Into the Water: Paula Hawkins

This was a great read! I enjoy Hawkins' writing style immensely. She's a captivating writer. and she weaves thrilling tales. Her characters invoke so much emotions, both hatred and love. She is quite talented.

I appreciated many things about this book. First, I enjoyed the way Hawkins broke up the story by using several different narrators, several different time periods, and even different narration types. In this way, I was never tired of a narrator, and I ended each chapter wanting more from that person, causing me to read on.

Hawkins makes a fantastic villain, and even better, she makes several villains. There are many horrid, hateful characters; as I read, I kept longing for their downfalls, and even by the end, I'm uncertain as to who is truly the villains of the book.

As is the case with many thrillers, I was kept guessing through the book. This was even better because at the end, I was left with three guesses, and it wasn't until the very last paragraph that I had my answer, and it wasn't who I thought it would be. That was surprising, and I always like a surprise!

You Are Not Alone: Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Another great thrill by Hendricks and Pekkanen. This was a page turner that I had to finish in one sitting because I could not stop reading.

These two are just a great team that can weave stories of such intrigue.

It sucks, but I think we can all imagine falling for the same things the main character here did. Shay was a pretty every-day character. She was like me, and I'm guessing she was kinda like you. She wants desperately to have good friends, so it doesn't take much to create deep friendships (on her part). It's easy to pick out reasons why they shouldn't be your friend, but you can't help falling for it regardless.

I expect this from Hendricks and Pekkanen by now, but that twist at the end still got me. I know that things are never as they appear with these two, and yet I was still thrown. I had to reread a few chapters to catch up/figure out exactly what was happening.

I'm ashamed to say that I totally fell for the false ending, but I love that in book. Fool me as many times as you can!

I can't wait to see what these two come up with next.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Stieg Larsson

I've been meaning to read this book for years, and finally, I put all other books away and made myself focus on this book. I'm glad I did, I think.

24 hours after finishing, and I'm still not sure how to feel about this book. Larsson is a fantastic writer, I think we can all agree. This was thrilling and riveting. I had to keep reading even though there were several points where I wanted to stop.

There was suspense, sure. I didn't know who was the "bad guy," and I wasn't sure what happened to Harriet. I had my suspicions, some of which turned out correct, but I was mostly left in the dark. That definitely kept me going, but the suspense wasn't the driving force for me. I kept reading because I enjoyed the writing, and I enjoyed the characters. I wanted more of the characters, more of their background, more of their dialogue, more of their action. The suspense was just a bonus.

Another reason I kept reading was because Larsson kept the two main characters separate for so long. They had minor crossovers, but it wasn't until about halfway through when they started working together. I knew they would make a good team, so I had to continue to see when they would become a team.

I also wanted to know (and still want to know) why Larsson chose to name the book after Salander. It doesn't seem like she's the main theme in the book, so it confused me a bit, and I kept reading to see if she would play a larger role in the book. I'm still curious, and I'm wondering if it's about the next books in the series.

This book handled some seriously dark topics, and that was rather difficult for me. This was why I wanted to stop. It was hard to read about the violence and the sexual abuse several characters faced. Larsson almost seemed to write about it lightly. Like it wasn't a big deal. I didn't want to keep going after some of those revelations or plot points. I still don't fully understand why Salander's character went through what she did. I'm guessing there's something in future books?

I'm usually excited when a book I read has a movie adaptation, and I can't wait to watch after reading. In this case, I really don't think I want to watch. There's too much horror that I do not want to see on screen. I think I'll leave this one just as a book and forget about the movie. I still haven't decided if I'll read the next two books. It was fantastic writing, but it gave me nightmares, left a pit in my stomach, made me afraid to leave the house, and made me horrible sad to know that while this is fiction, these things really occur in this sinful world.