Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - In a Dark, Dark Wood

I've read nearly every book by Ruth Ware at this point, and it's only because I've been so stressed and overwhelmed recently that I can't spare the brain space for anything more complicated. I need Ms. Ware's super repetitive writing that reminds me of details several times, so that I can zone out a good bit. I was really surprised how many lists this book was on. I mean, this was fine. I did want to know what happened in the end. I predicted the villain pretty early. I also found the MC extremely annoying. And why is it so hard to get a MC who isn't a precious little size small with size 6 feet like a fourth grader. Like my god, why is a female writer trying to make her protag the smallest that a woman can be? I do appreciate that Imogen Church does her very best with the text though, every time.

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starsnotshadows's review

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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"

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adelinebal4's review

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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

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chelly_reads's review

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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

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bessadams's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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rochelleisreading's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

2.5

Very unlikable cast of characters. Probably Ruth Ware's worst book.

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kt2e56's review against another edition

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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.

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brookey8888's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

Honestly absolutely nothing was shocking and it was painfully obvious. With that being said I did enjoy this and like the atmosphere. It was interesting to see the relationship dynamics. I loved Nina she was honestly my favorite part of this book. It’s your newer to thrillers I would recommend this, but if your not and are looking for a big plot twist and not just a good time I wouldn’t recommend this.

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