#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERGOODREADS CHOICE AWARD WINNER FOR MYSTERY/THRILLERAn addictive new novel of psychological suspense from the author of #1 New York Times bestseller and global phenomenon The Girl on the Train and A Slow Fire Burning. “Hawkins is at the forefront of a group of female authors—think Gillian Flynn and Megan Abbott—who have reinvigorated the literary suspense novel by … Gillian Flynn and Megan Abbott—who have reinvigorated the literary suspense novel by tapping a rich vein of psychological menace and social unease… there’s a certain solace to a dark escape, in the promise of submerged truths coming to light.” —Vogue
A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged.
Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother’s sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she’d never return.
With the same propulsive writing and acute understanding of human instincts that captivated millions of readers around the world in her explosive debut thriller, The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins delivers an urgent, twisting, deeply satisfying read that hinges on the deceptiveness of emotion and memory, as well as the devastating ways that the past can reach a long arm into the present.
Beware a calm surface—you never know what lies beneath.
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One of the only books I ever could Not read
I did not enjoy this book. It was too depressing and too much bad language!
It’ll surprise you!
This book was full of quirky characters and has plenty of twists and turns. I didn’t think it was quite as good as Girl On A Train, but close.
A great page-turner thriller.
I did read the entire book and did not really like it. I found the main character to be annoying and weak.
Started off slow, but overall a good read.
Couldn’t finish this book. There were too many different characters who all contributed in a way to the dead body of the single mother.
I was bored out of my mind.
I listened to this by audio book. This was the first time I have listened to an audio book. It was an interesting story that was hard for me to understand what was going on. I kept listening and it fell in to place. The story was clever and interesting. I am not sure if I had read this book if I would have gotten more out of it. I did think it was very emotional and covered so much pain with so many people.
This review is also available on my blog: Wine Cellar Library
Having just finished Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train , I was expecting to really enjoy this novel. Unfortunately, I never really got into it. There are so many narrators. SO. MANY. And then, in addition to narrators, there is also the intermittent narration of a book that the character Nel was writing prior to her death, bringing even more characters into this complicated cast!
It was difficult to figure out just exactly what was going on, and why the reader should even care about what is going on. Several girls and women have died in the river. We are told that aside from the first, who was drowned as a witch, the rest have been suicides. For the first two-thirds of the book, I was bored. Were all these peeks into the numerous narrators’ lives going to point to a murder or just confirm the suicides? It was not until I passed the two-thirds mark that the book finally became entertaining. Had I not read this as an audiobook, this would have taken me ages to read.
Nel’s daughter is a frustrating creature, but she is easily the most likeable. She will withhold information out of a sense of misguided duty, even if it will help investigators. It’s both frustrating and admirable. Paula Hawkins did a fantastic job writing this character in particular.
Everyone is flawed. Everyone is suspect. Everyone knows more than they are letting on. Will you have the patience to find out the reasons behind each death in the Drowning Pool?
Well just finished this and wow I can’t believe how many mixed reviews this book got. I did enjoy reading this and all the twists and turns. So many secrets untold. I did like all the characters and how they ended up being connected at the end. I have never read a Paula Hawkins book before. I would recommend this book for anyone.
About book-
Jules having to come back home to deal with the loss of her sister and her fifteen year old daughter. Trying to deal with the loss. And things come back to haunt Jules.
Untold and hidden secrets come out.
I absolutely love both books by Paula Hawkins !
A bit of a twisted book but I enjoyed the mysterious theme throughout the book. The characters were pretty interesting and it had a surprise ending, which I liked!
Keeps you guessing
Hawkins drew me in with her novel. I really liked the town setting and the secrets of the characters who live there. I did have a hard time tracking everybody and their relationship to one another. For me, it was a page-turning read, though I think I realized what happened to the mom before the final reveal.
I did have a huge issue with the teacher’s relationship, and it kind of soured my attitude toward the whole book. Also, I didn’t particularly like the very end because I felt that it had a lack of believability. Plus, I couldn’t really comprehend the lack of communication between the two sisters. However, it was still a suspenseful book, and I enjoyed the atmosphere of the women and the siren call of the water.
Love this author. This book kept my interest. I would love sequel
Complicated and twisted plot
Paula Hawkins did a wonderful job with the writing style and thought process of this book. First one I’ve ever came across like this, very interesting book. Great story build up! Definitely a must read.
Totally pulled me in and held me there. The ending rocked me!
When I was a little girl, I remember how much I loved my parents having whole shelves of books. And when I moved into my apartment, I decided I would have bookshelves as well. But slowly the shelves began to fill up, and there was no room for other things (it’s a small apartment.) So now, before I buy a book I think twice whether to buy it or not – is it a book I’ll read right now and later on reread it.
On the one hand, a tension book is usually not a book to read again, but on the other side, the writer’s previous book I’ve read was a good one, and I didn’t want to miss this one as well.
Conclusion – This was an incorrect purchase.
I’m sorry to say, but it wasn’t a good choice I did. It seems like the book was written very fast without a careful eye to take a look at it, asking the right questions that a reader may ask himself while reading.