The Woman In Cabin 10 – Ruth Ware

Link to book – The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware.

Rating – 3 out of 5 stars.

I wanted so badly to enjoy this book, and it’s not like it was completely terrible and absolute rubbish, it just fell short for me.

The premise sounded amazing, the idea of the story being set on a small, intimate cruise ship in the middle of the ocean with just a select few people sounded like the perfect makings of an excellent thriller. However, it didn’t quite reach that level.

The book tried so hard to capitalise on the atmosphere and vibe of the enclosed space, but it just didn’t. The author could have played up more to the size of the boat, the maze of corridors, the endless number of doors, the people you barely knew, the claustrophobic feel, the panic of being on the open ocean… But they didn’t. It felt lacklustre and almost as if the book’s potential had been wasted.

I will say the writing wasn’t terrible and that did go some way to redeem the book and it was clear that the author had tried to build on that fear, but just wasn’t able to. Maybe that’s just me, I do find it quite difficult for books to scare me or thrill me, so maybe my standards were just too high?!

However, I did find Lo to be a very unlikeable and quite irritating narrator. I appreciate the traumatic event at the start of the book, but I had zero sympathy for her later in the story, she was downright rude at points. And because the book was written in first person we didn’t really get to know much about the other characters, which was disappointing, as again, I feel the author could have capitalised on them to instil that feeling of fear into the reader.

The plot itself was a bit convoluted at points… Now I love a mystery as much as the next but The Woman In Cabin 10 didn’t seem to follow its own plot line at points which really annoyed me as it had the makings of a good mystery! It also felt, because of that, like there was zero logic put into the plot. It felt as though the author hadn’t fully fleshed out the book…

Overall, I won’t be rushing to reread The Woman In Cabin 10 and definitely won’t recommend it.

Until next time, Em xxx

REVIEW – The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware.

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware – read the synopsis here.

Overall rating – 4 out of 5 stars.

Looking back, it was pretty clear that I was going to enjoy this book, it was right up my street and the cover grabbed my attention almost immediately. What I didn’t expect was how the whole thing would turn out!

In fact, there were several points within the story that shocked me, and all praise to the author because I did not see any of the twists coming. Right up until we were presented with a twist I was completely oblivious and would never have guessed what was going to occur.

This feeling of shock at every turn of the page was only made better by the tense atmosphere and high level of intrigue that the author built up throughout the book. I remember feeling incredibly on edge throughout the whole thing, not knowing who to trust, if there was something supernatural going on or something sinister with the characters…

Oh and the characters! They were so well written. At various points I became attached to all of them, in a different way, only to be led to believe that there was something afoot with them.

Possibly my favourite aspect of this book was how it was written as if Rowan was writing a letter the whole way through, it didn’t feel as if she was just narrating her story, she was pouring it out onto the page desperately trying to get people to believe her.

The only thing I was a little disappointed in was the ending, it felt as though it would have been better to be left with a little air of mystery and not revealing everything. It kind of spoiled the way the book was written for me, because it felt as though Rowan was trying to get herself off the hook, only to basically say she was taking the fall…

On the whole, a very intriguing tale that was not short of twists and turns! 

Happy reading bookworms! Until next time, Em xxx