Book Review: Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Brief synopsis : In Beckford, there is a river that runs through the town. Within that river, is an area called the Drowning Poo...

Into the Water, Booksparks, book review, SRC17, Paula Hawkins




Brief synopsis: In Beckford, there is a river that runs through the town. Within that river, is an area called the Drowning Pool. Over the past several centuries, woman have died in the Drowning Pool presumably via suicide. In the past couple of months, there have been two deaths in the Pool - one a teenage girl, and the other the mother of the teenager's best friend. Are they connected? What is driving these women to their deaths? Is it suicide, or something else?

Let me start by saying that I did really enjoy Into the Water. I spent all day on Sunday reading it and was able to get through it in one sitting. But let's be honest, we all know this is going to be a huge hit because it's Paula Hawkins second novel and everyone was obsessed with The Girl on the Train. So I'm going to share some things I didn't love so much before I share what I really enjoyed about the novel.

Much like The Girl on the Train, Into the Water skips between narrators. This is a style of writing I really enjoy, because I like reading different perspectives to get a more well-rounded story. However, I don't understand why some perspectives were first person and some perspectives were third person. Did anyone else find this confusing? I've been trying to take it back to Freshman English where the brown dog at the end of a story means there are still dirty secrets, and analyze why these people are first person and these people are third person, but I haven't figured it out. Someone help.

There were a few strings left untied. I won't go into any details here, because I don't want to spoil anything. But there are still some things I need to know.

If you remember from my review of The Girl on the Train, I figured it out pretty quickly into the book. I did something similar with Water. When first meeting the characters, I had a hunch who the "bad guy" was - but this was before I got further into the story. As I read more and got to know each story a little better, I had no clue who did it. I thought it was this person, than this other person - but when I got to the end of the novel, it was my original hunch! Don't worry - this didn't ruin the book for me. There were a ton of twists and turns, so I have faith that you may not know until the very end either.

I think there's a very important paragraph near the end of the book, but I don't want to share it because I think it would ruin some of the story. I think it was a strong feminist statement and I was very glad that it was put out there. I will say it was some dialogue between Jules and Lena. Maybe you'll read it and feel glad it was written as well.

Overall, Into the Water was thrilling, mysterious, and hard to put down. There is an air of mysticism or supernaturalism within the story, which may be a turn off for some - but it is not necessarily supernatural. I think that can be left up to interpretation.

If you liked The Girl on the Train, Ruth Ware, or B.A. Paris, I think you'll enjoy Into the Water.










Thanks to Booksparks for sending me this book free for review. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

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6 comments

  1. Thanks for this review. I haven't pick this book up yet, but it's on my tbr list :)

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    1. It's very intriguing! I hope you enjoy it when you do pick it up!

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  2. I am excited to read this!! Thanks for such a great review, as always <3

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  3. I just got my copy from BOTM last week and I can't wait to dig into it! I'm a little worried that it won't be as great as Girl On The Train, just because after I love something I'm extra picky with all of the other stuff. But I know that since she wrote it it will be a decent book!

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    1. I really liked Girl on the Train, but I think I may like this one better. I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

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