Into the Water

This story was good. By good, I mean solid. It moved, not slowly, but methodically. I appreciated that despite the pace being somewhat laborious in parts; you could always feel of the importance.

I was a bit diasapounted in the ending, but only because I have built a high expectation through a life of creativity and glimpses into the darker parts of life. The climax was so easily explained–in the end–it was almost too realistic. I suppose you have to appreciatr that, and give Hawkins the credit that deserves.

The characters were magnificent. Despite this being a mystery, typically plot driven, Hawkins does a wonderful job making it character driven.

Not bad.

So many secrets! You think you have it figured out and some new information comes out. The characters are better in this novel. I like and hate them as we are supposed to feel. In Hawkins', previous novel, I disliked all the characters in that one and did not enjoy that one. I was tempted to not read this one. That would have been a mistake because this one is great. Better characters, more layers, and a more enjoyable read than my previous experience with this author. Really glad I took the chance.

Entertaining. Felt a bit more “standard mystery/thriller” than The Girl on the Train, but it was well told and had me wondering through most of the book.

It really wasn't bad overall. I just hated a few things. For one, it takes long to get into it because there are so. Many. Characters. And the POVs alternate between first and third person, which, once you notice it, you can't stop noticing it. There doesn't seem to be any reason for this either.

I was going to give this four stars up until the end. The ending is, for lack of better words, really confusing. I had to read it multiple times and I'm still only 90% I know who killed Nel. How horrible is that?

Into the water is a great read. It was my first time reading a mystery book. Yes it was a sad book but it was so good. And I like that it keeps you wanting more of everyone story of how they feel about the river. I like that it shows everyone Point of view of what happened to the people who died in the river. Sometimes we are so quick to judge someone without knowing the real truth. We make judgments so fast with out asking them first before jumping to conclusions. I did not see the ending come out like it did. If you are going to read this book know that your emotions are going to be all over the place.

I enjoyed this book better than Girl on the Train. I had read prior to starting it that there were a lot of character so I wrote down each character as I came upon them and it helped me track them - didn't get them confused. I found the family relationships interesting and it kept me guessing right up to the end.

This book is amazing and Paula Hawkins is everything.

This book has been one of the most highly anticipated spring/summer releases this year, written by Paula Hawkins of The Girl On The Train fame it is her second novel and it's almost as though the literary world is waiting to see can she deliver another smash hit or will it be a case of ‘one trick pony'. I read Girl On The Train fairly quickly after it's release and whilst I enjoyed it I must confess to being surprised that it attracted as much attention as I did and that it made it all the way to movie status. I was therefore intrigued to read Into The Water to give me a second opportunity to assess the writing abilities of this new but very successful author.

This story is set in a small town next to a river and opens when the body of single mother Nel is pulled from the river, with everyone making the assumption it was most likely a suicide. A few months earlier a teenage girl from the town met a similar fate in the same river and questions remain unanswered about her death also. In fact, the river holds many secrets about the different women who have died in it over the years and this book is about their stories and the secrets the town holds about how they met their fate.

We are generally fairly used to thrillers with multiple perspectives, it is a popular format in literary fiction today but Hawkins takes this one stage further. In the first 50 pages of this book, there are literally so many characters introduced that it makes your head spin. None of the stories they are telling link together smoothly it is absolutely a snapshot of their own points of view on Nel's death and whether it was a suicide and about what a controversial character she was in her life and the very differing opinions of her. This multiple to an excess perspective meant that it took me some time to really relax into this book, the first quarter leaves you a little confused, having to check you are beginning to place just who each character is and their links to the others. I imagine that like other lower rated reviews of this book it could be that this writing approach has meant that, like me, you are left actually not really caring what happened to Nel.

As the book progresses past the first quarter you suddenly begin to realise you are becoming more familiar with everyone, you don't need to keep thinking so hard about it and you begin to relax more into the story. You are able to focus more on the history of the town, the dark secrets that it holds and begin to understand that there is much more that needs to be answered about Nel's death. However, one thing that is clear is that this town is particularly disturbed. The secrets that run through it touch everyone in it and there are a lot of stories we touch upon along the way, some which evoke more sympathy than others.

I liked this book, a bit like Girl On The Train I found that the author did pull me through with her short snappy chapters. You'd sit down and say you'd read one more and suddenly you were 5 chapters later and thinking how you got there. Naturally, as this is a mystery novel I don't want to delve too much into the plot for fear of ruining the experience for other readers but I will say that I felt the ending didn't leave me totally fulfilled. Whilst some of the characters stories concluded nicely and we were able to see them beginning to move on, other parts left us with frustrating unresolved issues that niggled.

I have to be honest and say that I think this book is going to be one you will either really love or be like myself a little ambivalent about it. I am not sure that in a few months time it will have stuck with me. I am fairly sure that it will sell many many copies but I would put it on my ‘good but not outstanding shelf'

Meh. Not as good as her first.