Let me start by saying that I was expecting something different from this book. The summary sounds to me like Julia (the sister who comes back to her hometown) would have a bigger part in this book. However, there were so many different POVs that I struggled to keep track of who is who and whose story I was actually interested in. Don't get me wrong, there were some parts that I found to be quite interesting e.g. the explanations of what happened in Julia's childhood, etc. The ending also was not too exciting to me. I feel like the story could have been so much more than it actually was. There were references to women who lived in the town in the past but I feel like some of these stories were just not really relevant to the overall story. I feel like this book was too much of a slow-moving mystery for me with way too many POVs. Hence, I can only give it two stars.

I found it very hard to read, confusing and jumbled, because there were just so many perspectives, and it switched between 1st and 3rd person narrator, so for me it was very hard to follow the plot. Every character is unlikeable which I didn't mind - but some of you might! The book also didn't feel very suspenseful to me and it was a bit anticlimatic. Paula Hawkins probably isn't an author that I enjoy books from.

Let me start by saying that I was expecting something different from this book. The summary sounds to me like Julia (the sister who comes back to her hometown) would have a bigger part in this book. However, there were so many different POVs that I struggled to keep track of who is who and whose story I was actually interested in. Don't get me wrong, there were some parts that I found to be quite interesting e.g. the explanations of what happened in Julia's childhood, etc. The ending also was not too exciting to me. I feel like the story could have been so much more than it actually was. There were references to women who lived in the town in the past but I feel like some of these stories were just not really relevant to the overall story. I feel like this book was too much of a slow-moving mystery for me with way too many POVs. Hence, I can only give it two stars.

I started reading this on a train ride, couldn't put it down, and stayed up too late to finish, so four solid stars for that. Minus one because I had a hard time getting into it and if I hadn't been in a crowded train seat without other options, I might not have stuck with it, but ultimately I was glad I did. A thing I like about Paula Hawkins is how I am never sure of anyone. I'm not even sure if I like anyone. There's no clear good person or clear bad person, and even once the book is over, I'm left with questions. But for the most part, I understand motives and thought processes, even if I don't at all agree. She writes flawed, rounded, compelling characters, and that's enough to propel me though a book by itself. My heart broke at the reveal of the misunderstanding between the sisters. But that, too, made sense to me. It's so easy to get the wrong idea about something or someone and hold on to it as truth. And for all that Robbie was evil, I'm glad he wasn't smart, because this is a case where I'm ok with Lena never knowing about her father (at least not until she's older, I guess) I really liked Girl on A Train, which is why I picked up this one, but you never know with a second book if you'll like it as much as the first. This one has solidified my opinion and I'll make sure to keep reading her stuff.

Plot Julia “Jules” arrives in Beckford since her sister Nel got pulled out dead of the Drowning Pool, a riverbank. The Drowning Pool has been part of Beckford for a very long time as the place where woman are found dead for mysterious reasons. With Nel being dead, she leaves behind her 16 year old daughter Lena who believes that Nel has killed herself. But more and more evidence appears that makes Jules consider other options than suicide. Therefore, Nel’s case opens up the older case of the death of 16 year old Kathie, best friend of Lena, who also was found dead in the Drowning Pool months ago. Her case starts to mix up with Nel’s case and Jules believes that she has to start being very careful around Beckford to not get involved into something dangerous. First browsing The chapters are separated by character point of views and dates (such as 15th February 2015 f.e. or just December) to give a timeline overview. The reader therefore archives different insights of the story and is able to form an own opinion for the cases and is able to riddle about them. Cover This cover from Blanvalet isn’t my favorite one of Into the Water, since it’s rather boring in comparison to the english version of Riverhead Books. Yet it is the most common around the cover versions and it makes sense that this one is the overall chosen one. The Riverhead Books one looks more brutal (yet more colorful and prettier, which might be a bit macabre – but colorful!!) so I guess that’s why the blue one is the better one. However, both cover version teaser the plot subtly, so I’m fine with either. My opinion Writing style Since I have read Girl on the Train in English and not in German, I can’t compare if it’s Paula Hawkin’s writing style or the translation that disturbed my reading experience a bit at the beginning of the book. I remember that I had no problem with Girl on the Train to start reading it and be in the book, on the other hand with Into the Water, it’s a bit of a different narrative form. The problem I had mostly was, that the story was told a bit weirdly. Please, now you have my full attention again. Only I won’t get rid of the feeling that a few crucial details have escaped me. When they came and told me, I was angry. In the first moment relieved, because as soon as two policemen stand at the door, while you are on your way to work and only look for your ticket before you run out of the house, you at first fear the worst. – “Jules”, Paula Hawkins, Into the Water, 2017 (rough translation from German to English) Sometimes I felt like, no matter at which character point of view, that it was a bit confusingly told. The sentences were a little bit too long sometimes, maybe that’s the reason why it felt a little bit off to me. On the other hand, maybe all the characters have been coming unglued. … Read my full review on my blog Blattzirkus

Is Julia Abbott the least likable literary character I've read about this year? Or is it Lena Abbott? I can't decide. I was very eager to get my hands on this book, mainly because I really liked [b:The Girl on the Train|22557272|The Girl on the Train|Paula Hawkins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490903702s/22557272.jpg|41107568] (see my review here ). However, the vast setting of characters made it hard. I feel like there's not a single character in this novel which I got a certain liking for, or about which I could at least say "yeah, s/he's like this and this". The frequent changes of POV were sometimes really annoying and unnecessary, and they made it even harder to actually grasp at least one character properly. I have no clue what Nel Abbott must have been like, why her sister Julia talks to herself or what exactly makes a 15-year-old so frightening. It's just such a shame. I really liked the setting at the beginning, with the Drowning Pool as a place macabrely relevant to the town's history. I felt like the potential of the initial idea was not lived up to. At some point, I carried on reading just because I wanted to see if Julia gets shoved off that cliff as well. I have to admit that the novel does get slightly better towards the end and that I'm still not over that plot twist, but unfortunately, the negative points mentioned above outweigh this. I'm attending a reading of this novel by Paula Hawkins herself next month, let's see what she's going to say and if that will alter my rather negative opinion...

3✨️ Ich weiß noch nicht ganz was ich von dem Buch halten soll, aber ich konnte es nicht wirklich aus der Hand legen. Ich mag den Schreibstil unglaublich gerne und das Buch liest sich einfach und flüssig. Jedoch muss ich sagen, dass ich die Auflösung sehr vorhersehbar und offensichtlich fand, was mich dann doch sehr enttäuscht hat. Habe bis zum Schluss auf dem Moment gewartet, dass mich das Buch überrascht und geschockt zurücklässt. Dies ist leider ausgeblieben. Die Stimmung war sehr düster und bedrückend. Ich fand außerdem die ständigen Andeutungen zu Hexerei sehr störend und hat nicht wirklich in die Geschichte gepasst, da es dann doch keinen Einfluss auf den Verlauf hatte. Ich werde es definitiv nochmal mit der Autorin versuchen, weil sie schreibt wirklich sehr gut!!

One extra star for the ending. Even though I was frustrated with the book and the characters and most of the story untold, it was still very addictive. Maybe the story will grow on me, maybe not. --------- Read me review here: http://storypals.net/book-report-into-the-water-by-paula-hawkins/ INTO THE WATER I am posting the review of the book exactly after a month of reading it. I really have to up my game of reviewing books on time. I am forgetting so many minute details which frustrated me at the time when I was reading it, seriously I had complained so much about the book, there was a time when my dad said so then stop, stop forcing yourself into it and I was like I can’t because it is so addictive. Yep. You will hate the story and yet you would want to continue reading it. That is basically my review summarised. I have rated it quite highly than my anticipated rating before I start blabbering for all those who don’t know what the book is about? Scroll down to read. WHAT INTO THE WATER IS ALL ABOUT? In the last days before her death, Nel called her sister. Jules didn’t pick up the phone, ignoring her plea for help. Now Nel is dead. They say she jumped. And Jules has been dragged back to the one place she hoped she had escaped for good, to care for the teenage girl her sister left behind. But Jules is afraid. So afraid. Of her long-buried memories, of the old Mill House, of knowing that Nel would never have jumped. And most of all she’s afraid of the water, and the place they call the Drowning Pool . . . MY HONEST REVIEW FOR INTO THE WATER. I don’t remember why specifically I went for this book in the midst of all the fantasy books I was reading at that time but it was a good change for me. I am glad for that. I would like to add if you are planning to read this book just remember two things: You wouldn’t know what is happening in the book until you finish 3/4th of the book and it will frustrate you to the core. But you will also not be able to put the book down, in all your misery you will be very addicted to the book and would want to know what happened, why are the characters so fucked up. Why? That being out of my system I will also say I was not a big fan of The girl on the train and people did say this book wasn’t anything like that and hence I read another Paula Hawkins, what an honor no? xD I AM GOING TO LIST ALL THE THINGS THAT FRUSTRATED ME TO THE CORE OR ELSE I WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO HIGHLIGHT THE VERY POSITIVE THINGS IN THE BOOK/ STORY OR WHY YOU MIGHT PICK THIS BOOK UP IN THE FUTURE. The amount of perspectives in this book is countless. So many characters and so many voices at times I was lost as to who was who and at times I couldn’t even differentiate between them because most of the characters in the book are going through very dark things in their lives. I don’t know the author went with so many POVs, it also kind of made me feel the book was rushed and wasn’t given enough time to be thought through. The pace? As I have mentioned before nothing really happens and so half of the book is boring but at the same you are so lost that you want to know more, for me it was a motivation, for a lot of people I think they stopped reading it all together. So I would say, maybe push through, read it through, you won’t be very happy but satisfied. The setting, old legends?? I thought there would be something much bigger than what it came down to, also it just added to a very gloomy and edgy atmosphere– which by the way didn’t help much when the story wasn’t moving forward. The setting also kind of gave away, who did what? If you read enough thrillers you will have your suspicions and I think you will be able to figure out who did that. SO NOW THAT IS OUT OF THE SYSTEM. LET’S TALK SOMETHING POSITIVE? As soon as you get a hang of the characters, the story will be smooth then after, you will able to feel for the characters and also empathize to a large extent– which says a lot about the writing. The character arc- to be honest, so many POVs did spoil the broth but the way all the characters grow and realize certain things, it was plausible. Multi-layered storyline. I love that – it just adds more value and character to the story for me. Even though reading it was exhaustive- I still couldn’t put it down- which says a lot about the book. The book is worth sticking until the end. All that said… I disliked the book and I liked the book. I might not read anymore Paula Hawkins, I might as well do that but all in all, give it a chance is what I will say. Rating: 4/5 stars

Darum geht’s: Zerstrittene Schwestern – tragische Tode – ein Fluss – eine Geschichte über unbequeme Frauen… Klappentext: »Julia, ich bin’s. Du musst mich anrufen. Bitte, Julia. Es ist wichtig …« In den letzten Tagen vor ihrem Tod rief Nel Abbott ihre Schwester an. Julia nahm nicht ab, ignorierte den Hilferuf. Jetzt ist Nel tot. Sie sei gesprungen, heißt es. Julia kehrt nach Beckford zurück, um sich um ihre Nichte zu kümmern. Doch sie hat Angst. Angst vor diesem Ort, an den sie niemals zurückkehren wollte. Vor lang begrabenen Erinnerungen, vor dem alten Haus am Fluss, vor der Gewissheit, dass Nel niemals gesprungen wäre. Und am meisten fürchtet Julia das Wasser und den Ort, den sie Drowning Pool nennen … Fazit: Als großer Fan von “Girl on the Train” habe ich mich sehr auf das neue Buch von Paula Hawkins gefreut und es dann auch fast in einem Rutsch durchgelesen. Der besondere Schreibstil, ermöglichte es mir sofort in die Geschichte einzutauchen und mit den verschiedenen Charakteren mitzufühlen, vor allem mit Jules. Es war so, als ob Jules direkt mit Ihrer verstorbenen Schwester sprechen würde oder Ihr einen Brief schreiben würde. Das Wort von Jules ist also oft an Ihre Schwester gerichtet, was mir sehr gut gefallen hat. Paula Hawkins hat es wirklich drauf, Gefühle zu transportieren und zwar auf tiefgreifende Art und Weise. Die Charaktere sind komplex und teilweise kompliziert – genauso wie die ganze Geschichte. Die ganze Geschichte war von Anfang an sehr interessant, vielversprechend und, meiner Meinung nach, sogar mit einem gewissen Gesellschaftskritischen Unterton versehen. Das gefiel mir sehr und ich empfand es auch als etwas außergewöhnliches. Leider verlor sich dann die anfängliche Spannung im Laufe der Zeit ein wenig und es gab immer wieder Längen in der Geschichte, welche ich als nebensächlich und belanglos empfand. Es gibt es sehr viele Charaktere zwischen denen hin und her gesprungen wird, was ich generell sehr mag. Hier war es allerdings dann evtl. doch ein wenig zu viel des guten und manche Charaktere verblassten im Gegensatz zu anderen und teilweise war es für mich dann auch ein wenig verwirrend, sodass ich ab und zu überlegen musste wer jetzt noch mal wer war und wer mit wem verwandt war. Hier hätte dem Buch vielleicht ein wenig mehr kürze und dafür mehr Klarheit gut getan. Ein Glossar über die Personen und deren Verwandtschaft, hätte ich gut und sinnvoll gefunden. Trotz Verwirrungen wurde die Geschichte ab einem gewissen Punkt für mich auch sehr vorhersehbar und so konnte ich mir schon ein Ende zusammenreimen, welches dann auch eintraf. Das Ende hätte, für meinen Geschmack, etwas spektakulärer sein können und ein spannender Twist hat mir leider auch gefehlt. Dennoch hat mich die Idee der Geschichte und der Schreibstil fasziniert und teilweise gut unterhalten. Ich kann das Buch weiterempfehlen, wenn man gerne mal einen etwas ruhigeren Thriller lesen möchte, welcher eine gewisse Komplexität hat und viele Emotionen transportiert.

After I read “girl on the train” during my 2015 summer vacation, - which I loved - I had bigger expectations of how Paula Hawkins second book would be like. To be honest: I’m not a fan of quitting books before I’ve finished them. But the first 200 pages of “into the water” didn’t catch me and I had to ‘force’ myself to keep on reading. I have to admit that it gets a little bit better while reading, but: there are too many point of views and it is kind of exhausting (but at least confusing!) to remember everyone of them... in addition to that, most of the characters are not very likable at all! I also didn’t like how this ‘suicide topic’ is handled in the book. So as I felt a little disappointed by the whole story I can only rate 3 stars ⭐️ for this one :(