growintogardens's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Violence, Car accident, Physical abuse, Confinement, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
"The Death of Mrs. Westaway" follows Hal: a young adult who has recently lost her mother and is in severe financial trouble. She has continued in her mother's footsteps and reads tarot for a living, but with the debt that her and her mother borrowed from a very shady source, she will never be able to repay them. She fears for her own life, until she receives a mysterious letter informing her that she has inherited a large sum of money from a woman named Mrs. Westaway. Hal has never heard of Mrs. Westaway and her mother always told her they had no extended family, but desperate, Hal attends the funeral in the hopes of getting some money to get back onto her feet. What she does not expect is to uncover family secrets that have been buried for decades.
This story was a trip. My heart broke for Hal and her situation. When her mother died, she was left with no one in the world, and all she wanted was a family. She is young and trying to survive but it feels like everything is against her. She does essentially con people for a living, and that is what she was planning to do to the Westaways, but she was driven to the decision out of desperation and devastating circumstance, which I think the reader can empathize with.
This story has a lot of twists, and just when you think you have the family figured out, something new is uncovered and new secrets are revealed. I ultimately did not see the ending of the story coming, but I was also left a bit unsatisfied by it. The people involved and those who helped to cover it up seemed to have somewhat unreasonable rationale for their actions. It all seemed way too dramatic to me for a secret that was not as earth shattering as they all believed.
Overall, this book was fine. It is not my favorite Ruth Ware, but it also did not put me off of her writing either.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Stalking, Confinement, Torture, Physical abuse, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Child abuse
Moderate: Pregnancy
katymat18's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Car accident
vaguely_pink's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, Homophobia, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy
Minor: Blood, Infidelity, Medical content, Sexism, Alcohol, and Classism
gm3116's review against another edition
3.0
Spoiler
Hal's mother and father were relativesGraphic: Murder, Child abuse, Violence, Confinement, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Car accident and Animal death
linesiunderline's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Homophobia, Infidelity, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Confinement
a_novel_craving's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Car accident, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy
alylentz's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Confinement
jellie23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Car accident, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Stalking
nikkiei's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
But. It’s the page turning plot. The moral themes of fate versus free will. The symbolism. The twists and turns. Amazing. Will probably read again at some point
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Confinement