Into The Water

Goodreads Description

With the same propulsion that captivated millions of readers worldwide in The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins unfurls a gripping, twisting, layered story set in a small riverside town. Once again Hawkins demonstrates her powerful understanding of human instincts and the damage they can inflict. Into the Water is an addictive novel of psychological suspense about the slipperiness of the truth, and a family drowning in secrets.

My Review

This book must be the most anticipated release of 2017. I mean seriously, is there anyone on this planet that hasn't read or heard about The Girl On The Train? If you're a reader, the name of Paula Hawkins first book will be familiar to you. Interestingly enough, I wasn't a massive fan of her debut novel. I didn't hate it, but I failed to see what all the fuss was about. I came to the conclusion that her publishers did an amazing job of marketing the book. And I'm not knocking the book in any way by saying that, I'm merely saying that for me personally, I was somewhat underwhelmed by it. But, and this is a big but, plenty of readers were crazy about it.

The fact that I didn't absolutely love the first book actually meant that I was looking forward to reading this, her second one. For me, I felt that the lack of hype about this book meant that I was less likely to be let down. In fact, I heard a number of negative reviews about this second book, and it seemed that many people felt that it didn't live up to the high standards set by the first one, and a number of readers didn't even finish the book.

I started this book with an open mind and a hope that I was going to love it. At first, I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. I found it a little confusing, and I wasn't always sure what was going on. In the beginning of the book, reference is made to water all the time and I didn't always understand what I was reading.

And let me warn you now, there are loads of different characters, and I found it a bit difficult to keep track of who was who. If you are the type of reader that battles when there are many different characters, then perhaps just keep a pen and paper handy, and keep a list, just in the beginning until you get the hang of it. But don't pass on reading this book because of that. I got the hang of the characters fairly quickly. I must also say that I'm very glad that I didn't read this book on my Kindle, but rather, I read the paperback. This was good because it allowed me to flip back through the pages when I needed to remind myself of who someone was.

Now I know that some people have reviewed this book saying that they didn't think it had enough suspense. But I completely disagree. I thought that the suspense in this book was great, and although this is more of a character driven story, I did find that the suspense grew throughout the book. I couldn't wait to find out what had happened to not only Nel, but also to Katie. So many of the characters seemed strange, and their behaviour made many of them look guilty to some extent.

This author can clearly write, and I thought the writing quality in this book was really great. But at the end of the day, this read just didn't stand out for me. I thought it was a good book, and I don't necessarily think that it deserves all the negative publicity that it's been getting. I liked the slow build up and the suspense, but there were certain things that I didn't love. I sometimes battled with the scenes from the past, and I didn't always see the link to the current story. There was reference to witches being drowned in the pond, that didn't tie up to the story. Also, the psychic character didn't seem to me to take matters further. I dunno. It wasn't a faultless story. It seemed a bit disjointed at times.

I liked it, and I think if you get the chance to read it, then do that. I wouldn't be rushing out and banging down the door of your nearest bookstore, but that doesn't make this an unpleasant read. Like I said, the writing quality is great and the characters are interesting, if mostly unlikeable. I would read more by this author.

My Rating: * * *

Publication Date: April 2017 (South Africa)

Genre: Psychological thriller

Format: Trade paperback

Source: Review copy received from the publisher. Many thanks to author, Paula Hawkins and Penguin Random House SA for my copy. It was my pleasure to read and review this book.