Is it just me or is Into the Water hard to...

Saim Cheeda Way too many characters and frankly they are all pretty unlikable so it was hard to differentiate what was going on and who was who

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Terrie I wrote a review with the same irritation. I read ebooks and constantly searched who was who!!!! A ton!! And I thought I was addled! LOL. After writing it I looked at other reviews, and, yes, MANY thought the characters were convoluted. Also, I didn't like ANY of them, so... probably not a Hawkins reader in the future.

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Jenna I agree with original poster. Way too confusing and boring too.

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Arlene Miller So hard to read. I was completely lost. I forced myself to finish the book. Waste of time.

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Eileen In the end, I just didn't care who did it. I didn't enjoy this book at all. Most of this didn't make sense - I couldn't even keep track of all of the characters and what they were supposed to have done.

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K17a17s Yes, it was confusing in the beginning. I was so intent on staying with this book and keeping track that I started a list of characters and used it as my bookmark. It was a good overall read but you have to keep track of the characters in order to figure out the twist and appreciate the story.

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Stien I bought the paper book in Dutch, and in mine there was a little card with all the charachters and how they are related. It helped a lot to understand. I had no problem with understanding the charachters.

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Roxy Too many POV characters. And Jules/Julia always talking to Nel doesn't help, either.

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Erika I agree! I finished it a couple of days ago. I think I finally figured out who was who at the end. Had to reread the ending a couple of times and I am still a little confused on who killed Nel.

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Ross Barnett In the beginning I was a little bit confused but I actually saw it as a challenge. For me it was just a case of getting into the character of the titled chapter and everything flowed from there. I read the last half of the book in a day and actually gave it four stars. Girl on the Train has a similar writing style so I'm afraid for most of you who didn't like it, beware because this is likely going to be the norm from Paula.

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Varvara Bondarenko Absolutely agree! Some parts were written in third person, some from the point of view of the characters. So confusing!

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Bill Curry It's best to stop trying to make sense of it and just fall asleep. It's better than Lunesta! Again, sorry Paula; you'll learn from this and do better next time.

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Debbie Thomas No it isn't just you. I couldn't finish this book and wound up returning it to the library. It dragged and was tedious. At one point it started to get good and then slid back into boring. There was too much back and forth with the characters. It was very confusing. I did like Girl on the Train and expected this book to be better. I was very disappointed.

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Natalia I guess it is difficult to read this book not only for you. I also find it rather difficult to grasp the plot and not to confuse the characters. However, the more you read, the better you adapt to the story line.

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Lisa Thomason Oh my gosh YES!! I usually read a book like this within 2-3 days tops; I've been reading this one for over a week and only 30% finished, because every chapter is a new person and I get tired of referring back to refresh my memory, so I set it aside for the night after only reading a couple of pages. (I am using the table of contents as a reference; it helped, especially with the boy Josh and his mom, as the last names helped reestablish their relationship in my head.) I remember reading The Girl on the Train in just a couple of days, and while that book went back and forth with chapters also, at least the number of people was a bit more limited. Glad to know it's not "just me..."

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Graham Seager There were far too many characters (I think eleven) who we were trying to keep up with. A POV novel should have ideally between three and four narrators. The story was bewildering. After the end, I didn't really care who killed Nel.

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Andrea

This answer contains spoilers… (view spoiler)

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Patty I had the same problem with her first book "Girl On a Train". I had to keep going back to see what date I was reading about because it jumped aorund and it didn't make sense. It took way too long for the story to come together.I just have never understood how it became a best seller and they even made a movie out of it. I decided I didn't like her as a writer so I decided I didn't care if I read this one.

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Abbie I totally agree! I had to keep going back to look up the characters. I thought it was just me!

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Tracey Chambers I actually really liked getting all eh different points of view. I liked this book much better than Girl on the Train, which had fewer POVs, but I disliked all the characters.

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Michelle I agree with all of the comments. I had to start a list of characters and had to re-read some chapters to understand what was going on. I too was still confused at the end of who really killed Nel.

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Biggus No, it isn't just you. It is a ridiculous plot device. bah

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Barbara No this book is all over the place with too many characters in a non cohesive-manner.
I found parts of the book repulsive; as that author was trying to get a visceral response that did not fit the subject manner.

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Nicky God yes. I thought it was just me. It has taken me forever and a day to finish this book, and I usually blow through the good ones. Bummed, because I loved The Girl on the Train and I bought this one for my mother, who also loved it. A muddled and complicated plot that really made it hard to enjoy, let alone follow along.

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Rebecca (booksandbreggs) I'm struggling mid-book. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

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Victoria I felt the same way! Stopped reading about half way through because I lost interest and couldn't get into it.

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Audrey It's not just you. I finished the book a few days ago. And it took me a while, because I kept having to flip back and re-read certain parts. Like, who is Libby again? Why is Mark important? Who is Josh and why does he matter? And on and on. Very hard to remember the significance of everyone. And it didn't help that Jules and Nicki kept having conversations with people who weren't there.

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Kelly Haynes I was thinking the same thing--way too many characters. I didn't like any of them so I think that's why it was hard for me to stay interested in their storylines. One of the main characters, the teenager, was cast as a whinging, defensive, self-pitying little brat without a single redeeming quality. I found myself hoping she ended up in the drowning pool, too.

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Pfauzgrot S Jeez, I'm considering not finishing it. I find the book annoying because of the countless characters and the meandering. Not sure where this is headed or what the point is.

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Caroline Absolutely yes! Way too many people.
I'm listening to it on audio and everyone's voice is annoying me, but I think it's because I'm annoyed with the whole book in general.
I think this is going to be a DNF...or it'll take me a very long time to actually finish since I find other things I like far better to listen to.

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Anne Bergeron Is was confusing at first, but then I began to look up to the tops of the right side pages for the full name of the character cited in the chapter title. This practice, along with repeatedly reviewing each character’s family members and their relationships to others in the town, provided context and I slowly began to follow along. I did think that I was becoming old and slow, so sadly, am happy to know others were confused as well! Did enjoy the book once I was following if along more easily.

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Angela I was listening to the Audiobook and I think that made it even worse for me. I like to listen to audiobooks because I can do mindless tasks while listening to the book. With this book, that's very hard because I have to make a conscious effort to attempt to understand who is talking and remember who they are again in the story. I'm curious if any readers had better luck with reading the physical book?

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Ana Vršek I had the same problem during first 1/3 of the book, glad I am not the only one. I thought it is just me not being focused enough because I usually read during my commute. I had to go back to previous chapters to remember who is who.

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Greg I was lost on page 9 and closed the book. Given that "Girl on Train" had more plot holes than pages, I just couldn't go on with "Water."

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Nancy Wright A reviewer on Amazon kept a flow chart of all the narrators so that's what I did when I read it. It really helped. With each new chapter narrator I looked at my chart and didn't have to try to remember how they fit into the story.

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Corinne Kennedy This is the longest I have tried to finish a book. I loved her first book, but I get confused with all the characters. It has been hard to keep straight of who did what. Maybe I need a list of who is who and what they have done. I'm going to keep reading, but I'm having a hard time differentiating the people and their actions.

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Sandria I was confused until abut half way. But the twists and the ending made it all worth it. It all made sense by the end for me.

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Nicole I actually stopped reading it because of that. I gave the book away because it irritated me so much.

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Teresa Agree. Too many characters and too much jumping from points of view and points of time. I was especially bothered by Jules' one sided conversations with Nel. Actually, I was bothered by most of the characters. It was a struggle to get through it, but I did enjoy the ending.

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Sara Hill I agree. Luckily I made a list of characters as they appeared which helped a lot. I am still reading it so hope no new characters will appear to confuse me even more!

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Amanda I actually had to use large post its the back of the front cover just so I could list out everyone and who they were in what relation to one another. It was definitely a struggle for the first 9 or so chapters and then it started to click.

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Anushka Hannemann-Jansen

This answer contains spoilers… (view spoiler)

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Autumn Leaf At first it was hard for me too. To overcome the confusion I wrote down the characters name and their relationship or characteristics as I read. When I get confused by who is who, I took a peek on the list. It helped a lot.

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Bud I too spent the first half of the book trying to figure out who was who. I think it caused me to miss a lot of the early twists and turns of the plot.

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Angel Hench I started out listening to the audio recording of this book and had to give up and read the print book - all because I couldn't figure out who was talking. There are 11 POV characters plus the stories from three of the "drowned women". That's a lot to keep track of!

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Troy There was a "cast list" at the beginning for easy reference. I read it in a few days and loved every minute of it.

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Adriana Londono I thought it was just me. I read all the time and I am pretty good about keeping track of who is who, but goodness this was a mess. At the same time it felt like it was going so slow and so busy.

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Connie I completely agree. Too many characters and two had the same first name. What? I stopped by page 100. Agree characters were also very unlikeable I didn't care what happened to them.

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Amber Clark I listened to this on Audible and the whole time I was like...who tf is even speaking right now...and about what?

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Shreyashree I had made a pedigree chart of all the characters on a bookmark and that's how I was able to take a quick look at the characters without losing on the flow of the narrative.

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Amy I have about 95 pages left of this boring and confusing book. After I gag my way through it, I will probably never read any more books by this author.

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Daria Agree! way too many characters and they are all annoying.

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Victoria York Well I feel better now! I ended up here because I was searching for the plot of this book. I realized I had read it only about a year ago but remembered NOTHING about it. A few snippets were jumbled up in my head and I wondered if it was just me. :)

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epstein It is not you. What a mess!
And I loved Girl On A Train. I think a pretty basic rule of thumb is 10 F******* narrators is too many. Who knew that had to be a rule?

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Marcus just finished (I think?) and without previously reading these that was exactly my review. WAAAAAAY too many characters. Towards the end I was like, screw it, just finish this torture. So allow me to spoil it here so I save you the trouble of reading this mess:
There's a death of character A, then character B related to character A goes to fictional city, there, she meets a gal, character C. Character B was troubled with character A because A was involved with character D. D now is furious at B (I think), because now she blames her friend, Character E for her mom's demise. B doesnt think A did what she did and now noticed distress in A's actions. This clusters, prompts character F to come to town, while G tags along because she feels F is distressed with the whole cluster, since his mom now (probably character H?) suffered the same demise as A and D. or it is C, who the seven hells knows at this point! 250+ pages later you finish this. Have fun

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Dale King I think the problem isn't so much the number of characters, but that we switch to the POV of some of the characters with no foundation whatsoever who they are and how they relate to the story (Nickie, Mark, Louise, Helen). So you get a chapter that you don't know what to do with and by the time those characters come up again you have totally forgotten those unrelated chapters. It wasn't so bad when you had an incident involving multiple characters and then you switched to the POV of one character to that of another character from the same incident. Then you at least had some context and continuity. I think if some of the POVs were at least later so you knew who the character you jumped into was that would have made it easier.

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Perry It helps to read it with a spreadsheet or flowchart at hand to help keep track of who's who. Girl on a Train was a much easier read.

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Joyce You have to read the character name and the date at the top of each chapter. It is pretty cut and dried.

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Megan I had to keep stopping and referring to the page in the front with the list of characters and who they were to keep my focus. I loved the book, but it was annoying to have to stop and refresh my memory on who was who.

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MISS L J BIGNELL I felt that there were to many characters too.

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Janet Lasher I agree like 35 characters... I 'read' the audio book it was easy to follow - multiple narrators making the differentiation no problem. I can see how the paper book would prove more difficult.

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Aisha Amen I am still reading and trying to find out who the hell killed Nel...

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Kristin This!!! I felt like I kept having to look at the first page to remind myself who was who until I was more than halfway through the book! I was reading it on vacation, so I was able to read for several hours a day and finish the book reading it over several consecutive days and even THEN I feel like so much time would go by between narrations of each character I would need to jog my memory of who they were....I couldn't even imagine being able to follow the book if I read it the way I typically have to read books (where there can be several days or even at times weeks between when I am able to read for pleasure).

It also drove me crazy that some of the characters narrated from first person and others third person! Also, since they jumped around so much from character to character it kind of resulted in me not being particularly invested in any of the characters, and not really liking any of them, and therefore not really caring about any of them, ha.

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Lisa I agree. Takes a long time to get into the plot and I had to keep going backwards asking: who is that person again? But once I got into it, it was far less of a distraction.

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Matteo the same problem. I read it very slowly and with a lot of difficulty. Author wanted to imitate the same structure as the previous book "The girl on the train" but, while in the first one there was the point of view of few characthers, in the last one she used too many charachters and it makes the reader confuse. Every time I started to read this book, I remember that I had to scroll pages back to see who people that was speaking was.

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Laura Muñoz Es cierto, yo lo deje iniciado, me confundí mucho con tanto personajes y los cambios en las narraciones.

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Angelic No, its just not you. The way she had all the characters situated was way too busy and not in a good way. I like the plot, but at the same time the way it was wrote I either forgot clues or was just scattered brained like the book itself.

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Yuval Ben hamo yeah, but on the other hand, it's kinda fun to read a story from different perspectives.

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Micklemas A book full of red herrings for the sake of red herrings.

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Vanessa Varriale Not the easiest read for me because of the number of characters. In the beginning I literally wrote them down on a piece of paper to keep them straight.

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Yaya Yo There are so many characters in the book. I go by the character chapter and then reference one of the first pages in the book where all the characters are listed. I purchased this book when a fellow shopper recommended it. I am still in the process of finishing it.

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Kathy Reading it now ... I'm taking notes. Makes it easier. I'm enjoying the book regardless!!

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Nan Did not finish it because none of these characters were compelling enough to care what happened to them.

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Gilda Started the book but couldn't finish for that reason also.

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Anna Yes, I kept on checking the names to remind myself who is who

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Jeannie Tremblay I agree - there were way too many characters for my liking and I can't count the times I had to go back to see when the character was first mentioned. However, the book did hold my interest and I liked it.

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MostMagenta I was wondering if anyone else felt confused about the characters, so I'm glad to see I'm not alone and losing my mind, as I had feared! I'm listening to the audio book so I can't really flick back through pages to check who is who and how they relate to the story. I'm finding that some of the characters are not very strongly differentiated and the voices they are given in the audio version are not varied enough either, so it is adding to my confusion. I will find a list of characters, as suggested, as I'm sure that will help.

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Logan Nope not just you i felt the same way.

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Tommasina I just started it and I am already confused/annoyed. Sigh,

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Megan Ratcliffe No it isn’t just you. I was constantly going back to the page introducing the characters to see who was who.

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Julie Cordiner I agree completely. It's a classic example of lazy writing and even lazier publishing, riding on the success of her first novel. I'm glad I borrowed it from the library rather than paying money for it! Far too many characters, poor style with no real differentiation between their voices, and no use of setting. Will be avoiding this author in future.

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Dez I found this a real struggle to read. I'd like to say it was cleverly written or that it's an ambitious project that didn't quite come off. But actually I don't think it's either of those things. I agree it's a real jumble of a book, not particularly well edited either. I thought the different tenses for characters was pretty pointless.

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Jeanne AGREED! I'm committed to finishing it, but man, it's sloooowww! I've bookmarked the page with the character descriptions so I can remember who is who. Too much effort required.

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Brett I agree, the book was a mess.

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Ankita Sharma I can get the plot but such a mess

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Carol Wow - based on the MASSIVE outpouring of a story not well written and confusing....... I think I may take a pass. I just started the audio book today but not very interested in it when I have to search deeply to find any positive reviews about it. Thanks Goodreads!! Off to something better! :-)

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DannyO I agree. I am about ur to bail on this. Written by a woman, about women, with an intended female audience. Convoluted structure.

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Cindy There's too many characters and as a result, the focus is scattered. Maybe the author intended on focusing on Jules, but then she veered off into the perspective of the female detective, Erin. And a whole host of people popped in, some of whom I couldn't care less about. Overall a "C" grade book IMHO, not as well done as her first.

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Kathleen I couldn't agree more. I'm still not sure what role a couple of the characters played and I just finished the book. So confusing. I nearly stopped reading it, but then skimmed some parts. I didn't think it was nearly as good as her first one.

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Terri Wells Too many characters,and the jumping back and forth was really annoying. None of the characters were worth investing reading time into.

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Peggy Agreed. The story just dragged on and too many characters to try to keep straight

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McKenzie Smith I, also, felt that there were too many characters and points of view. In the beginning I really struggled with remembering who was who! However, a little more than a quarter of the way in I was able to figure out who was who and how they related to the story. There were a few times that I would have to look back though because I forgot whose perspective I was reading.

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Coral Ward I have just finished this book and have to agree with 99% of the comments below. It was terrible. Would have given it a C- for an assignment in a basic writing class. The style was confusing, there was no need to keep changing each chapter with a different character. This method is used in lots of novels but generally the writer knows what they are doing. Hawkins doesn't. The ending was simply stupid. No tension in this novel. Would make a good Midsommer Murders episode though.

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Stefanie MagMag My goodness I'm glad it isn't just me. I'm listening to this one in my car on audio and am on disc 4 of 9. SO. MANY. POVS. I have no idea what is going on. I am not enjoying this book in the least. Trying to decide to push through or give up.

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Brega It not just you, I had the same, I thought about making a list of characters but was already too far in the book to bother. I liked the book but it was hard to keep the characters apart.

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Nicole Ovando Reveco Pensé que era la única que me confundía, pero veo que son demasiados con la misma opinión. También quise anotar cada nombre de los personajes y quien era, pero termine memorizando.

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Anabella I found myself flipping back a few pages for clarification on precisely this reason. So no, it's not just you.

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Jennie Shook I completely agree. There were many instances at the start of a chapter when I read the character's name and thought, "wait, who is this?"

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Jac I am struggling, but trying to finish. Enough characters for a football team. Can't read this while tired or before going to sleep. I end up having to re-read in the daytime. Enough suspense to keep me interested, but hate the confusion.

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Rae Marie I just came in to check and see if anyone else was struggling with this book. I am almost at my finish it or not page... too many books and too little time.

From what I am reading, I see a return to the library and onto another book.

Disappointing as I enjoyed the Girl on the Train

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Deah yeah the voices really blended together and it didn't help when Jules would "speak" to Nel in her head and address her as "you" all the time.

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Kathy I read to help me fall asleep, so it can be a little bit dicey for me to keep a long list of characters straight. Today I found a website (BookRags.com) that gives a brief synopsis of each chapter, so when a book gets complicated, or if there are a few days where I don't read at all, it helps me keep the storyline straight. I'd like to find just a "List of Characters" somewhere to use as a bookmark!

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Kashi Totally agree with way to many characters and none likable.

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Mandy Carroll You have to be rested to read this book. I too found there to be many characters. I work 3rd shift so when I read it is before I sleep. Not the best time for a book with so many details.😁. But once I just read along and went down the many roads it was much more e notable. Its " the girl on the train" on steroids.
Will read any future books she writes.

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Pauline I'm throwing in the towel after reaching page 91. I loved Girl on the Train but I found myself forcing myself to go on, not caring about any of the characters or what happened when attempting this book... so I'm moving on to another book and giving up on it.

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Mia YES! I'm currently reading this and I'm thinking of taking reference notes to keep the characters straight! Otherwise, I'm enjoying the story but jeez!

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Rojen Salditos It took me some time as well to digest and arrange who is "who" too. But around the middle, I got the hang of it. :-)

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Shelly Confusing for sure......

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Sandy After reading A Song of Ice and Fire series I've gotten the hang of following several characters and their POV. I was hooked from the start.

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Caryn Mellom I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought that. I'm still not sure what happened and I reread the end a few times.

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ZombieReader same feelings over here..

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Helen Harris I ended up making a list of all the characters and keeping them in the back of the book m- very confusing and hard to keep up with all the different characters.

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Cathie Agreed! I don't have a lot of time to read, so I feel like each time I start to read again, I have to re-acquaint myself with ALL the characters!

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Jo Fetsco Yes! I felt that the reader needs to keep a spreadsheet of all the characters and their stories!

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Paula Thoele I finished the book but refused to keep a list of characters. It's a suspense novel for entertainment; not War and Peace for Pete's sake!

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Leanne Yes I agree. I'm half way through and I'm still getting confused.

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Alice It did take me a few chapters before I sorted out all the characters, but once I got it I was totally hooked. A great story.

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Patti AGREED! I had the exact same thought.

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Juni I agree with you ~ couldn't even get past chapter 2, had trouble knowing who is who and am sorely disappointed in this confusing and irritating format. Paula Hawkins, please write your next one the way you wrote Girl on the Train, you may lost a lot of fans after this one. Am so bummed out after waiting for this book for so long.

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Elisabeth Faaberg I'm listening to the audio version and it's beyon irretating with all the jumping back and forth in time and switching between characteres. That it sometimes is written in 3rd. person and sometimes as an observer, makes it no less confusing. Not a fan, so I hope the next booke makes more sense...

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Karen I thought the problem was my own memory getting weaker with age! Glad I am not alone. I finally made a list with short descriptive phrase. Helped a lot during first quarter of book. Had no trouble thereafter. SPOILER: I think the author deliberately ended the book with doubts whether Patrick was actually covering for his son Sean.

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Kristine I didn't find keeping track of characters that bad, but I'm good with names. I did however find it very difficult to follow the plot line and I had to force myself to finish it. I though the girl on the train was just written in a choppy style due to the narrator's drunkenness, but it seems to be Hawkins style... not sure how to feel about it.

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Eva For me, it was easy enough to follow. I did have to check once or twice the names, but I enjoyed the book nevertheless.

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Heather Ugh, yes!!! I thought it was just me. I knew who everyone was in her first book, and I loved the "ah ha!" moment when everything fell into place in that book. But this one? I'm about 250 pages into it and like everyone else, I've got a list to remind me who is who.

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Emma Yeah, you've definitely got a point there. Glad I bought the paperback so I could flick back and forth to check names!

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PamSLP I absolutely agree! Although I am halfway through the book, I went online to try to find a list of the characters in the book to help me figure out the story. That's when this blog popped up! At least it's not just me!

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Glen I had the same problem in the beginning but once I have reached 30 pages then it became better. Be patient. Before I read the book I saw the complaints of the difficulty keeping up with the characters so I prepared myself for it.

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Maaz マーズ Definitely. I havent had a more hard time reading any other book. 'ts so difficult to keep up with the characters, I am nearly half way through and still havent properly grasped the role of the characters other than the protagonists.

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Ulla Ahlburg Madsen Just finished the book. Was disappointed. Liked The Girl on the Train very much, - but alle the characters confused me so much, that I did not find time to enjoy the book. I am pleased to learn that I am not alone 😄

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Terri I had this very same reaction. I stopped midway and wrote down everyone's name and the relationships.

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Alexandr Bondaruk No, for me too!

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Natalie Ray I agree with Terri. There were too many characters with a plot that jumped around from several points in time. Pretty hard to stay focused on who is who and what is going on. Gone Girl and The Girl On The Train were much better.

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Diane Dreher I, too, experienced lots of confusion with the multiple points of view until about 2/3 into the book.

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Kristen Unger I felt this way for the first half of the book, but sticking with it I eventually sorted all the names out. It definitely was frustrating.

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Juicy A persons second work seems to never be better than the original. It was enjoyable, but I stopped reading for 5 days cos I was bored of it and my brain hurt. Im not particularly dumb, but god it was a pain.

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Pennie Should I finish it? I'm finding it very confusing and I fall asleep trying to keep up and, I really do not want to make a list of characters to finish it and, understand it but, if I have to - OK I will......

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Kim Y I took notes while I read, on who the characters were and how they were related. It was super helpful! I think that the only characters that seemed excess were Josh and Nickie. They don't really add much to the story.

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Donna Jones Christiansen I had this book on hold at the library and it seemed to move along very quickly. I wondered if people didn't like it or if it was just a quick read and I think it was not a quick read. Since I've just started it and am already wondering who these people are perhaps I should make a list of each person as K17 mentioned.

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Is it just me or is Into the Water hard to read because its so jumbled with all characters? I can't grasp the whole plot because I am always confused where its going.

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