The woman in carriage 3 simply put was not for me. Hattie is the main character and she is not an easy person to like. She’s very naive, a bit careless and whines constantly. She falls into a relationship and things go as expected from there. Unfortunately, There were no shocking twists or turns. Everything goes as you suspect it will

Hattie is the quintessential party girl. She’s always looking for a good time in order to escape her grim reality. Her life suddenly takes a turn when an acquaintance mysteriously dies. What or who is behind this tragedy? Could danger be closer than she realizes? This thriller was extremely entertaining and had me hooked immediately. Even though I guessed the twist, my enjoyment was not diminished. I was fully concerned about Hattie and her reckless behavior. The characters were interesting and their different perspectives added suspense and intrigue to this tale of deception and betrayal. The narration expertly conveyed the constant tension especially during the twisty conclusion. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for my audiobook. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book wasn’t at all what I expected. It’s not really a thriller it’s more of a mystery. The main characters that are well developed. Our main character is a rather unintelligent girl named Hattie. Poor Hattie makes poor choices in life and love. This is a nice relaxing beach read.

This was a very enjoyable book but that it was predictable. I would suggest this would be a perfect beach or quick read. I highly recommend it.

Hattie works as a temp in London, recently single and back living with her parents, who disapprove of her drinking, always catches the same train home, the 18:53. One night, an incident on the train leads to conversation striking up between the usual commuters in her carriage, Bridget, Casper, Louis and Julian . Hattie takes a liking to Casper and they soon start dating. Though Casper has an ulterior motive for his relationship and starts gaslighting Hattie. He convinces her not to go for the job she has her heart set on, instead the pair should start a new life in Mexico. And Hattie, seemingly obliges. What Hattie doesn’t know is who Casper really is and he true reason for going to Mexico.
Quite a slow paced tale, with Hattie making some cringing decisions throughout. But the storyline still keeps you interested and wanting to know how everything will pan out.

This is definitely not what I signed up for. I thought I was getting a 'locked room' murder mystery. A sort of Strangers on a Train type thriller. Instead I got a rip off of The Girl on the Train.

A seemingly permanently hungover woman meets a group of strangers whilst riding the train to and from work. After several drunken tinder hook ups, she attaches herself to one of the other passengers and pathetically tries to (stalk him) become his girlfriend. When he tells her they should move overseas she readily starts packing. However, it soon becomes apparent this man isn't who he seems.

At some point, this book left Carriage 3 and never got back on track (no pun intended). I didn't know I'd be listening to The Thomas Crown Affair.

The Woman in Carriage 3 was not at all what I was expecting after reading the plot summary.

An ordinary journey. A shocking secret. And the perfect murder…

Hattie travels on the 18.53 train home every night. She sits in the same seat, in the same carriage, and sees the same people. The unwritten rule is you don’t talk to your fellow passengers, but Hattie has been watching them all for months now to distract herself from her own troubles.

Then one night a commuter suddenly drops dead. And the terrible accident changes everything.

In the aftershock of the tragic death, the group of strangers huddled around the two tables in carriage 3 strike up a conversation. Boundaries are shattered, connections are made and Hattie becomes tangled up in the lives of her fellow passengers as they travel to and from London every day.

But Hattie has no idea what she’s letting herself in for. The ordinary people on her ordinary journey all have dangerous secrets. When another commuter is killed, Hattie suspects someone in carriage 3 is responsible. Who can she trust? And is the truth closer to home and more dangerous than she could have guessed?

I was expecting this to be almost like a locked room mystery on a train. The majority of the book is not even on the train. It spans locations from England to Mexico and follows a couple of bad characters making bad decisions.

The main character Hattie was not a character I liked. She was easily manipulated and I didn’t even feel bad for her. She gets herself into some crappy situations with no one to blame but herself.

The actual murder was barely a subplot, it had very little to do with the overarching story.

As for the story, If this was branded differently I would probably have liked the book as a whole a little better. Even with the bad characters I did enjoy the story.

I do recommend this book but don’t expect a good mystery. Go in expecting bad characters and a story that will have you questioning just how stupid some people can be.

🎧Audio Book Review🎧

The Woman in Carriage 3
Alison James

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This was a brilliantly complex psychological thriller.

Whilst stuck on a stopped train, a group of commuters form a friendly group who start to look out for each other on their journey home. As relationships and friendships develop things become complicated, lines are crossed and there's even more to come....

I loved this scenario. It's a well known fact that you don't talk to your fellow commuters and I've always thought how silly - but after reading this book, I'll definitely be keeping my head down forever more!

I loved the characters and learning about each of their jobs and personalities etc and the relationship that Casper and Hattie develop. I was pretty suspicious of this even from the start, but things developed way beyond anything I could have ever imagined!

I loved the twisty plot and the absolute dedication to the plan afoot.

The writing was not particularly fast-paced, but there was so much going on, so many side stories and so many twists that I just couldn't put this down at all.

A really well planned plot and brilliantly developed characters.
I loved this and will be looking out for more books by this author in the future.

The Woman in Carriage 3 was a rather predictable and often times very far fetched story. It had a very slow start start but speeded up to a more enjoyable pace once we started to get explanations for the characters' actions. The ending should have been earlier given that the tying up of the loose ends was totally unnecessary and certainly pushed beyond the point of believability.

I would class this more of a mystery and less of a thriller but overall it was an enjoyable way to pass the time on my daily walk. The narrator was well able to give voices to the various characters so it wasn't confusing and her narration added to my enjoyment.

This was okay. I was expecting a thriller, but the book didn’t really have me on the edge of my seat. Maybe it’s better classified as a mystery. I believe the story would be a better read condensed a bit. Overall, it was a fun escape! Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture, & the author for the ARC/audiobook.

Meh. This felt like Murder on the Orient Express from the beginning. It started off quite slow but picked up around the halfway mark. It didn't contain very likable characters or have a very fascinating plot. Not one I would recommend.
*Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Bookouture Audio Publishers for allowing me to give this one a listen*

Great read! Lots of excitement—and though I wasn’t surprised by any of the twists or character reveals, I would read more by this author.

I would rate this as a light psychological thriller. Definitely a lot of suspense as the story went on.

Now let me tell you my thoughts on the characters. Hattie? OMG what a lush. I absolutely despised her until 2/3 of the way through the book. Or at least wished she would stop drinking so much and take an objective look at her life. The rest of the train gang? I liked some of them, wished I knew more about some of them, and absolutely despised one of them.

The concept of meeting a group of people on a train during an unusual event is such a fun concept…I imagine it would make a dull commute significantly better. Especially with a can of G&T as they did!

Overall, an enjoyable read that I recommend! Thanks to NetGalley for a review copy!

Publication date: 22 May 2023
AUDIBLE BOOK - narrator Jan Cramer - listening time: 8 hours

I chose this audible book on the preview alone and was disappointed at the start, which was slow. I wanted to stop listening but the narrator, Jan Cramer, was my main reason to continue.. With an 8-hour listening time, I enjoyed the storyline. The narrator was excellent, easily slipping in and out of character's accents and entertained the listener. I listened to this audible book on my mobile phone and the quality was excellent.

The plot is a bit predictable with twists and turns and characters to love and hate. The story kept me listening so it must have that "something" that kept me intrigued, albeit predictable.

The protagonist, Hattie Sewell, is 29 years old and really should know better. I would describe Hattie as naive and easily led. I disliked this character. I enjoyed Lewis's (ex-policeman) character but disliked many other of the characters.

Although the plot was predictable, I continue listening to the end and would recommend this audible book.

I give a 3 star rating..

I WANT TO THANK NETGALLEY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF LISTENING TO AN ALC OF THIS AUDIBLE BOOK FOR AN HONEST REVIEW

What I like most about this book was the growth of the main character - Hattie. She begins as a self-destructive young woman, utilizing alcohol to cope with the downslide of the previous months. Though she is targeted to take the fall for a heist, Hattie learns to have more self-respect, hopefully more likely to embrace healthier lifestyle.
The plot was very creative - a chance meeting on a train brings a group of strangers together; a friendship, a group chat.
One of them dies due to suspicious circumstances.
A little predictable but I enjoyed the plot and writing.
I also enjoyed the narrator - my favorite actually. I love the no nonsense voice while allowing characters to be vulnerable.

Overall I was disappointed with this book. When I read the preview of it it sounded exactly like the sort of story I enjoy but this wasn’t the case. The characters were unrealistic as a group who would ever get together and without that happening the whole plot failed.

I received this book from netgalley in exchange for a review.
Hattie gets to know the other passengers in carriage 3 one day when there is a train delay. They develop a friendship. She's a bit of a flake, and develops a sexual relationship with one of them. But something is suspect from the beginning. He won't take her to his house, and instead she sneaks him into her parents' house. Casper works at an art house, and coincidentally runs into another passenger on the train there the day of an auction. But that other passenger, Julian, is also suspicious of him. When Julian has a heart attack and dies on the train, signs begin to point to foul play.
Hattie chats with another passenger Bridget about the event, volleying suspects about. Casper is not included, as he was not on the train that day.
I enjoyed the book; it was a fast read.
It was a bit predictable in terms of the villains, and Hattie was portrayed as unbelievably ditsy and loose.

A surprisingly gripping story with some unexpected reveals. Told through viewpoints of the commuters, we see a disparate bunch of people forging alliances and making plans.

Not all of them are who they appear to be.

I very much enjoyed the car commute with this story, which kept me wondering about the motives and plans of these commuters.

Thanks to #NetGalley the opportunity to listen to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this audiobook.

After a group bond on a London commuter train one evening during a delayed journey, the unusual group form a friendship. The story follows Hattie, who is in her late twenties and due to changed circumstances, is back living with her parents, and her relationships with the group.

The plot was twisty so, although predictable, did keep me enthralled.
Recommended for fans of domestic thrillers. Thanks to NetGalley and Bookoutre for the audiobook.

Audiobook review

Based on the description of the book, I thought there would be more suspense involved in the storyline but I didn't really feel like the story was very gripping. The first part of the book is really slow in my opinion, naturally that's to set the story but it just seemed to take a long time.

The main character Hattie is going through a rough patch in life, she loses her job, her long term boyfriend and moves back in with her parents. As she spends her time drinking on the train commuting to her temp work, she gets to know some of the other passengers and the story unfolds from there. I had a really hard time with Hattie's character so I was kind of turned off the book, my first thought at the beginning is there's no way Hattie is this daft and I continued to cringe as the book went on. Personally, this book isn't for me but I continued listening to see how it ends. I did find the book got more exciting in Part 3 so push through the beginning for the twists! I found the book a similar concept to The Girl on the Train, which I didn't enjoy, but if you're a fan of The Girl on the Train then you'll enjoy The Woman in Carriage 3. There are already great reviews for this book, it just fell flat for me personally.

I enjoyed the narration of the book, I found it easy to tell which characters were speaking. I think Jan Cramer did a really good job telling the story.

Thanks to NetGallery and Bookouture Audio for allowing an early copy for my honest review.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5534067814

DNF’d at 66%

This book was a big disappointment, after reading the description the concept sounded promising.
“An ordinary journey. A shocking secret. And the perfect murder…”
But unfortunately the execution was not interesting at all, I was so incredibly bored by the book and honestly I couldn’t get into the story from the beginning, it didn’t gripped me from the first page like I would wanted to.
Glad I stopped reading it, because I really don’t see the point reading it when I’m disliking it so much and just didn’t care about any of the characters in it or the story.
Sadly I wouldn’t recommend this book.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for providing me an AudioARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

🌼 Publication Date: May 22, 2023 🌼