Into The Water by Paula Hawkins

I was going to do my fiction post on The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney since that one has been extremely popular at the library, but I got halfway through it and had to skim the rest. It was just weeeeeeird. There was an irritating sprinkling of Fifty Shades, infuriating protagonists, and just way too many things happening with the storyline. I have no qualms about tossing it aside.

Into the Water was written by Paula Hawkins, who also wrote The Girl on the Train. Now, I had every intention of reading that one given all the mixed hype and 500 person waitlist it garnered at the library, but I’ve seen the movie and I hated it, so I probably never will. In any case, I thought I’d give Into the Water a try. The book rotates between different narrators in a variety of POVs, and takes place in a small town beside a river. At the time the book opens, a woman has been found in the river and it is presumed to be suicide. The strange thing is, she isn’t the first one. In fact, over the course of the towns history, several “troublesome” women have been found in the part of the river they call the “drowning pool” (for obvious reasons). The book follows several characters learning what led the woman to this point, as well piecing in the past and uncovering secrets that may suggest she didn’t jump voluntarily at all.

What I liked about it:

1. The Pacing: I actually finished this one fairly quickly without skipping ahead to read the ending, so the pace of the novel was all right; it kept me going, in any case.
2. The Prose: I noticed some lovely prose scattered about the novel. Paula Hawkins definitely has a way with words that I respect.
3. The Plot: I found the general plot interesting, though there were some things I thought should have been delved into a bit more, and other things I thought were brought up too much.

What I didn’t like about it:

1. There were just too many damn narrators and a couple of them were completely unnecessary characters.
2. It was predictable. I knew everything that was going to happen 100 pages before it did. I kept reading because I was hoping something would happen that would shock me, but it just never did.
3. Overall just MEH. Just not crazy about this one. It will be interesting to see if it gets any hype.

It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever read, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I apologize if you loved the Girl on the Train and were dying to get your hands on this one, but I’d grab something else instead. If you’re into mystery with strong female characters, try something by Ruth Ware or Emily Littlejohn.

Okay, now I’m going to take a hiatus from the library and start reading down my bookshelf. I’ve got over 300 titles there waiting to be read, which is absolutely insane. I should have never kept adding books when I already had a ton to read. Anyway, I’m giving myself a year to read the books on my shelves (and donate the ones I don’t absolutely love), otherwise I’m going to be a hard ass and make myself DONATE THEM ALL. They don’t do any good sitting on the shelf making me feel guilty all day.