I am writing a review for the book “Something in the Water” by Catherine Steadman. It has been a while since I finished the book and have been dreading writing the review…
I try to abide by the “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” philosophy, so it has been quite difficult to write a review on this one.
I will try to be as kind as I can with my opinions on this book, and out of respect for the author for having successfully written and published a book I say congratulations! That is an amazing accomplishment, it just wasn’t for me.
What Others Have Said
For starters, this happens to be a “New York Times Bestseller” book and has many rave reviews:
“A psychological thriller that captivated me from page one…
Reese Witherspoon
What unfolds makes for a wild, page-turning ride!”
“Steadman keeps the suspense ratheted up.”
The New York Times
“Superbly written, clever and gripping.”
B.A. Paris, New York Times bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors
“Daring…Steadman [is] a newcomer worth watching.”
Publishers Weekly
As Steadman’s debut novel, it is amazing for her that there are so many praises like these. It was even part of “Reese’s Book Club!” So, you can probably imagine my surprise and disappointment at my overall dislike of the book.
Summary
Erin, is a documentary filmmaker and she is engaged to Mark, an investment banker. They end up going on their dream honeymoon to Bora Bora. They “enjoy the sun, the sand, and each other.”
One of the days they go scuba diving and they find dun dun dun….something in the water!
Throughout the book then they are dealing with the repercussions of what they found and trying to stay safe because of it. I feel like I can’t say too much here without giving away the main suspense of the novel.
Review
I want to preface all of this by saying first and foremost, I really thought it was going to be some sort of sea monster or creature. Some kind of suspenseful water monster that torments them. Without giving too much away, I was incredibly disappointed.
I forced myself to continue reading because I had to know what it was that was in the water. It wasn’t until around page 100 when things finally started getting interesting, but then it dawned on me, “It could literally be ANYTHING in the water.”
Why had I been so dim as to think a book about water would automatically be a sea creature? You can imagine my disappointment as I realized what was unfolding.
At that point I really had to force myself to dredge through it, because the concept had been done so many times before and it had taken so long already to get there.
The beginning tried to hook the reader and draw them in questioning what might happen, but as the story went on it was all too predictable.
It took a long time to start getting “good,” but then it died right back down soon after the big reveal. At that point I was already irritated that it was such a slow start, and I was not making any connections with the characters.
I actually found Erin to be really annoying. The author kept trying to make her come off as strong, but ultimately continued to portray her as selfish and reckless.
If you couldn’t tell by now, I did not care for this book or the author’s writing style. It just wasn’t for me. A lot of the writing seemed a little too casual for my liking, as if she were having a conversation with a girlfriend or something.
This book was 340 pages and maybe if it had been shorter it would have been better. The entire thing seemed to be drawn out which made for a lot of circling around, and repetitive situations. It just drug on without actually saying anything new, while the whole time being able to predict what was going to happen.
Recommendation
1 star.
This is not a book I would recommend for all the reasons listed above. Unfortunately, I just didn’t care for it.