”Into the Water”

“Into the Water”
Written by Paula Hawkins
Review written by Diana Iozzia
Read from Mid-November to December 9th 

“Into the Water” by Paula Hawkins appealed to me, because I generally enjoyed her first book, “The Girl on the Train”. It was not my favorite thriller I have ever read, but I still enjoyed the multiple perspectives, the plot, and the unreliable narration. Hawkins has a fantastic ability to write unreliable and unlikeable characters. We do not like them, but we still wonder what may happen and usually hope they stay alive.

While reading “Into the Water”, I was drawn into the small English town life in Beckford, a town with many tales of  local folklore surrounding the large body of water. I do not remember it ever being fully identified, but I view it as a massive pond with a massive cliff.

We meet Jules, whose sister Nel has committed suicide. Or so everyone thinks. We meet Erin,, a scrappy detective who is very suspicious of everyone. The detective, Sean, is a bit untrustworthy, as well as his wife, Helen, and his father, Patrick. Jules takes in Nel’s daughter, Lena, who is a very scruffy, rude teen, who of course has a hard exterior to hide her personal demons. We also hear from Louise, whose daughter, Katie was found dead in the water months previously. Katie was friends with Lena and Sean’s son, Josh. We also have a strange perspective of a girl who was drowned in the water years ago, accused of being a witch.

I started to listen to this on audiobook, which is why I cannot quite remember when I first started. I believe this book is significantly better to read by listening in that format. There are fantastic voice actors. Once I stopped listening and reading in paperback form, I felt the magic was lost. However, I do think the book just slowly got less interesting, but in the worst time. As we begin deciding who seems suspicious, we are revealed some more secrets. As the story unfolds and becomes more climactic, I just was not interested. I did not like the possible suspects and find them to be interesting suspects. The motives seemed off to me and the climax was very slow and serious, rather than heart pounding and exciting.

I do not know if we are supposed to be able to predict this ending. I think Paula Hawkins writes her books to be predictable, but we are supposed to enjoy the clues and the buildup to see if we’re right, but it’s a bit like a game of Clue. Once you’ve figured it out, oh. Okay. It’s over. It does not feel exciting to wonder what will come next.

I would read another book by Paula Hawkins eventually, but there are so many great psychological thriller writers to choose instead. I think this book would be best suited for someone who would like to read in this genre, but they do not know whose books to start with.