Too many characters, not nearly as much suspense as Girl in the Train

INTO THE WATER may not be everyone’s “cup of tea”, but I have to admit British author Paula Hawkins has a real talent for keeping the reader off-balance with her twisty-turny plots. Although I didn’t find this novel as engrossing as her bestseller, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, it did grab me. Warning: the story is told from many viewpoints and involves a large cast of rather unlikable characters, but a handy list is provided at the beginning of the book which helps keep track of who’s who. With a sinister/creepy setting, suggestions of witchcraft/mysteries, and short chapters it was the perfect escapist read to take with me on my recent vacation.

Reminded me, somehow, Twin Peaks.
Legends, urban myths and real life.
There are unfinished moments of the plot.

Sometimes people have one really good novel in them. If that is true of Ms Hawkins, it would have been The Girl on the Train. Hopefully that is not the case and Into the Water just represents a misstep, with its author feeling too much pressure to duplicate the mega-success of her first novel. Because this sophomore effort is pretty underwhelming.

I was a little disappointed by Paula Hawkins' second book "Into the Water". It had a lot of potential, and I kept on waiting for twists in the plot. Unfortunately, the storyline was pretty predictable. However, I will eagerly await for her to release another book, as I really did enjoy "Girl on the Train".

Better as a book on CD. Narrator did a good job of changing voices which made it easier to track the characters. Still had to back up a couple of times to catch the time shifts. Overall, an interesting story.

Yes there are many characters but I thought the plot was better developed than Girl on a Train. I liked reading this book and would recommend it for a quick holiday read.

As many other commenters have mentioned, too many characters, it didn't really grasp me like Girl on a Train. A week on from reading and I don't even remember what happened. A bit disappointing.

I had a hard time getting through this book because there were so many characters (11?). Author Paula Hawkins had a great story line but it just got lost among the multiple characters, the confusion of jumping around with different characters and timelines, the story dragging, etc. I think if it was not because of her bestseller book ("The Girl on the Train"), this wouldn't have gotten so much attention from her readers. Very disappointing--this could've been a really good book but it fell short.

I struggled to read this book and did in fact give up half way through. There were too many characters which made it confusing and convoluted