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adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was so boring! The culprit was easy to finger, there was no surprise ending and 3/4 of the book is just her running (not even figuring shit out along the way, just running.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect—her."
Writing: The writing was very well done. Everything was laid out really well and the dialogue felt natural. Nothing extraordinary but nothing bad either.
Characters: I really liked Jack, I rarely like FMCs, I usually find them annoying but she was great. I didn't like anyone else other than maybe her sister.
Story: This is where the book loses the stars the most. I predicted the twist almost right away. It was pretty obvious. It also started getting a little unbelievable at a point.
Overall: It was a fun thriller without much substance.
Writing: The writing was very well done. Everything was laid out really well and the dialogue felt natural. Nothing extraordinary but nothing bad either.
Characters: I really liked Jack, I rarely like FMCs, I usually find them annoying but she was great. I didn't like anyone else other than maybe her sister.
Story: This is where the book loses the stars the most. I predicted the twist almost right away. It was pretty obvious. It also started getting a little unbelievable at a point.
Overall: It was a fun thriller without much substance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder
Moderate: Violence, Vomit
Audio.
Very fast paced. I think the narrator really brought a lot to this book.
I see where others did not finish reading whereas, I couldn’t stop listening.
If you have to drive somewhere or have a mundane task to complete, give the audio a try. ;)
Very fast paced. I think the narrator really brought a lot to this book.
I see where others did not finish reading whereas, I couldn’t stop listening.
If you have to drive somewhere or have a mundane task to complete, give the audio a try. ;)
The final book in my A-Z challenge! I almost DNF'ed this one when I saw a low-ish average review, but I stuck with it since I did both audio/physical and the audio was particularly good. I feel like some bits were repetitive (she was SO tired, her side hurt SO bad), but overall it held my interest and didn't have any insane turns that felt like incredibly creative license. I'll probably give another one of her books a try since this one seems less popular than others.
I definitely knew already the ending with both twists but I think reading thriller after thriller, you kind of catch on. I wanted to keep reading to see how it all ended though and was rooting for Jack. Good book and would recommend!
Summary of every Ruth Ware book:
Pretty, privileged late 20’s/ early 30’s white girl can't let go of past trauma.
This one switches it up! Main character is late 20’s pretty white girl who has some trauma but it doesn’t define her! She, unlike most of her main character Ware counterparts, is COMPETENT and skilled!
And then the book spends the entire time making her remind herself that she actually has the skills to handle the situation at hand because she forgets CONSTANTLY.
Here is a spoiler free summary of the narrative:
*interesting set up
*her being dumb
*reminder she has an injury and it hurts
—- repeat points 2 and 3 over and over
* actual super interesting walkthrough of her intelligently planning a break-in to a company. Best part of the book
* repeat points 2 and 3 until the end
This read almost like an AI was loaded with all of her previous work, given a general plot and told to pump out a book. Sigh.
Who-done-it was dumb. Not nearly enough suspects. Needed more characters for it to be a mystery and interesting.
>>My Ranking of Ruth Ware Books<<
1) The woman in cabin 10 (Lo is a travel writer who drinks too much but is never hungover. Can't get over a burglary in her apartment)
2) Death of Mrs Westaway (Hal is suddenly a mistaken heiress. Can’t get over her mother's death 10 years)
3) One by One (Liz goes on a work trip for a job she no longer has. Can’t get over getting fired.)
4)Turn of the key (Rowan nannies for a couple of bratty kids. Can’t get over the fact she didn’t have her own loving family)
5)In a dark, dark wood (Nora goes to a bachelorette party. Can’t get over a breakup 10 years ago)
6) Zero Days, this one (Jack lost her parents 10 years ago but still ended up thriving! But forgets all skills when her husband is murdered)
—tied for last—
7) The It Girl (Hannah is still consumed by her friend's murder 10 years ago)
8) Lying Game (Isa is still haunted by the death of her former schoolmate's father/ art teacher 10 years ago)
Pretty, privileged late 20’s/ early 30’s white girl can't let go of past trauma.
This one switches it up! Main character is late 20’s pretty white girl who has some trauma but it doesn’t define her! She, unlike most of her main character Ware counterparts, is COMPETENT and skilled!
And then the book spends the entire time making her remind herself that she actually has the skills to handle the situation at hand because she forgets CONSTANTLY.
Here is a spoiler free summary of the narrative:
*interesting set up
*her being dumb
*reminder she has an injury and it hurts
—- repeat points 2 and 3 over and over
* actual super interesting walkthrough of her intelligently planning a break-in to a company. Best part of the book
* repeat points 2 and 3 until the end
This read almost like an AI was loaded with all of her previous work, given a general plot and told to pump out a book. Sigh.
Who-done-it was dumb. Not nearly enough suspects. Needed more characters for it to be a mystery and interesting.
>>My Ranking of Ruth Ware Books<<
1) The woman in cabin 10 (Lo is a travel writer who drinks too much but is never hungover. Can't get over a burglary in her apartment)
2) Death of Mrs Westaway (Hal is suddenly a mistaken heiress. Can’t get over her mother's death 10 years)
3) One by One (Liz goes on a work trip for a job she no longer has. Can’t get over getting fired.)
4)Turn of the key (Rowan nannies for a couple of bratty kids. Can’t get over the fact she didn’t have her own loving family)
5)In a dark, dark wood (Nora goes to a bachelorette party. Can’t get over a breakup 10 years ago)
6) Zero Days, this one (Jack lost her parents 10 years ago but still ended up thriving! But forgets all skills when her husband is murdered)
—tied for last—
7) The It Girl (Hannah is still consumed by her friend's murder 10 years ago)
8) Lying Game (Isa is still haunted by the death of her former schoolmate's father/ art teacher 10 years ago)
As someone who usually likes Ruth Ware's books (even having unpopular opinions) this one was really bad. I feel bad saying this but this book made no sense.
This book was really disappointing. The idea of a wife/husband PEN testing duo seems really cool and would've been an excellent book. Like a story about them working together doing their job when they discover a secret, someone goes missing, or just a really interesting case would've been such a better book. But instead we got a repetitive, tropey, cliche story with a boring and dumb mc who is causing her own problems she is trying to solve.
(potential minor spoilers ahead)
The whole premise of the book is the wife (who is innocent) goes on the run (VOLUNTARILY) "so the police would start looking for the real killer." Now the police are just after her. (Does this make sense to you? it didn't make sense to me either). So in turn, the whole book was just about her on the run. Extremely repetitive and could have ALL been avoided if she had gotten a lawyer like Hel suggested. (shoutout to Hel! The only sensible person in the whole book.) Also when she is on the run she does illegal stuff like stealing which all seems so hypocritical. She was innocent, WHY did she not get a lawyer. She literally had one on the way!!! But no, she couldn't wait the 20 minutes and instead ran away.
Spoilers ahead
Also, this book had ONE twist and of course it was the best friend. Like the cast was so small and he was so obvious.
Last complain, what was the point of the "minus six days" like... did I miss something? It was basically just an attempt at a creative countdown but to what? waking up in the hospital and going back to your happy go lovely life with child and betrayer dead.
This book was really disappointing. The idea of a wife/husband PEN testing duo seems really cool and would've been an excellent book. Like a story about them working together doing their job when they discover a secret, someone goes missing, or just a really interesting case would've been such a better book. But instead we got a repetitive, tropey, cliche story with a boring and dumb mc who is causing her own problems she is trying to solve.
(potential minor spoilers ahead)
The whole premise of the book is the wife (who is innocent) goes on the run (VOLUNTARILY) "so the police would start looking for the real killer." Now the police are just after her. (Does this make sense to you? it didn't make sense to me either). So in turn, the whole book was just about her on the run. Extremely repetitive and could have ALL been avoided if she had gotten a lawyer like Hel suggested. (shoutout to Hel! The only sensible person in the whole book.) Also when she is on the run she does illegal stuff like stealing which all seems so hypocritical. She was innocent, WHY did she not get a lawyer. She literally had one on the way!!! But no, she couldn't wait the 20 minutes and instead ran away.
Spoilers ahead
Spoiler
This book fell into all the cliches likes woman gets injured at the start. Then instead of a story about her trying to track down her husband's killer, its just her trying to avoid the police which gets extremely repetitive. I also feel like it was just inconsistent. Some parts she was like "I can't do xyz because I might get caught" and then another part she is like "fuck it, I have nothing to live for." Also the classic "Day later/Day one" where she wakes up in a hospital was so cringy. Ruth Ware's books ALWAYS end this way....Then at the end, of course she is pregnant. Like how else would this shit show end?Also, this book had ONE twist and of course it was the best friend. Like the cast was so small and he was so obvious.
Last complain, what was the point of the "minus six days" like... did I miss something? It was basically just an attempt at a creative countdown but to what? waking up in the hospital and going back to your happy go lovely life with child and betrayer dead.