Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman
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Web ID: 85132819 reviews
Well written, BUT
I thought about just simply not finishing this book, but I did read it to the end and it was very interesting and well written, however that it’s rare that I do not like any characters in a book and I have to say that I did not like any of these people Specifically the two main characters, Aaron and Mark. I simply could not root for either one of them, I didn’t care if anything bad happened to either one of them there was just nothing redeeming about any of their qualities
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Something in the Water (thoughts)
3.5 stars "If you could make one simple choice that would change your life forever, would you?" - from Goodreads summary. I finally pulled this one off of my shelves after a ridiculous amount of time. It felt like a summer thriller which is exactly what I was in the mood for. The book starts off with a bang that really hooked me as the reader. Unfortunately, I didn't love this book as much as I had hoped to. It's not that it was a bad book by any means. I just kinda hated the choices that the main characters were making. This is one of those books that made me actually anxious at times because of these decisions. It meant that I kept setting the book down, unable to immerse myself fully in it. This is a very me type of thing so take my opinion with a grain of salt. Not only that, but without sharing any spoilers, there was something that happened early on that for me made the ending not a surprise. I may not have figured it all out but I figured out enough - and I will leave it at that. I will say that this was a page turning read even when it had me a bit stressed out. I also really liked Erin's character. The beginning and ending were strong but I just didn't quite love this one like I thought I would. Readers looking for a suspenseful read perfect for summer reading might want to give this one a try. I'm landing on 3.5 stars and do plan on reading more by this author in the future.
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Pretty fun read, not without flaws
I actually ended up enjoying this book, despite its flaws. While Erin wasn't always the smartest, she had her moments where she at least tried to think ahead. This book reminded me of the movie Into the Blue, with some differences in the plot to make it stand out. There were a lot of repetitive things in the book as narrated by Erin (constantly questioning her actions and feelings, repeating phrases throughout the book), and she tended to analyze every thing to an extreme. The first chapter was great, while providing a lot of unnecessary details it still felt like a very fun opening. There were other instances later on of unnecessary infodumps (a whole section on Glocks, which kept wrongly stating that they don't have safeties; they do, they're just not a "switch". At least she used the correct term "mag" instead of the completely incorrect "clip"). While these sections were a tad redundant and made the book feel a bit sluggish, I did enjoy the book overall. The writing was good at times, but at others felt a bit stilted with fragmented sentences, but this seems to be a fairly common writing style, so I won't hold it against the author. Definitely looking forward to her other books now.
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A little far-fetched but a good read
Documentary filmmaker Erin and investment banker Mark are on their dream honeymoon in Bora Bora, a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean, when they discover something in the water. They decide to keep their find to themselves. After all, they trust each other completely so what could possibly go wrong? Well, it would seem quite a lot! Someone knows what they've done and is coming for them. In a game of cat and mouse, who can be trusted and who can't? Whilst I enjoyed Something in the Water, it didn't really offer anything new that I haven't read before. It was a good, fast-paced thriller that I'm sure many readers will enjoy but for me it fell a little flat. I kinda figured out where the plot was heading long before the light finally dawned for Erin. Although it seemed rather too far-fetched at times, it grabbed my attention and kept me engaged until the end. A solid 3 star read.
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A reasonable thriller but a little disappointing
Catherine Steadman's debut novel starts off in an attention-grabbing way that cannot fail to intrigue...and I will leave you to find that out for yourself. We are then led back through preceding events to discover exactly how our narrator got to this point, she being Erin, a documentary maker and by her own admission, fairly ordinary person. Erin is in a relationship with Mark and the book takes us from the moment that they meet through to their married life. They seem the perfect couple and are looking towards their future together. However, is all as it seems? A series of events in the book transport Erin into a part of herself that she never knew existed - one that requires calculation and thorough thinking; she is presented with certain choices with regard to certain things and the resulting decisions that she makes means that she is required to act in a way that is alien to her. We follow her through this process, a process that takes her deeper and deeper into a situation that one could argue is of her own making as the path that she decides to take is tinged with danger, but she just can't seem to help herself. I liked, for the most part, this aspect of the book - I think that life is very much a series of choices and that is the bulk of what you have here: an examination of an individual's deliberations about what or what not to do in a certain situation. However, I have to say, I found it a little wearing especially towards the end of the book. I'm not really sure why this was - Erin is an engaging narrator and I generally like novels that show the inner workings of a character's mind and this novel provides plenty of opportunity to place yourself in her position and consider your own responses but as the action was reaching its conclusion, I just found it tedious and skim read Erin's rhetorical questions to self in search of how the book would end. I also felt like there were several avenues in the book which were unexplored or underdeveloped, for example, the people who she is interviewing for her documentary and their actual importance to the story, and the motives of other important characters and their actions. Not a bad book at all but not wholly fulfilling.
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Terrible book
Oh gosh the plot of this book is just terrible. I hate to say it, but it was getting worse and worse with each page. I honestly don’t know how this book was published. A lot of the situations were making no sense and were not explained at all. The ending was just plain dumb. DON’T READ IT.
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Something in the Water
Didn't enjoy the writing style of this author.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A real page turner
I bought this book as it was recommended as “Reese’s Bookclub” and I was not disappointed! I particularly liked the beginning and the style of writing: it’s very easy to read yet very good style of English. I liked the plot a lot! And the ending does not disappoint! Definitely a good thriller!
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