Reviews tagging 'Death'

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

33 reviews

exrthalex's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book closely followed several seemingly intertwined unfortunate “drownings.” Throughout the most recent tragedies, the characters are forced to confront past trauma and mistakes, so they can understand, learn, and heal. I expected the plot to have a closer connection to witchcraft/the previous “witches” drowned, but it instead felt like a side note. I enjoyed the plot overall, but would have loved if this element was explored more. While the use of multiple character perspectives can be confusing at times, it ultimately complements the story by providing an omniscient POV. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

kkalicky94's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

eshiltonn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

mabelstulips's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Death of parent

livjcarver's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

the book is split into 4 parts, with the first two being extremely slow and heavy on setting up the plot. there’s too many perspectives for my liking, switching between almost everyone in the small town and not really getting to know any in-depth. however, the last two parts had me hooked. much more fast paced, if you tried to guess the ending you were rethinking it all. having read previously a slow fire burning by the same author, it felt like that was a more refined version of this, like into the water was a practice run for a later book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder

unboxedjack's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

lulu2312's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It was a really easy book to read. I read it in two days and enjoyed it. But there are things in there that I didn't like, like pedophilia which isn't really condemned and the plot was pretty predictable except for the last sentence where I was like, okay, I didn't really see it coming. But overall it was good!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

bluejeepbaby's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Rape, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, and Lesbophobia

cheye13's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I was intrigued by a premise that didn't pay off. I find a lotta mystery/thrillers lean on the drama of people hating each other or simply being terrible for no reason, and that's precisely all this is. Everyone hated each other throughout this book and I have no clue why. The drama of the drowning pool was barely skimmed and the ending was not only unsatisfying, but also pointless. I do like a small town interwoven with drama, and I don't mind unlikeable characters, but as everyone was horrible for seemingly no reason, this was ultimately just an annoyance to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Sexism, and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, and Physical abuse

rape is not depicted on-page, but before and after is extensively detailed; many detailed scenes involve drowning

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I was very intrigued to pick up this book, and I have had it on my radar for years. This is my first book I have read from Paula Hawkins, and I was, unfortunately, quite underwhelmed. This story did not do anything wrong; I just do not think the story was for me.
"Into the Water" follows a teenage girl grappling with the death of her mother. Her mother was found drowned in the river that cuts through the town, the same river that another young girl was found drowned in earlier that same summer. Now an investigation is uncovering the plethora of deaths by drowning that have occurred in the river's sinister history. Can they uncover what is really happening and seek justice for all the lives lost? 
I really enjoyed following the many timelines in this story, and I loved seeing how all the drownings come together. My problem with this story was that I just did not connect with the writing, and I could not connect with the characters. With such an ominous body of water, I was expecting a story that was very atmospheric, but I did not feel sucked into this story. 
I will try to pick up another Paula Hawkins in the future, and hopefully I can connect better with that one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, and Death of parent