Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

24 reviews

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Out of the 3 Ruth Ware books I’ve read, this is easily my favorite and also her most like-able characters so far. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

gabriellewaldron's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Ok twist at the end that I didn't see coming, however the fast paced thriller aspect didn't start until the last 100 pages, so the first 300 pages felt very slow and repetitive. However I did have fun reading this, had good ominous ambiance but the reaction at the ending by the main characters was a bit under played as surely they would be more surprised about who her dad ended up being!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

linesiunderline's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I cannot seem to resist a Ruth Ware book, even though none of them has lingered with me for any length of time aside from The Turn of the Key, which I thought was very satisfyingly  put together.

This one does Creepy Manderley-inspired Mansion vibes rather well. And I like the central premise that leaves you wondering who is deceiving whom. I found Hal to be sort of tiresome at times though.

The thing is, I fell asleep for a good hour one night listening to the audio and I didn’t feel all that inclined to go back and relisten to the part I’d missed, which says something. I finished it and felt kind of meh about the experience. In another mood, it’s atmospheric quality might have appealed more.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ashleycmms's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.75

Anyone who knows me and my reading tastes knows I’m a super for family drama, dynamics, and relationships. I always enjoy it no matter if it’s possible, healthy, traumatic, fictional, or non-fiction. However, I went into this expecting a thriller/horror and figured out the antagonist 25% in. By 50% I figured out the plot twist. I read and watch a lot of horror/thriller content so it’s not unusable for me to be able to figure out what’s going to happen before I get there. However, what was a real let down for me was the sheer lack of concrete reasons as to WHY these things even came to happen. This is a story that relies heavily on backstory while simultaneously being incredibly vague about the events of the past. We get a few diary entries of the past that were very intriguing, but they often caused me to wonder more about what happened during that time. Especially to the main villain of this story. We get no reasoning, which I guess would be fine if the story was “some people are just evil” but there’s constant wording that “over time,” “something happened,” and “before and after.” So WHAT…. WHAT IS IT THAT HAPPENED?
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

oakleylynch's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

a_novel_craving's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

aakas's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

alylentz's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was SO FUN. It was so atmospheric and perfectly gothic, and the author does such a good job of giving you all the pieces to solve the puzzle while still remaining one step ahead of you... twists are surprising but not nonsensical. Would recommend for fans of Knives Out. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

novi's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

This is not a fast-paced thriller, but more of a mystery. Set in the current times, in a gothic old manor house. It is pretty slow, but I think the mystery is worth to follow. You can definitely feel the gothic atmosphere and it was actually feels cozy and wintery but there's always a feeling of uneasiness that makes it not the type of cozy that I can enjoy, but it means the writing delivers its purpose. I disagree with some of the main character's action, sometimes I was like "whyyy did u do thatttt" sometimes she seems stupid, sometimes she's not lol idk. But I quite enjoyed this and the tarot parts were interesting. I even think I could re-read this.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

marlireads's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

A supersolid mystery thriller by Ms Ware. The atmosphere was amazing, I love Ruth Ware's writing and the symbolism that ties this entire thing together was *chef's kiss*! This book actually made me more interested in Tarot. 

I did, however, guessed a couple of the plot twists/revelations that happen toward the end pretty early on. And I feel like there were some holes in some characters' motivation in line with the plot, and I feel like it didn't give ALL the answers.
Because what was Ezra's motivation to letting Hal turn back home and going home himself when there was still a chance that she was going to figure everything out. And also, the wire thing... That happened before that, so that clearly means that he planned on killing her before he actually tried to. Why second guess? Because if this was the plan all along, he couldn't have planned the weather. He couldn't have known that! And then, why not kill her on that road trip?


Again, very solid. The only other one that I've read by the author is The Turn of the Key and that one was great as well, so... I see more Ruth Ware books in my future!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings