Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - The Death of Mrs. Westaway

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

9 reviews

jelkebooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I was quite excited to read this one because I had heard many great things about this book, and the premise sounds right up my alley. However, this book just didn't work for me. If I'm being honest I thought this book was a massive bore. I'm sorry. Not a whole lot happened in this book, and the characters were also just lackluster.
Now, I get that in a mystery/thriller characters are often not much more than a plot device, but at least the main character will have some semblance of a personality. This was NOT the case for Hal. She was just such a bland main character, and I found it really difficult to care about her or root for her. I just felt extremely meh. On top of that the side characters were truly interchangeable. I had a terrible time keeping them apart, and there weren't even that many characters.
I also just predicted the big reveal quite early on in the book. I was 100% correct, all details were accounted for. I absolutely couldn't believe that that was it. It was just so obvious from the start, and it truly felt like a massive whomp whomp once it happened. Especially because there wasn't really much more to the book for me.
I didn't absolutely hate this book. There were some small parts I did like, and I absolutely flew through this book as well. There were just so many things I wish could have been delved into a bit more, or just overall executed better.

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fromtheyellowchair's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective 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

3.0

This book got so confusing. Almost like Ms. Ware wrote herself into a corner, and then had to get really creative to make everything kind of work out. Also, I feel like the whole plot point about

Hal owing a bunch of money to the creepy guy

was just not really resolved? Truly, it's my own fault for continuing to read books that I'm not really into haha

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lostinworlds's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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vaguely_pink's review against another edition

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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.

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linesiunderline's review against another edition

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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.

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morganperks's review against another edition

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3.0

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marlireads's review against another edition

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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!

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malloryfitz's review against another edition

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dark mysterious

Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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