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A review by michadoaboutnothing
The It Girl by Ruth Ware
3.0
Hannah has spent years trying to escape the night she found her best friend's body. But what happens if it turns out her testimony put away an innocent man? Is it her duty to find the truth?
This book had all of Ware's usual immersive and enjoyable writing style, but unfortunately the mystery was not up to her usual standard.
The structure and the potential was there; the pacing was good, the back and forth between past and present built up the tension really well, the atmosphere of both Oxforfd and Edinburgh were prevalent and used well throughout. The story, however, ended up falling flat.
The problem I think, lay in the suspects. Or rather the red herring that felt forced from the very start. I went back and forth on whether or not it could really be that obvious, but the problem was no other options were presented. Until the very end that is, where the reveal felt almost unjustified even in hindsight, purely there for shock factor.
This then, took away one of my favourite elements of a thriller, which is the guessing and the theorising throughout. I felt like there were not enough viable theories or suspects presented, despite ample opportunity within the dual timeline.
Overall, it was a quick read and Ware's writing style was able to carry me through it, but the ending ultimately dropped it to a three star.
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for my e-arc of this title, received in exchange for an honest review.
This book had all of Ware's usual immersive and enjoyable writing style, but unfortunately the mystery was not up to her usual standard.
The structure and the potential was there; the pacing was good, the back and forth between past and present built up the tension really well, the atmosphere of both Oxforfd and Edinburgh were prevalent and used well throughout. The story, however, ended up falling flat.
The problem I think, lay in the suspects. Or rather the red herring that felt forced from the very start. I went back and forth on whether or not it could really be that obvious, but the problem was no other options were presented. Until the very end that is, where the reveal felt almost unjustified even in hindsight, purely there for shock factor.
This then, took away one of my favourite elements of a thriller, which is the guessing and the theorising throughout. I felt like there were not enough viable theories or suspects presented, despite ample opportunity within the dual timeline.
Overall, it was a quick read and Ware's writing style was able to carry me through it, but the ending ultimately dropped it to a three star.
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for my e-arc of this title, received in exchange for an honest review.