2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Into the Water by Paula Hawkins.

Pages: 386 pages

Length: 1 Month (January)

Participants: Sunshine, Eileen, Ushashi, Alyana Pearl, Nicole, Cristina.

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.


Happy Buddy Reading!

Hello fellow buddies! I started this book as I am trying to have enough time to read and enjoy my buddy reads for January. I’m doing it slowly and will be posting updates regularly. Looking forward for your thoughts on the book.

(view spoiler)[ The book started slow for me and it’s getting interesting as the story goes on. (hide spoiler)]

I just started the second part of the book. (view spoiler)[ I strongly believe that Nel didn't jump in the drowning pool. I think she was murdered by her ex-lover and then thrown at the pool. (hide spoiler)]

Part 3, Chapter 3. (view spoiler)[ So it's not Robbie who murdered Nel, was it Mark?!? (hide spoiler)]

Hi Sunshine, Eileen, Ushashi, Alyana Pearl, Nicole and Cristina,

Is it possible to be your buddy in this Buddy Reading Round or am I too late to step in?

Kind regards,
Suzan

Suz An wrote: "Hi Sunshine, Eileen, Ushashi, Alyana Pearl, Nicole and Cristina,

Is it possible to be your buddy in this Buddy Reading Round or am I too late to step in?

Kind regards,
Suzan"

Hi Suzan, there is no too late to step in. We are happy to have you on board. 😀

Hi everyone, I am going to start the today. I will be going a little slow for now. When are the rest of you starting. I see Alyana has almost finished 😀.

I just finished the book.

(view spoiler)[ I don’t know how many times I predicted who killed Nel but in all honesty I was satisfied with the ending because I didn’t see it coming. (hide spoiler)]

Alyana Pearl wrote: "Suz An wrote: "Hi Sunshine, Eileen, Ushashi, Alyana Pearl, Nicole and Cristina,

Is it possible to be your buddy in this Buddy Reading Round or am I too late to step in?

Kind regards,
Suzan"

Hi ..."

Thank you!!
Last night I just started the book. Happy to buddy read with you all :-)

I'm 21% done with Into the Water: The many persons in the beginning of te story, made that I had to go back to front page to see the family-tree. But it's a stunning story so far. I want to read further!

That's what I did too, I had to rewind a few chapters.

Yeah it is a lot of characters. I am around 20%. I like the 'mystery brewing just beneath the surface' feel of the writing.

I just borrowed it from the library hoping to start Wednesday.

I just finished the book. I wrote a review. No spoilers ;-)

"A small village, a deep and dark river with a past of witch persecution, and two dead villagers in a short time. In a village where everybody knows each other, appear to be a lot of hidden memories.

When I started the book I was a little bit overwhelmed by all that different characters, all written from the view of themselves. So there are many I's and Me's referring to different persons. Fortunate there is a map in the front of the book with all relations between the characters. I had to go back to it several times.
The book is decided in four parts in which every of the eleven characters play a role. The whole story is spinning around the mysterious dead of a teenager and a women. Both drowned in the river. Suicide or murder?

Memories are an important part of the twist of this story. Memories aren't solid and depends on many circumstances. So the truth could be different... That was the twist I was hoping for. And that's why I rated this book with 4 out of 5 stars".

Wow, you read quick! ☺️

Starting it tonight! :)

Just started about 33 percent done

Just finished part one. It's intriguing. I wonder if the old small towns really keep track of their history so well!

Ushashi wrote: "Just finished part one. It's intriguing. I wonder if the old small towns really keep track of their history so well!"

Usually the old small towns are really good in keeping track of their history, it's part of their tourism. My family and I love to go visit small towns (before the pandemic) and they have small museums too.

Alyana Pearl wrote: "Wow, you read quick! ☺️"

Sometimes it's nice to read quick, but when I read a good book it feels often as a shame :-) Finished way too fast!!

planning on starting tomorrow! sneakily gave the book to a family member for Christmas hoping to borrow it after they finished :D luckily they found it so intriguing they finished it very quickly - excited to start because I love a good twist!

Just finished part 2. It's going really well so far. (view spoiler)[ I am starting to like Lena more. Initially she seemed like just another spoiled teenager. And I do not like Patrick, he seems creepy. (hide spoiler)]

☼ Cristina ☼ wrote: "planning on starting tomorrow! sneakily gave the book to a family member for Christmas hoping to borrow it after they finished :D luckily they found it so intriguing they finished it very quickly -..."

Hey Cristina, this has been my tactics for a long time. Sneaking books from my TBR to family members and then hurrying them to read it 😂.

I finished reading. I was expecting that final twist. But it was really well built. (view spoiler)[ What happened to Mark though? Did he commit suicide? (hide spoiler)]

Ushashi wrote: "I finished reading. I was expecting that final twist. But it was really well built. [spoilers removed]"

There is probably a sequel on what happened to Mark?

Alyana Pearl wrote: "Ushashi wrote: "I finished reading. I was expecting that final twist. But it was really well built. [spoilers removed]"

There is probably a sequel on what happened to Mark?"

Oh, is it? It's released or she is still writing?

Ushashi wrote: "Alyana Pearl wrote: "Ushashi wrote: "I finished reading. I was expecting that final twist. But it was really well built. [spoilers removed]"

There is probably a sequel on what happened to Mark?"

..."

Oh I don't know, I'm just guessing that a sequel might be in the works lol

Alyana Pearl wrote: "Oh I don't know, I'm just guessing that a sequel might be in the works lol"

Uh oh! Here I was getting all excited 🤣. She could write one though!

I've started a few days ago and so far I'm not very excited with the reading... Indeed there's a lot of characters and I find all of them to be really dislikable. Indeed there's the suspense in the writing but I just finished a very tense book so this one just feels a little flat... I wish to have more backstory about the characters maybe it's gonna help. Anyway I'm gonna keep reading :)

Eileen wrote: "I've started a few days ago and so far I'm not very excited with the reading... Indeed there's a lot of characters and I find all of them to be really dislikable. Indeed there's the suspense in the..."

It was in part 3 that I really was in the story and know all characters and their backgrounds. So I hope, you will enjoy the last part(s) like I did :-)

finished (view spoiler)[ I liked this book mostly but there was some difficulty with the audiobook. (hide spoiler)]

Suz An wrote: "Eileen wrote: "I've started a few days ago and so far I'm not very excited with the reading... Indeed there's a lot of characters and I find all of them to be really dislikable. Indeed there's the ..."

Thank you Suz An :) I'm part 2 right now and I cannot get over the fact that (view spoiler)[ everybody in this book is so judgmental :O

Everybody is blaming everybody! That's so harsh!
Louise blaming Lena, who does that to a child! Sean blaming Jules and she wasn't even there (not really professional either)
I smell something tricky with Patrick as well.... (hide spoiler)]

Just finished yesterday! 3/5 stars from me!

(view spoiler)[ I was kind of underwhelmed by part 3 to be honest. Going in I was very excited to read a mystery novel as they are generally my favorite! But I found the big twists like what happened to Mark and the final reveal of killer to be really under explored and lazy. It seemed like a kind of throw away at the end which could have been a really interesting reveal.

But I did love the book for most of the first two parts and thought it did a really good job of exploring how grief affected different people. (hide spoiler)]