(60)Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Sunday, July 16, 2017


Jules Abbott is stunned when she receives news that her sister drowned in the local river, known as the Drowning Pool.  Jules and her sister, Nel, haven't been close since they were teenagers, but she doesn't believe that her sister would ever commit suicide.  In fact, she was writing a book about the women who have lost their lives to the Drowning Pool over the years, and the number is high for their little English community.  Lena, Nel's teenage daughter, believes that it was suicide, but she is still raw from her best friend dying in the Drowning Pool just days ago.  Jules doesn't know what to think, but for such a small little town, there are a lot of secrets.  The lead detective has a family history with the Drowning Pool and a connection to the Abbott family that is also a secret.  His new partner has her own secrets.  There is also a grieving mother who is determined to get to the truth no matter the cost.  But the question remains, did Nel Abbott throw herself off of the cliff into the water, or did somebody throw her to her death?


Beckford is a little English village with a lot of sorrowful history and a lot of secrets.  A lot of secrets and a lot of characters to keep up with.  Each character that is introduced has secrets and history and could be behind the deaths at the Drowning Pool.  I couldn't believe that this little community had so much going on.  As an audiobook listener, it was a lot to keep up with.  Each character had a different narrator so that helped.  Jules was a character that I could relate to more than any of the other characters.  She was always in her sister's shadow and had a trauma in her childhood that made her seem more real.  Lena was a bit of a brat, but given what she had been through, I can't blame her. Other characters that got a lot of time in the book was Louise, the mother of Lena's friend.   In the end, she and Jules realized that all they had was each other.  I was not all that surprised by the big reveal in the final pages.  I had not figured it out - but I was not that surprised. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS

Bottom line - Into the Water is this summer's most buzzed about books.  I thought it was just - okay.  There was so much for the reader to keep track of that it was hard to really focus on the mystery.  It is definitely worthy of a read, but just be prepared to take notes to keep it all straight.

Details:



Maria said...

I totally loved it. I was already looking for this kind of books after I had read "The Girl On the Train". She totally placed the story so well. The dark current of waters. The single mother. Totally full of suspense.

Carol said...

Charlotte, the link to the spoiler doesn't work. I skimmed through the book because I didn't care for it. Now I can't remember the ending and was hoping to find it on your site.

Charlotte's Web of Books said...

Sorry about that, Carol. You can find it here -- http://charlottesbookspoilers.blogspot.com/2017/07/spoilers-for-into-water-by-paula-hawkins.html

Unknown said...

Enjoyed your review! I just finished the book and cannot figure out who Lena's father was. I think the many characters got me confused but there was reference by Jules to her having her fathers smile and I can't think of who it is. Did you figure it out?

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this synopsis. I read a lot so it was super validating to hear that you struggled to keep up too. I found myself flipping to the cast of characters page at the start over every chaper, sometimes more often. And I have the same wonder as the other comment, who was Lena’s father?

Anonymous said...

Lena's father was Robbie

Anonymous said...

Jesus guys, there was a whole chapter about lena's father..
I can't tell why y'all found it that hard to keep track, but not to wonder if one can't even get the obvious ..

Unknown said...

Did Sean kill his mother?

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