Review: Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Publisher: Riverhead Books
Pub. Date: May 2nd, 2017
Pages: 400

Genres: Contemporary Fiction / Mystery / Suspense / Thriller

Synopsis

An addictive new novel of psychological suspense from the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller and global phenomenon The Girl on the Train.


A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged.

Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother's sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she'd never return.

With the same propulsive writing and acute understanding of human instincts that captivated millions of readers around the world in her explosive debut thriller, The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins delivers an urgent, twisting, deeply satisfying read that hinges on the deceptiveness of emotion and memory, as well as the devastating ways that the past can reach a long arm into the present.
 

Beware a calm surface—you never know what lies beneath.

What Did I Think About the Story?

Oh my, how I've been waiting for Paula Hawkins's second book to come out! I did a buddy read of Ms. Hawkins's first novel, The Girl on the Train, last year with some blogger friends and was blown away by how much I actually enjoyed the mystery/thriller, where all of the characters were genuinely screwed up but somehow so compelling that I couldn't stop turning the pages (you can read my full review HERE). Like with anything, the more the anticipation built up for this newest book to come out the more excited I got to get it in my hot little hands and devour it. As soon as I saw it as an add-on to my Book-of-the-Month subscription for May I snatched it up. I even saved it as my special treat for the long weekend I had over Memorial Day/my birthday weekend. Now, having finished the story, I think I might have sabotaged my own reading experience since it would have been nearly impossible to live up to the expectations I had built within my own head. Did I love every page of Into the Water and feverishly turn all the pages like I did with The Girl on the Train? Erm...no. Was it still an enjoyable reading experience? Definitely.

My biggest "issue" with Into the Water was the pacing. As the story unfolded it tended to drag me along instead of propelling me to keep reading. We learn early on about the two most recent deaths in the river, then slowly learn about the various other drownings that have occurred there over the years through our various narrators (and there are a number of them) and the sporadic excerpts from the book Nel (the single mother mentioned in the synopsis) was writing and which the people of the town she lived in didn't want to be published. With these alternating narrators, all of which clearly have their own agendas and aren't giving the reader the whole truth, it made it somewhat hard to keep track of how everyone interacted and fit together and to keep a grasp on the forward development of the main mystery of the story - did Nel Abbott kill herself, or did someone murder her and make it look like a suicide? And, if murder, who and why?

What I did enjoy about the story (and I'm sure many people might not agree with me) were the unreliable characters. They are all unlikable in varying degrees and none are innocent or exempt from the many mistakes that have been made, and buried, in this town. However, it's this unlikability and unpredictability that makes the story so intriguing and keeps the reader guessing as to what is really happening and what these narrators are leaving out for us to eventually discover. There is quite a bit of heartache and anger and confusion for these characters to work through and I, for one, love going along on their journeys as they work through these complicated emotions and grapple with the consequences of their often impulsive actions.

All in all I did enjoy Into the Water even though it did not, for me, come even close to being as good as The Girl on the Train. I would definitely recommend anyone new to Paula Hawkins start with The Girl on the Train and, for those that have already read and enjoyed that story, to temper their expectations of this newest book. I will definitely keep this in mind when her next book comes out and go into that reading with lowered expectations.

What Did I Think About the Cover?

I think this cover is absolutely perfect! The colors are vibrant, the hazy, distorted image makes you wonder who is lying beneath the surface, and the very image fits the story perfectly. I think even the fluid typography is perfect. I actually selected this cover for one of my weekly Cover Crush posts and I stand by that...this is a gorgeous and alluring cover!


My Rating: 3.0/5.0

I bought a copy of Into the Water for my own library. All opinions are mine alone. You can find more information about the book and it's author, including other reviews and links to where you can purchase a copy, on Goodreads HERE.

 

 



Cover Crush: Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Hello, my name is Colleen and I am a cover slut. I know, I know....you aren't supposed to judge a book by it's cover. I just can't help myself!  A beautiful cover draws my eye every single time and I can't help but pick up the book it's dressing and see if the inside seems as intriguing as the outside. Sometimes it does, and sometimes a pretty cover is just a pretty cover. Either way, I love getting an eyeful! 

One of my favorite bloggers, Erin at Flashlight Commentary, created a weekly blog post called Cover Crush and she and some other blogger friends are sharing their favorite covers each Thursday. I've decided to join in this year and will link to their posts down below.

So, without further ado, my Cover Crush this week is.....

I think this is just the coolest looking cover! Clearly there is something hidden under that water (it looks like it might be a face) that we, the reader, are supposed to want to discovery and the unfocused background with clear bubbles above it makes it deliciously undecipherable. I also love the way the writing is wavy, like water, and that the author's name is so prominent since I adored The Girl on the Train last year and, therefore, her name is a big draw for me right now. 

Haven't heard of this book yet? Here's the synopsis:

The author of the #1 New York Times bestseller and global phenomenon The Girl on the Train returns with Into the Water, her addictive new novel of psychological suspense. 

A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged.

Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother’s sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she’d never return.

With the same propulsive writing and acute understanding of human instincts that captivated millions of readers around the world in her explosive debut thriller, The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins delivers an urgent, twisting, deeply satisfying read that hinges on the deceptiveness of emotion and memory, as well as the devastating ways that the past can reach a long arm into the present.

Beware a calm surface—you never know what lies beneath.

Don't forget to check out what covers my blogger buddies are drooling over this week:

Magdalena at A Bookaholic Swede

Erin at Flashlight Commentary

Heather at The Maiden's Court

Stephanie at Layered Pages

Holly at 2 Kids and Tired

Created by Magdalena of A Bookaholic Swede

Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Publisher: Riverhead Books
Pub. Date: January 13th, 2015
Pages: 336

Genre: Contemporary Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis

EVERY DAY THE SAME

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

UNTIL TODAY

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?  

What Did I Think About the Story?

I went into reading The Girl on the Train with some trepidation. So many people have read this book and lauded it as the "next Gone Girl", a book I really enjoyed, so I was prepared to be disappointed. I also read a number of reviews stating the characters were just horrible and not worth caring about, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I'm so glad I set my concerns aside and picked up the book because I absolutely loved following along with Rachel as she tried to decipher her memories and figure out what really happened to the "Jess" girl she had been watching from the train.

The set up of the novel was great, with each chapter going back and forth in time and being told from the point of view of one of three characters: Rachel, a sad alcoholic with a tendency to not only make up fantasies within her own head but black out and lose whole stretches of time; Megan, the girl Rachel sees from the train that goes missing one day; and  Anna, the new wife of Rachel's ex-husband and neighbor of Megan. Each character's point of view gives us bits and pieces of what has happened not only currently (with Megan's disappearance) but in each of their pasts. This sort of tentative release of information built a delicious anticipation, and this combined with seeing Rachel's lost memories of the night Megan goes missing slowly resurface, made for a wonderful whodunit.

While I will agree that there are no "innocent" characters in this story, whether that be these three women or the men in their lives, I never felt like I didn't care what happened to them. This is especially true with Rachel, who I couldn't help but root for and hope she would get the  help she  needed to stop drinking and move on from the dreams of her past "happy life". I've never been one to discount a whole story based solely on unsympathetic characters and I loved how complicated and real (if highly dysfunctional) the characters in The Girl on the Train were.

Now, the big mystery regarding Megan's disappearance. I'll admit I somehow guessed what really happened and who was involved pretty early on. With so many characters having a myriad of issues and dislikeable characteristics I channeled my inner Scooby Doo and went with the character I thought seemed the least likely and, lo and behold, I was right! Even with guessing the inevitable outcome I still very much enjoyed watching how the story would unfold and how the various clues would eventually fall into place. And there were still some elements I didn't even think about that make the ending that much more interesting.

I found The Girl on the Train to be a quick and enjoyably twisty tale. I can definitely see why this has been compared so often to Gone Girl as our main character and her memories are about as unreliable as they come. After finishing this one I've definitely been put in the mood for more mysteries like this, and I'm now on high alert for the next book by the author.

 

What Did I Think About the Cover?

It's okay. It definitely represents the book in a couple of ways, most obviously being the view from a fast moving train. However, for me, it also can represent the hazy view Rachel has in general, both due to her alcoholism and her tendency towards creating her own fantasies about her life and those around her in her head, as well as the hazy nature of her memories of the events discussed in the book. Not necessarily eye catching but still a well represented cover.


My Rating: 4.5/5.0

I purchased a copy of The Girl on the Train for my own library and all opinions expressed above are my own. You can find more information about the book, including other reviews and links to where you can purchase a copy, on Goodreads.

* I read The Girl on the Train as a buddy read with some other blogger friends of mine. Please find links to their reviews below *

Holly @ 2 Kids and Tired Reviews

Stephanie @ Layered Pages