2016!

BOOKSHELF: THE MAZE RUNNER TRILOGY - THE SCORCH TRIALS

In my opinion, The Maze Runner series written by James Dashner, will give The Hunger Games a run for it's money! It took me a good few chapters to get completely sucked into The Scorch Trials; the second book from the trilogy, but once I was I couldn't put it down.

The Scorch Trials follows the same characters from The Maze Runner, Thomas, Teresa and the other Gladers as they face new threats following their escape from the maze. Solving The Maze was supposed to be the end and Thomas and his friends were sure that escape would mean freedom but WICKED isn't done yet. Phase Two has only just begun. In The Scorch there are no rules, no help, no mercy. You either make it or you die and the Gladers have one challenge; to cross The Scorch and reach a 'Safe Haven' in only two weeks. All bets are off and The Scorch Trials make The Maze look like a stroll in the park...

Like I said before, it did take me a little while to get stuck into this book and I think that was mainly because I read The Maze Runner almost a year ago and saw the movie back in January so the storyline and characters weren't fresh in mind, it took a little while for me to invest in them again. Once I had, I was sucked in by the fast-paced, exhilarating plot which twisted and turned when I least expected. There's no let up in this novel at all and just when you think things might be settling for the Gladers something more sinister and threatening than the last is thrown in their direction.

I don't want to say too much about this novel because I would hate to spoil it for you. After watching the trailer for the movie adaption there doesn't seem to be many similarities between the two so it's not going to matter a great deal if you watch the movie when it's released next month before you read the book. I would still highly recommend adding this to your reading list though, there are so many details and scenes which I'm sure they haven't included in the film, so don't miss out!

I've just started the third book in this series, Death Cure now and have the prequel to the series (but the latest book to be released) lined up afterwards. I know the author James Dashner wanted to expand the post-Flare world but did not want to involve the main characters, resulting in the prequel The Kill Order and the upcoming 2016 release Fever Code. Make sure you keep checking here and over on my twitter @laurenfell for my latest thoughts on this series - spoiler free of course!