Book: Into The Water
Author: Paula Hawkins
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 402
How Long It Took Me: 3 days
Plot Summary: In the last days before her death, Nel called her sister. Jules didn’t pick up the phone, ignoring her plea for help.
Now Nel is dead. They say she jumped. And Jules has been dragged back to the one place she hoped she had escaped for good, to care for the teenage girl her sister left behind.
But Jules is afraid. So afraid. Of her long-buried memories, of the old Mill House, of knowing that Nel would never have jumped.
And most of all she’s afraid of the water, and the place they call the Drowning Pool . . .
General Thoughts: I have to be honest and say that I was not a fan of The Girl on The Train. I thought it was a little too convenient and in parts way too outlandish.
So when this book was announced I was only very mildly interested. But I read the premise and my interest went from mild to high. Anything about witches drowning, creepy old historical villages and long buried secrets...I am all about that and I had to read this book!
Things I Liked:
1. The writing was enjoyable and absolutely easy and breezy to read.
2. I simply loved the premise and setting of this book. An English village is one of my favourite places to read from. Maybe it's all of the Agatha Christie books I've read and loved, but an English village just seems like a perfect setting for a murder mystery.
3. The book is told from multiple perspectives and this helps keeping the book fast paced and it moves fast and it makes for some interesting reading.
4. There is so much going on in this book. There are some recent mysterious deaths, a history of witches, deaths over the year and a taboo love affair. So there is enough to hold your attention.
5. There are so many families in this book and most of them are going through an upheaval and or are quite dysfunctional, nothing makes for more interesting reading than some family dynamics. And this book was a treat as far as dysfunctional families are concerned.
6. I really enjoyed the time I spend with this book. It was an immersive and enjoyable read. I wasn't bored or disconnected with this book for a minute.
7. I felt like apart from the main story, there were so many other stories in the book as well. There is Libby- an accused witch from the 1800s and Anne Ward a woman in 1920s who is living in a loveless marriage and Lauren in 1983 who has allegedly killed herself. These all felt like bonus stories strewn in.
Things I Didn't Like:
Ok..I did enjoy this book but I am a little conflicted about certain things. Some things just left me feeling a little bit irked.
Some of the things that I enjoyed about this book and that I have mentioned above, are the exact same things that kinda bugged me as well.
Confused?
Hang on and let me explain!
1. The many perspectives.
I kid you not, there are 10 perspectives in this book. 10!!!
And this is not counting the dead women from over the years.
10 different voices and 10 different perspectives were just a bit much. And they all sounded just the same. Exactly the same.
It got a bit much and the thing that bugged me the most was it was a little difficult to keep and tell these people apart. A chapter would begin and it would take me a hot minute to figure out who this person was and I am not a moron. Seriously, I've read countless other books with multiple perspectives but these characters all sound and seemed the same.
2. If you are reading this book across sittings and reading on busy days and on your commute, this book will be a bit of a nightmare to navigate and keep on track. There is sooooooo much going on here. Murder, suicide, deaths from hundreds of years ago and a few decades ago. There is an illicit romance, violent home situation and then some. There is just wayyyy too much going on here.
3. The main murder has nothing to do with all of the other shenanigans going on here, so in the larger scheme of things all of these extra bits are just a little bit pointless.
4. The big twist was easy as hell to guess.
5. The killer was obvious since the first moment you met him/her. Like really, really obvious.
6. The whole Katie situation and all the pages dedicated to her, her family and her death were eventually a little bit unnecessary and it took up so much of the book!
7. Finally, I'd just like to say that is takes a writer of singular talent and genius to write a book from multiple perspectives and do it well and make each and every character stand out and be distinct, sadly Paula Hawkins is miles away from such a feat. She has bitten off more than she can chew. And honestly, most of these 10 perspectives was not even needed!
Rating: 3.5/5
I am seriously conflicted about this book. I did enjoy it but honestly, this is no psychological thriller or even, in the real sense of the word, a thriller at all! It certainly does not keep you at the edge of your seat nor does the killer kill anyone else during the course of events in this book. It is pretty predictable and at 402 pages a little bit too long, but if enjoy or are looking to read a multi-paradigm telling of a crime, then this a good book to read.
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