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storystruck's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
While this has an intriguing set-up, it takes ages for the mystery to actually kick in. I found myself bored, a death (heh) sentence for a murder mystery. I was intrigued enough to finish it - Ware is a skilled character writer - but I can’t give it more than three stars.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
jordynjohnson's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really wanted to love this book but I found that it kind of dragged and the twists were quite predictable. I still enjoyed it but I didn’t love it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Murder
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Drug use and Abortion
chelshopkins's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt
kaiaconstantinides's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Suicide
thenovelmaura's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
2.0
After disliking The Woman in Cabin 10 and enjoying The Death of Mrs. Westaway, I gave Ruth Ware one last chance to impress me with her debut novel (although I'm sure I'll end up reading one of her other books in my lifetime). While I liked the premise of a murder at a bachelorette party, the first half of the book was dull and uneventful. It wasn't that interesting to read a bunch of sniping between the attendees in a glass house for 150 pages, and the flashforwards were slow and vague. It was also hard to get past the fact that Nora was hung up on her high school boyfriend of six months for an entire decade, and that she would be willing to attend the bachelorette party of someone she hadn't spoken to in just as long.
Things picked up in a way that was more enthralling (albeit predictable) towards the end but I couldn't forgive and forget the slow beginning. And all the descriptions of Nina made me uncomfortable; stop calling her an "Amazon" because she's tall and brown!
Things picked up in a way that was more enthralling (albeit predictable) towards the end but I couldn't forgive and forget the slow beginning. And all the descriptions of Nina made me uncomfortable; stop calling her an "Amazon" because she's tall and brown!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt
Minor: Abortion
starsnotshadows'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Not my favorite from Ruth Ware. I think this is her first, so that makes sense. It was definitely a page-turner, but none of the characters were compelling.
This book should be renamed "An extended explanation of Chekov's gun"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Gun violence and Murder
Minor: Suicide, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
adelinebal4's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail
chelly_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
the_bookish_owl's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
Minor: Abortion
kt2e56's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
2.5
This is the second book I read from this author and I have some of the same problems with this that I had with The It Girl.
Again, Ware is good at setting up a plot but she gets so wrapped up in making sure there are twists and turns that her details don’t always pan out and her characters don’t seem believable or worse, she makes up new traits or details that she mushes in last minute to fill in the holes but make zero sense with the characters we’re trying to get to know and invest ourselves in.
Speaking of the characters, all of them (sans Tom) are AWFUL. I really stopped caring about what happened to any of them because they were all just the worst.
Her writing of Flo also felt mean spirited and fatphobic. Like we get it. She’s wearing clothes that would only look good on apparent waif goddess Clare. You don’t need to keep talking about Flo’s “rolls” or “excess skin.”
Nora as a POV character was frustrating because she really wasn’t sympathetic. Yes, getting pregnant and having an abortion and being dumped all at once as a teenager but must suck but the author (I guess in an attempt to seem more progressive on her handling of abortion which I can’t fault her for, it IS a healthy attitude) kept insisting to us that the pregnancy and abortion weren’t a big deal, she was happy with her choice and had zero regrets about it so then why still fixate on a stupid teenage boy who did a stupid and cruel thing that teenage boys frequently do? For TEN years!? Like I could understand that level of trauma over a breakup of James was abusive but up until she believed he dumped her…he was fine? Annoying and a try hard. But fine. Again…just a typical “edgy” teenage boy who seemed to at least treat others very well.
I also don’t buy for even a second that Nora was ever an actress let alone the understudy for the lead role in a play like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Whether she was up Clare’s ass as a teenager or not, there’s no way someone that shy and awkward and who HATED attention would have even auditioned. This sounds like a petty gripe but I’m pointing it out because it seems like the author liked the idea of Nora and James falling in love while starring in the school play together even if it made ZERO sense for the characters. This is far from the only instance of this but it’s a noticeable one. That’s a problem to me. An author should have a better grasp on characterization.
Another example is that Nora is supposedly a successful crime novelist. Okay, fine. But this is only briefly mentioned once at the beginning of the book (and again if she was so successful, you’d think the other characters would have heard of her or her books), she shows ZERO signs of being able to solve any kind of mystery or be good at reading people (or having really any other kind of skill that you think would make for a successful mystery author) until suddenly at the very end when the explanation for everything is shoe-horned in and the killer is revealed.
The “how” and “why” of the murder at the center of all of this also feel a bit messy. There’s some gaping plot holes in how the killer was able to pull everything off and the reasoning behind it just also feels weirdly childish and doesn’t line up with the character we met (despite the author insisting on it by having characters go “Ah, yes! Of COURSE!” again and again at each reveal).
I know it sounds like I hated this book. I really didn’t. It was entertaining and a breeze to get through. I just am disappointed when I see an author with such potential sort of flounder a bit. I’d say this is a good Beach read or cozy rainy weekend read but I don’t think this book was memorable enough or good enough for me to ever really think of again once I’m done posting this review.
Again, Ware is good at setting up a plot but she gets so wrapped up in making sure there are twists and turns that her details don’t always pan out and her characters don’t seem believable or worse, she makes up new traits or details that she mushes in last minute to fill in the holes but make zero sense with the characters we’re trying to get to know and invest ourselves in.
Speaking of the characters, all of them (sans Tom) are AWFUL. I really stopped caring about what happened to any of them because they were all just the worst.
Her writing of Flo also felt mean spirited and fatphobic. Like we get it. She’s wearing clothes that would only look good on apparent waif goddess Clare. You don’t need to keep talking about Flo’s “rolls” or “excess skin.”
Nora as a POV character was frustrating because she really wasn’t sympathetic. Yes,
I also don’t buy for even a second that Nora was ever an actress let alone the understudy for the lead role in a play like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Whether she was up Clare’s ass as a teenager or not, there’s no way someone that shy and awkward and who HATED attention would have even auditioned. This sounds like a petty gripe but I’m pointing it out because it seems like the author liked the idea of Nora and James falling in love while starring in the school play together even if it made ZERO sense for the characters. This is far from the only instance of this but it’s a noticeable one. That’s a problem to me. An author should have a better grasp on characterization.
Another example is that Nora is supposedly a successful crime novelist. Okay, fine. But this is only briefly mentioned once at the beginning of the book (and again if she was so successful, you’d think the other characters would have heard of her or her books), she shows ZERO signs of being able to solve any kind of mystery or be good at reading people (or having really any other kind of skill that you think would make for a successful mystery author) until suddenly at the very end when the explanation for everything is shoe-horned in and the killer is revealed.
The “how” and “why” of the murder at the center of all of this also feel a bit messy. There’s some gaping plot holes in how the killer was able to pull everything off and the reasoning behind it just also feels weirdly childish and doesn’t line up with the character we met (despite the author insisting on it by having characters go “Ah, yes! Of COURSE!” again and again at each reveal).
I know it sounds like I hated this book. I really didn’t. It was entertaining and a breeze to get through. I just am disappointed when I see an author with such potential sort of flounder a bit. I’d say this is a good Beach read or cozy rainy weekend read but I don’t think this book was memorable enough or good enough for me to ever really think of again once I’m done posting this review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Murder
Moderate: Gore, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Fatphobia, Abortion, and Pregnancy