Scan barcode
crabcake28's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
While listening to this book I continuously thought I knew exactly what was going on. I thought I had predicted it all from the beginning. Even when I had thought I may be off a bit I still believed I knew where the book was going to be headed with the plot twist. It wasn’t until the last three minutes of the audiobook that I felt like I had been gutted by the realization of what was really going on. Sure I had guessed some of it but everything flipped on its head directly at the end and I felt myself fighting tears over how tragic it all was. Even now as I write this trying to think of my complaints over the book, I really don’t have any. Even though at times I felt it all seemed ridiculous and the main character was reacting too much over too little, I realize the entire book does an amazing job of showing hurt people and the way they’re trying to cope with what has happened to them. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten so emotional over characters in a book and I wish I could keep reading and hear a happy ending for them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Sexual harassment
mainereading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I've watched a few movies based on the original novella, and I was really excited to pick this up. Surprisingly enough, I haven't read the original novella yet and I really need to! I liked this book, and I ended up reading it in one sitting. It was a wild read with an interesting twist. Some of the characters had me ticked off. A couple of the kids were spoiled little brats that should have been disciplined and the men in this book were trash. Overall, I liked this book but I didn’t love it and I really wanted to love it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
lavaly_1's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Infidelity and Gaslighting
nataliacdd's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Misogyny, and Gaslighting
greatexpectations77's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was quite creepy, and I appreciated all of the tension and mystery that Ms. Ware built up over the course of the book. But I didn't feel like the resolution was fully satisfying. It was like a friend telling you how incredibly delicious a restaurant is for lots of hours, and then you show up there and all they have is toast. Like, does this technically fulfill the need? Yeah, but you feel disappointed that the build-up didn't lead to a huge ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent and Murder
chicitytyty's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.5
If I were nanny in this house I would have gotten the hell our night one. It isn’t until later in the book do we discover some of the motivation behind what seems like nonsensical decision making.
That made it difficult to side with Rowan as things around her seemed to descend into madness. At each turn I yelled at her to leave, to call someone, and each time I was disappointed when she continued on her path.
The final 10 pages or so of this book tied it together. It made all the disparate pieces fall into place and left me with a sense of gloom and despair that these horror/thrillers can tend to do.
All in all a good read but I want to consume some of the material based on the original story “A Turn of the Screw” and it’s Netflix adaptation “Bly Manor” to make better comparisons.
That made it difficult to side with Rowan as things around her seemed to descend into madness. At each turn I yelled at her to leave, to call someone, and each time I was disappointed when she continued on her path.
The final 10 pages or so of this book tied it together. It made all the disparate pieces fall into place and left me with a sense of gloom and despair that these horror/thrillers can tend to do.
All in all a good read but I want to consume some of the material based on the original story “A Turn of the Screw” and it’s Netflix adaptation “Bly Manor” to make better comparisons.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Blood, and Gaslighting
pershie13's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? No
5.0
Let me start off by saying this: Oh. My. Gosh. I read The Woman in Cabin 10 a few years ago and still remember some of the uneasy feelings it gave me as a read, but this book took that to another level. I was questioning everyone and everything along with the main character, and I felt such deep emotions of unease and confusion as I tried to solve the mystery as I was reading. I don't think I have ever read a book that stirred up so many different emotions from start to finish, and I am not in the least bit surprised by how much I liked this book. The creepiness of the tech and surveillance was relatable as someone who tends to be afraid of the dark side of technology, and I found myself telling the main character to get the heck out of there pretty much from the start. The plot twist in the last hundred pages was truly shocking, and I love how Ruth Ware brought the whole book together in the end. The last couple pages definitely left me asking questions, and I did not expect the book to end the way it did. This is one of the best books I have read this year - or even ever - and definitely one of the most thrilling! An automatic 5-star read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Blood, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Gore, Sexual content, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol
bek_p87's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.75
I was on tenterhooks the whole time. All the way to the very end I still had no idea what had happened and who had done it, and what the heck was happening in that terrifying house. The twist was so shocking that my jaw literally dropped. The only thing I didn't like was the lack of chapter breaks - which was of course a function of the narrative device.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Gaslighting
rorikae's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
'The Turn of the Key' by Ruth Ware is a thriller with an interesting premise but that I ultimately wanted more from.
The story is told through a letter that the protagonist, Rowan, is writing to her barrister from jail. A girl in her care has died and the crime has been pinned on her. But Rowan has a story to tell that she believes will exonerate her.
I really liked that this story was told through letters though this was really only relevant in the beginning and ending as the majority of this narrative is one giant letter that takes up 95% of the book and thus feels more like simple 1st person narration.
Ware does a good job of injecting the creepier elements of the story so that the reader questions what is really happening right alongside Rowan. This creeping sense of dread grows slowly as the narrative progresses. I do think that a little bit more could have been done with the atmosphere and it did leave me with questions based on a side story that was touched on but never fully resolved. It wasn't crucial to the main plot but I would have liked a bit more closure on that part. The story also hints at Rowan's fate but doesn't fully spell it out without enough details for me to be sure what happened.
The ultimate truth of the story as it came out was a bit disappointing and I had hoped for more though that is definitely based on my personal preferences for thriller stories. I also don't love Rowan as a character and found her ultimately fairly unlikable and thus hard to root for.
Though I would be interested to read another book by Ware since I think she does a good job with atmosphere, I would go into it with hesitations since this story wasn't as gripping as I would have hoped for.
The story is told through a letter that the protagonist, Rowan, is writing to her barrister from jail. A girl in her care has died and the crime has been pinned on her. But Rowan has a story to tell that she believes will exonerate her.
I really liked that this story was told through letters though this was really only relevant in the beginning and ending as the majority of this narrative is one giant letter that takes up 95% of the book and thus feels more like simple 1st person narration.
Ware does a good job of injecting the creepier elements of the story so that the reader questions what is really happening right alongside Rowan. This creeping sense of dread grows slowly as the narrative progresses. I do think that a little bit more could have been done with the atmosphere and it did leave me with questions based on a side story that was touched on but never fully resolved. It wasn't crucial to the main plot but I would have liked a bit more closure on that part. The story also hints at Rowan's fate but doesn't fully spell it out without enough details for me to be sure what happened.
The ultimate truth of the story as it came out was a bit disappointing and I had hoped for more though that is definitely based on my personal preferences for thriller stories. I also don't love Rowan as a character and found her ultimately fairly unlikable and thus hard to root for.
Though I would be interested to read another book by Ware since I think she does a good job with atmosphere, I would go into it with hesitations since this story wasn't as gripping as I would have hoped for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Infidelity
ssarahbbeth's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Incest and Sexual harassment