mrslennyren's review against another edition
3.0
This story didn't live up to the hopes I had after reading In A Dark Dark Wood. While there were moments where I felt gripped, I didn't love the main character and found the story dull and unbelievable in parts.
chris_cross26's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
themarinabox's review against another edition
4.0
3.8 stars.
I always appreciate a book that jumps straight to the story and this book did it for me. I was very gripped right from the start. I thought that The Woman in Cabin 10 just kept going uphill and I read this fairly quickly because of that. Having said that, the part a little before the end felt a little too draggy for me. Only for a chapter or two but the ending made it worth it.
Like many great thrillers, this book made me question what I've believed and sometimes, even made me a little confused, in a good way. I don't know about her other books but I do prefer this to The Death of Mrs Westaway. I think I'm going to make my way through her other works and possibly pick up The Lying Game next!
full review on my blog
I always appreciate a book that jumps straight to the story and this book did it for me. I was very gripped right from the start. I thought that The Woman in Cabin 10 just kept going uphill and I read this fairly quickly because of that. Having said that, the part a little before the end felt a little too draggy for me. Only for a chapter or two but the ending made it worth it.
Like many great thrillers, this book made me question what I've believed and sometimes, even made me a little confused, in a good way. I don't know about her other books but I do prefer this to The Death of Mrs Westaway. I think I'm going to make my way through her other works and possibly pick up The Lying Game next!
full review on my blog
riggad's review
4.0
I liked this book more than I initially thought I would. the high points for the book were the gripping introduction and interesting twists that evolved in a fun way. although there was a lull when she got in the ship and the flood of characters to remember was sort if irritating, after the pace picked back up I was enthralled. I liked the end sequence and actually wish she elaborated more on it. I feel like there was a lot to tell in the end and I'm so curious what happened in the in between scenes. I was much more surprised in this book than I was with her debut novel, and am looking forward to reading her next one.
starrkeeper's review against another edition
mysterious
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? Yes
1.0
If the MC wasn't such an idiot and kept to herself, she wouldn't be in more than half the situations she was in. This book just shouldn't have existed. 🙄
letsreadwithcats's review
1.0
Sadly Ruth Ware and I are never, ever, ever, getting back together. I hated in A Dark, Dark Wood and felt it was full of wasted potential. I felt basically the same way about The Woman in Cabin 10. I could go into a lot of detail about why I dislike this book so much, but I don’t really what to spend too much more time on it than I already have. I will try to condense it to key points.
Basic problems:
Horrible protagonist. After reading two of Ware’s books I can only assume that she specializes in writing protagonists who are dumb as bricks. It really made it hard to care about what was happening when the protagonist kept doing things like leaving important evidence in her cabin and falling asleep in vulnerable places. Like, what? She was also a terrible journalist who seemed unfamiliar with how to have a basic conversation let alone ask the hard hitting questions journalists are supposed to ask. Also, because Ware has evidently read Girl on a Train, Lo has a drinking problem. But only kind of. For effect.
Weak atmosphere. There was so much pointless pointlessness in the first 250 pages of the book. There is an event that happens early on that has no baring on the plot and is only in the book to create suspense and atmosphere, as far as I can tell. You know what also helps? Having a compelling plot. Don’t do a stupid hand wave trick! Make the story better!
Poor pacing. Personally, I didn’t think the book was even slightly interesting until about 75% in. I would have preferred that the murder/twist was revealed much earlier, like somewhere around the 40-50% mark, then spend time building suspense between the key characters. Instead it was a lot of circular thinking and wheel spinning early on, only for the ending to feel incredibly rushed.
Poor plot. If you have even a passing interest in mysteries, the plot is so, so obvious. Pretty much from the time Lo got on the ship, even before, I knew who would be killed and who the killer would be. I don’t think the ship characters had even been introduced yet. It was that obvious. The “twist”, such as it is, took me slightly longer, but I figured it out way, way before it was revealed. It made the story so boring and predictable. That’s why I wish the pacing was different, so that more time was spent developing the characters. The ending was incredibly anti-climatic. The final page surprise made no logical sense.
Somehow this book completely messed up “Rear Window on a Boat”. How do you ruin that?
Basic problems:
Horrible protagonist. After reading two of Ware’s books I can only assume that she specializes in writing protagonists who are dumb as bricks. It really made it hard to care about what was happening when the protagonist kept doing things like leaving important evidence in her cabin and falling asleep in vulnerable places. Like, what? She was also a terrible journalist who seemed unfamiliar with how to have a basic conversation let alone ask the hard hitting questions journalists are supposed to ask. Also, because Ware has evidently read Girl on a Train, Lo has a drinking problem. But only kind of. For effect.
Weak atmosphere. There was so much pointless pointlessness in the first 250 pages of the book. There is an event that happens early on that has no baring on the plot and is only in the book to create suspense and atmosphere, as far as I can tell. You know what also helps? Having a compelling plot. Don’t do a stupid hand wave trick! Make the story better!
Poor pacing. Personally, I didn’t think the book was even slightly interesting until about 75% in. I would have preferred that the murder/twist was revealed much earlier, like somewhere around the 40-50% mark, then spend time building suspense between the key characters. Instead it was a lot of circular thinking and wheel spinning early on, only for the ending to feel incredibly rushed.
Poor plot. If you have even a passing interest in mysteries, the plot is so, so obvious. Pretty much from the time Lo got on the ship, even before, I knew who would be killed and who the killer would be. I don’t think the ship characters had even been introduced yet. It was that obvious. The “twist”, such as it is, took me slightly longer, but I figured it out way, way before it was revealed. It made the story so boring and predictable. That’s why I wish the pacing was different, so that more time was spent developing the characters. The ending was incredibly anti-climatic. The final page surprise made no logical sense.
Somehow this book completely messed up “Rear Window on a Boat”. How do you ruin that?
miss_bingley's review
dark
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? Yes
3.5
rojo25's review
5.0
My first Ruth Ware book. Definitely a thrilling read. Constant twists and turns. The majority of the story occurs on a pleasure cruise and even in the tight confines of the boat with only a few suspects it seems bigger and broader. Definitely didn’t see that ending coming. I’m planning on reading another by Ruth Ware.
ufcasey's review
3.0
3.5 stars
The beginning was strong - I was interested in whether or not the heroine really was overreacting or not, who the potential suspects were, and how they were managing to get away with it. But then the book took a turn for the boring and non-nonsensical.
Lo gets kidnapped and shoved into some hidden crew cabin room on the ship that is somehow far enough away from everyone else that she can't be heard? Unlikely. Also the whole time she was in that room was kind of a drag on the story. And why was Lo kidnapped and not murdered in the first place? After all, Carrie pretended to be Lo getting off the ship, and Lo didn't have to be alive for that part of the plan to work, so keeping Lo alive where she might possibly escape and expose them to everyone else on the ship just didn't make sense. In addition, why did Cole cut his hand on the glass, other than just to be a red herring? And how did Carrie kill Richard and get access to his money so she could transfer some of it into Lo's account and how would she know where Lo's bank account was located in the first place? And why all this subterfuge for killing a woman who was just going to die of cancer anyways unless I missed something?
So in the end I was kind of left scratching my head, but I did enjoy the first half of the book.
The beginning was strong - I was interested in whether or not the heroine really was overreacting or not, who the potential suspects were, and how they were managing to get away with it. But then the book took a turn for the boring and non-nonsensical.
Spoiler
Lo gets kidnapped and shoved into some hidden crew cabin room on the ship that is somehow far enough away from everyone else that she can't be heard? Unlikely. Also the whole time she was in that room was kind of a drag on the story. And why was Lo kidnapped and not murdered in the first place? After all, Carrie pretended to be Lo getting off the ship, and Lo didn't have to be alive for that part of the plan to work, so keeping Lo alive where she might possibly escape and expose them to everyone else on the ship just didn't make sense. In addition, why did Cole cut his hand on the glass, other than just to be a red herring? And how did Carrie kill Richard and get access to his money so she could transfer some of it into Lo's account and how would she know where Lo's bank account was located in the first place? And why all this subterfuge for killing a woman who was just going to die of cancer anyways unless I missed something?
So in the end I was kind of left scratching my head, but I did enjoy the first half of the book.