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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: Death, Murder, and Child death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Confinement, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, Animal death, and Gore
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
hannas_ink_prints's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Koukuttava ja välillä kylmiäväreitä aiheuttava teos, jossa oli myös surullisia piirteitä. Välillä tuntui että juonta oli turhasti pitkitetty ja tarina haahuili, mutta parhaimmillaan hyytävä thrilleri, joka sitou lukijansa äärelleen. Kompleksinen päähahmo oli myös plussaa, sillä Rowan oli mukava piristys aina kaikkien puhtoisten ja oikeudenmukaisten sankaritarien jälkeen. Hänen hahmonsa tuntuu aidolta vaikka ajoittain turhankin naivilta, siihen nähden kuinka kokenut hoitaja tämä muka on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Death, Classism, and Child death
kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
Holy shit! So many twists and turns I did not anticipate. I like that the book is written in a series of letters and that the narrator is not necessarily reliable. This book definitely made me a bit jumpy and the ending brought tears to my eyes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
caties_books's review against another edition
4.5
I accidentally read all the spoilers trying to figure out which child died before I invested anymore time into it (I don't read books where babies die) but I still read the book and it was still worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Infidelity
serendiptii's review against another edition
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
1.25
So UNDERWHELMED by this book.
I heard of this book from a Haunted House thriller recommendation video on Youtube and the people of Goodreads seemed to rave about it, but boy, this is disappointing to say the least.
I have so many thoughts, but firstly, if this is a letter to her lawyer, why is it so freaking long. Is she trying to prove that she lived in that house by giving very detailed explanations? It is 44% and nothing has happened except annoying kids and few instances of creaky floorboards and AI powered kitchens?
It could’ve been divided into parts where she is writing a few pages to get the lawyer intrigued and once they meet Rowan, continued with the story. Could've made it more interesting for the reader.
The details just seem to go on and on and I have skipped/ scanned through a lot of paragraphs to get to the 44% mark.
Was hoping that the second half delivers, but wow, I was more let down by it.
By the end, I was just skipping more paragraphs, most of it was fluff, describing too many unnecessary things. I understand why the lawyer did not read this.
Coming to the lawyer, his name being mentioned TOO many times, really threw me off, even more so in the beginning. If this was meant to remind the reader that it was a letter to the lawyer, it should've been done more subtly.
There were more things I hated about this book than I liked. And the ending wasn't even that shocking. It fell flat and by the end of it, I was left wanting more, and NOT in a good way.
Considering all the other books I read this month were 4+ stars easy, this one was bland.
I heard of this book from a Haunted House thriller recommendation video on Youtube and the people of Goodreads seemed to rave about it, but boy, this is disappointing to say the least.
I have so many thoughts, but firstly, if this is a letter to her lawyer, why is it so freaking long. Is she trying to prove that she lived in that house by giving very detailed explanations? It is 44% and nothing has happened except annoying kids and few instances of creaky floorboards and AI powered kitchens?
It could’ve been divided into parts where she is writing a few pages to get the lawyer intrigued and once they meet Rowan, continued with the story. Could've made it more interesting for the reader.
The details just seem to go on and on and I have skipped/ scanned through a lot of paragraphs to get to the 44% mark.
Was hoping that the second half delivers, but wow, I was more let down by it.
By the end, I was just skipping more paragraphs, most of it was fluff, describing too many unnecessary things. I understand why the lawyer did not read this.
Coming to the lawyer, his name being mentioned TOO many times, really threw me off, even more so in the beginning. If this was meant to remind the reader that it was a letter to the lawyer, it should've been done more subtly.
There were more things I hated about this book than I liked. And the ending wasn't even that shocking. It fell flat and by the end of it, I was left wanting more, and NOT in a good way.
Considering all the other books I read this month were 4+ stars easy, this one was bland.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Cursing, Death, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Abandonment, Infidelity, Vomit, and Emotional abuse
mallory10100's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
wow this was a great read. bought it because i love the haunting of bly manor and knew that it’s based on a book called the turn of the screw, and there were so many similarities with the show it was fun. so many great twists at the end that i definitely didn’t see coming!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Infidelity
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual violence, Self harm, Police brutality, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia
Minor: Bullying, Dementia, Excrement, Gore, Infidelity, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal death
i loved this book homophobia TW is there bc the author uses the F slur for cigarettes because she’s britishcp_frey's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I have a hard time with this one. I finished it in mere days because it felt so fast paced to me. However, I also found myself utterly disgusted by the trope of “evil child”. I understand the hurt the child is feeling, and perhaps evil tricks but murder? No. Feels like a cheap cop-out. If the child is gonna be “evil” then I’m going to need more than this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Bullying and Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexual content
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