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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Could've been good but too confusing. Needed more backstory on Libby and witches.
This book kept me reading but it was not as suspenseful as The Girl on the Train. There were places where the writer overused certain words/phrases, and there were a lot of characters to keep track of, but overall it was a good story.
The story for me is not too strong , i couldn't enjoy the "Mystery" till the end of the book.
What made me cut one star from my rating was the huge number of characters in the book , i dont know if i am wrong but i think the author added some unnecessary persons too in the story. I doubt that i remember all the characters and i finished the book few hours ago.
What made me cut one star from my rating was the huge number of characters in the book , i dont know if i am wrong but i think the author added some unnecessary persons too in the story. I doubt that i remember all the characters and i finished the book few hours ago.
I read this because I had really enjoyed Girl on the Train. I like different narrative techniques and enjoy multiple narrators, but I had a tough time keeping track of all of the narrators in this one. Felt a little unresolved for my liking, but the characters were interesting, and the premise was interesting.
I admit that as soon as I saw the book was divided into each chapter focusing on a single person I groaned, long and hard and loud. I am not a fan of that shifting point of view and I seem to have read a few too many books written that way lately. My dislike is probably because I am too old-fashioned or a nerd or just plain lazy. It takes me much longer to learn the characters and to figure out who everyone is. However, despite my laziness and audible groans, this was a very good book. I can see why it won the 2017 Goodread's Mystery and Thriller category. I now wonder if I should pick up [b:The Girl on the Train|22557272|The Girl on the Train|Paula Hawkins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490903702s/22557272.jpg|41107568].
Anyway, I wish I could say this book was about a couple of specific characters or about one mystery or anything simple, but I can't. Well, maybe I can, a central character is...the river? The river is omnipresent and it seems to be a living, breathing thing. Sometimes a scary, living, breathing thing and sometimes not. I guess just like all of us humans, sometimes scary and sometimes not.
[b:Into the Water|33151805|Into the Water|Paula Hawkins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494055413s/33151805.jpg|53837721] is set in England and every time that fact hit me, I was caught off guard. For some reason I kept picturing everyone at the northeast coast of the U.S. I think, Stephen King fan that I am, I kept thinking of Bangor, Maine. This was not an England I had ever encountered in any other book I've read and that was actually cool. It was suspenseful and moved quickly and I was caught off guard. That doesn't happen too often but I like it when it does.
Hmm, a summary - the book is about death and life and how none of us ever really know each other. But it starts with death - the death of Nel Abbot - and how her estranged sister, Jules, returned to Beckford for her funeral and to assume responsibility of Nel's 15-year-old daughter, Lena. Then the story continues with death because we discover that Lena's best friend, Katie, died in the river a few months before Nel, so there is Katie's story to learn. And then we discover that Nel was fascinated with the stories of all of the women who had died in the river at Beckford, so their stories must be learned. However, where there is death, there is also life. The lives of the families that lost loved ones, the lives of the friends, and of the community. So the story is also about them and what it takes to move forward and as Lena stated at one point how a person can be weird but it is ok, because we are all a little weird.
Anyway, the book is complicated, but very good, in a weird way.
Anyway, I wish I could say this book was about a couple of specific characters or about one mystery or anything simple, but I can't. Well, maybe I can, a central character is...the river? The river is omnipresent and it seems to be a living, breathing thing. Sometimes a scary, living, breathing thing and sometimes not. I guess just like all of us humans, sometimes scary and sometimes not.
[b:Into the Water|33151805|Into the Water|Paula Hawkins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494055413s/33151805.jpg|53837721] is set in England and every time that fact hit me, I was caught off guard. For some reason I kept picturing everyone at the northeast coast of the U.S. I think, Stephen King fan that I am, I kept thinking of Bangor, Maine. This was not an England I had ever encountered in any other book I've read and that was actually cool. It was suspenseful and moved quickly and I was caught off guard. That doesn't happen too often but I like it when it does.
Hmm, a summary - the book is about death and life and how none of us ever really know each other. But it starts with death - the death of Nel Abbot - and how her estranged sister, Jules, returned to Beckford for her funeral and to assume responsibility of Nel's 15-year-old daughter, Lena. Then the story continues with death because we discover that Lena's best friend, Katie, died in the river a few months before Nel, so there is Katie's story to learn. And then we discover that Nel was fascinated with the stories of all of the women who had died in the river at Beckford, so their stories must be learned. However, where there is death, there is also life. The lives of the families that lost loved ones, the lives of the friends, and of the community. So the story is also about them and what it takes to move forward and as Lena stated at one point how a person can be weird but it is ok, because we are all a little weird.
Anyway, the book is complicated, but very good, in a weird way.
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol
I just have to stop with the novels that tout themselves as the next Gone Girl or Girl on a Train. I haven't liked any of them, so it's no surprise that I didn't like Into the Water either.
I was bored from the start and things didn't get better. The mystery didn't draw me in, and even when a few twists were thrown my way, I wasn't interested. In part it was the writing, which was unsuspenseful and lacked any sort of gravity. However, the plot itself also didn't interest me in a way to draw me in.
The cast of characters was large and the characterization could have been better. While I could tell everyone apart, I was overwhelmed by the constant shifting of perspectives, some of which were honestly just unnecessary.
The pacing was entirely slow and left me dreading getting back into the novel. It's a wonder I finished it, to be honest. I think this will be the last Paula Hawkins novel for me.
I was bored from the start and things didn't get better. The mystery didn't draw me in, and even when a few twists were thrown my way, I wasn't interested. In part it was the writing, which was unsuspenseful and lacked any sort of gravity. However, the plot itself also didn't interest me in a way to draw me in.
The cast of characters was large and the characterization could have been better. While I could tell everyone apart, I was overwhelmed by the constant shifting of perspectives, some of which were honestly just unnecessary.
The pacing was entirely slow and left me dreading getting back into the novel. It's a wonder I finished it, to be honest. I think this will be the last Paula Hawkins novel for me.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Alright. Wasn’t particularly amazing but a good one-off read.
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated