Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - The Woman in Cabin 10

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

20 reviews

schadenfreudes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I never really read mystery and psychological book this fast. It made ne weary because my imaginative mind rendered the setting up close. The descriptive writings are excellent because I could feel what the main character felt. I will try to read more of Ruth Ware's books.

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mzola9's review

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slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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franksfiction's review

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

*This is my opinion; I encourage readers to read anything they want - Buddy read with Shana
Initial Reaction: I was mad after finishing this book.

Premise: Lo is a journalist who goes on a luxury cruise. One night, she imagines seeing a woman being thrown overboard. But everyone is aboard the ship; what is really going on?

Entertainment: It was difficult to enjoy this book. After reading a chapter, you feel frustrated, whether it was the protagonist being unlikeable for no reason or a plot point being out of left field and not moving the story forward. I was reading faster so I could move on to another book. I typically don't DNF buddy reads.

Characters: Lo is one of the dumbest protagonists I've ever read. If she's a journalist, I don't think she would make so many stupid choices, and I can't stand when a character makes dumb decisions just because. And do you think the protagonist grows in any way? Barely any growth. The other characters in the book don't offer much, and there are too many characters for no reason. I thought that was to add to the twist, but no. Now that I think about it, she barely interacts with the book's main antagonist.

Plot: I had the most problems with the plot. The beginning starts off interesting, and you think it will come back into the story in an impactful way; it does not. Without spoiling anything, you cannot tell me that the last stretch of the book was remotely realistic. It was sillier than any Scooby Doo episode I've watched. I would like to explain in detail the plot holes and ridiculousness this book offered, maybe in a spoiler-filled podcast episode or video. I think what was also unforgiving was starting up a good pace with tension and then writing plot that halts everything (event that occurs 2/3 into the book). I don't understand how you can essentially put the thriller on pause for 74 PAGES (I went back and counted).

Writing Style: I feel less crazy knowing that other readers don't vibe well with Ware's writing style. I wouldn't say it's bad, maybe because she's writing in the thriller genre, but the style in this book comes off clanky to me. There was repetitive text that didn't add importance, more so annoyed me reading repeatedly, "How could I be so stupid?" There was also filler information that could have been cut from the final draft.

Final Thoughts: Ruth Ware's books just aren't for me, but that doesn't mean they won't be for you. Readers were telling me this was their favorite Ruth Ware book, and if that's the case, it scares me for anything I haven't read. But this was my second read from her and most likely my last.

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adelinebal4's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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liter_aly's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.25

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twistykris's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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renpuspita's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.0

"Kabin itu memang kosong. Tidak ada tamu di kabin sebelah. Kabin itu tidak berpenumpang sedari awal".

The Woman in Cabin 10 ini contoh novel yang ga ngerti sebenarnya mau fokus di misteri, psychology thriller atau malah jadi survival genre. Semuanya dicampur aduk oleh pengarangnya. Sebenarnya gue ga keberatan, seandainya tokoh utamanya minimal bikin simpatik. Astaga, Lo, literally act like a loser dan bahkan tindakan bodohnya pun konsisten dan permanen dari awal sampai hampir akhir cerita. Gue ngerti kalau trend buat novel dengan genre psychological thriller itu biasanya unreliable narrator dan ga perlu disukai. Okay, unlikable is fine, tapi minimal bikinlah pembacamu bersimpati pada karakter utama apalagi penceritaannya dari sudut pandang orang pertama. Gue berkali - kali tepok jidat dan bahkan sampe bilang "syukurin lo" pas tahu Lo jadi kena musibah.

Kenapa kok gue kesel sama cara penulisnya membawakan narasi Lo? Berkali - kali dibilang kurang tidur, padahal pembaca juga udah tahu sejak awal Lo itu kurang tidur semenjak kerampokan. Terus ga riset dengan baik saat ditugaskan membuat artikel untuk pelayaran kapal pesiar, padahal katanya jurnalis dengan pengalaman 10 tahun. Walau bisa dibela dengan alasan Lo ini dasarnya emang punya anxiety parah dan juga abis kemalingan, rasanya itu juga jadi alasan yang lemah. Sejak awal emang susah mau simpatik sama Lo, jelas - jelas punya pacar yang bucin parah tapi pacarnya malah dijudesin bahkan begitu taking things for granted pas si pacar, Judah, rela meninggalkan pekerjaannya dengan bilang kalau Lo ga pernah minta Judah buat berkorban. Gue KECEWA sampe akhir Judah masih setia sama Lo, alih - alih ninggalin cewek ga tahu diri ini karena ya Judah itu terlalu BAIK buat Lo. Ga cuma judes ke Judah, tapi Lo juga agresif ke banyak orang dan alasannya selalu karena panic attacknya serta kurang tidur. Udah tahu kurang tidur, butuh minum obat anti depressant, Lo malah MABUK - MABUKAN. Gini mau simpatik gimana coba, hahaha.

The Woman in Cabin 10 sebenarnya menggambarkan dengan baik idiom "no good deeds goes unpunished". Apa yang terjadi sama Lo, dengan penyelidikan amatirannya adalah karena dia ngerasa kalau wanita yang jatuh ke laut dari Kabin 10, pas di sebelah kabin tempat Lo, sama nasibnya kayak Lo. Ga berdaya karena tindakan kejahatan orang lain, sama seperti Lo yang ga berdaya abis kemalingan (wicis, gue ga ngerti kenapa Lo tetep bersikeras naik ke kapal Aurora abis kemalingan mengingat dia punya riwayat serangan panik dan juga kurang tidur. Segitu ngejar karir deh si Lo ini). Masalahnya semuanya jadi kacau karena Lo yang sering mabuk dan inisiatifnya buat menyelidiki kasus pembunuhan malah membuatnya jadi incaran si pelaku yang sebenarnya. Dua pertiga novel ini gue jabanin dengan sangat sabar membaca tingkah laku Lo yang bikin gregetan (nuduh sana sini, sinis ke banyak orang) dan baru mencapai momentum setelah twist terungkap. Bagi gue, twistnya emang rada - rada outlandish walau mungkin banget kejadian. Lucunya walau Lo ini tokoh utama tapi bagi gue

justru Carrie, wanita di Kabin 10 yang dianggap awalnya tewas oleh Lo, yang lebih pantas jadi tokoh utama. Walau sama - sama unlikable character kayak Lo, tapi Carrie lebih punya alasan yang kuat untuk apa yang dia lakukan selama ini. Dan bahkan menurut gue endingnya ditulis dengan cukup oke

. Ruth Ware mungkin ingin menulis kisah seorang cewek yang ga dipercaya karena histeris dan histerisnya tuh karena dia punya anxiety dan kurang tidur. Sayangnya eksekusinya kurang bagus, meskipun mendekati akhir cerita emang ada perkembangan karakter pada Lo yang cukup signifikan. Tapi gimana lagi, udah kadung kesel sama tingkah laku Lo.

Ga bakal gue baca ulang tapi kalau nyari mystery dan thriller suspense (dan sedikit unsur survival) dengan unreliable narrator, menurut gue, The Woman in Cabin 10 masih sedikit lebih baik dibandingkan dengan The Silent Patient.

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