Book Review: Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Into the Water

by

Paula Hawkins

I am sure most people out there have heard of Paula Hawkins debut book The Girl on the Train, whether you have read the book or been to see the movie or both. The Girl on the Train is up there as one of my all time favourite books. I however cannot bring myself to watch the movie in case it ruins it all for me. As soon as I knew the date of when Paula's second novel was coming out I had to pre-order this, without even reading what it was about.

"A good second novel after what was an amazing debut"

Précis (taken from the cover):

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.

Review:

How do you follow The Girl on the Train?? I'm sure Paula herself could not have imagined the global success of her book. There is always that worry that is this the best it will get and will it all go down hill from now on....

Into the Water starts off in a very intriguing manor and your mind was already engaged. It has been written so that each chapter is by a different character and you follow the story that way. I loved the idea that this story was set in a small village in the north of England. This gave it an eerie feeling because a lot of these type of villages have lots of secrets and a lot of them can be very dark. I found though that about a quarter of the way through this book the story became a bit samey and I found it a bit tough going to be honest. Thankfully around page 150 the story kicked to life again and continued all the way to the end. I found the story very original and nothing really I had seen or read about before. Did I get it before the end?? A little yes, as I had a couple of feelings but this did not ruin the excitement of finding out.

What I think I loved the most was about Into the Water was that each character had something suspicious about them. Like they were all guilty of something in their past. You had to decide whether this was linked to the story or that it was a village full of dodgy people. Jules the sister of the lady who was found dead I enjoyed following in the book. You always feel she had a very dark past and she was constantly scared about everything that has happened and what was happening. The two police detectives I also enjoyed as well, Sean who is the local policeman who was very troubled and Erin who was brought in from the City to help with the investigation. I liked how she struggled with the village way of life and had to adjust her working ways.

On my previous blog (Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough) I mentioned that, that book would be a great holiday read as we now enter July. Into the water is the same I think if you are looking for  good read on holiday then try this, but whatever you do. Don't go for a swim in a river....

I scored this book a 4 out of 5. Was it as good as The Girl on the Train?? no it was not, but it was a good read. There was only the little part that I struggled with but if you push through it then you will be satisfied.. Will I read Paula Hawkins next book? Yes I will and when I find out the date I will pre-order.

I would love to know what other people think about this book? do you agree with me or not.. Let me know...

Speak soon

CBailey31