Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - The Woman in Cabin 10

A popcorn thriller was just what I wanted -a closed door mystery with extravagant suspects, dodgy alibis, pointing fingers and betrayals, unravelling back stories, and people who are not who they say they are- and exactly what I got. I enjoyed this even more than In A Dark, Dark Wood. It was well constructed, clever, and a female protagonist who actually solves problems and is resourceful. A few loose ends never fully got tied up

like why did the maid spill info about letting a friend stay on the ship when she didn’t actually do that in the end

and a few instances were a little far fetched. Lo wasn’t a particularly lovable or memorable protagonist, and she smartened up at the end which she didn’t seem to be able to do earlier in the plot, but the sequence of events gave her some benefit of the doubt. She always seemed to have the disadvantage of being hungry , sleep deprived, drunk or hungover, unmedicated, disoriented and generally queasy, to an effect that made the reader sea sick at times. Ware succeeded in creating a chilling, claustrophobic, and eerie setting that contrasted the luxury hospitality of the ship, which was a fun juxtaposition and went a long way to creating distrust for everyone above or below deck.

I was waiting for a post script twist, which I was happy to get in the end. Believable? Not really. Entertaining? Absolutely. Loads of dramatic effect and atmospheric prose? Of course. All in all, it was what I wanted it to be.

Content Warnings

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I wanted to see what happened at the end of this one, but I had a hard time getting into it. It felt too long, but the beginning also felt too quick; the action started before I could get to know Lo as a character, so I never really developed sympathy or a connection to her. I also felt like she was kind of terrible at common sense and any sort of decision-making. Weird stuff going on? Better drink a whole bunch. Saw a weird thing? Better harass everyone about it until they're positive that you're unstable. Important object? Better just leave it lying around for housekeeping to throw out. She was almost too annoying to root for. Also what the living hell was that

whole assault scene

that was brushed off like nothing?? That was not okay! Knocking my rating down another quarter point for that.

Content Warnings

mary_stormageddon's review

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dark mysterious medium-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

3.75

Not as good as Turn of the Key, in my opinion. I still enjoyed it. There were a couple of big shocks for me.

Content Warnings

kcrockford's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.75

Content Warnings

larareads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.25

Content Warnings

gturner92's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It was a pretty good book. I didn't think I'd like the way it was set up with the conflicting time lines especially if I was not paying attention but once I noticed I needed to pay attention it worked well. I liked the fact that it didn't take on an obvious and trite storyline but came with something new and fresh. It definitely made me tense so that's a good thing.

Content Warnings

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