Reviews

Zero Days by Ruth Ware

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heathercottledillon'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? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

livres_de_bloss's review against another edition

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sad tense medium-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

2.0

Ah, Ruth Ware, I think we’ve reached the end of our time together. <i>One By One</i> underwhelmed me, <i>The It Girl</i> annoyed me, and then there was whatever the heck this was…

I am so disappointed in this book:

- We spend far, far, FAR too much time in Jack’s headspace replaying the same thoughts over and over again. She was the most naïve and blundering security “expert” imaginable and we don’t see any character development at all: her boneheaded decisions abound.
- I was expecting this to be a technical thriller but the technology components were so surface level, and some of the leaps at the beginning especially were questionable at best. When I read the author’s note, it really struck me that Ruth Ware said this wasn’t a subject she knew a lot about when she started the book… and it shows. When a writer is passionate and knowledgeable about their subject, it shines through. This book had none of that. It really makes me wonder why she was told by publishers/decided to write this; it could’ve been an awesome story if it had knowledge, passion, or oomph behind it! As a technical enthusiast (who worked in security before) married to a developer, I wanted so much more than this gave me from the tech theme. The surface level technobabble was underwhelming and I got frustrated by the lack of technical understanding of both building and cyber security. Example: we’re told Gabe was a “hacker” and spent time in a correctional facility. “Hacker” is just lazy: you can “hack” a toaster. What did the guy do to get sent to prison? Presumably something pretty shady but we never find out! Second example: Dropping USB sticks in corridors to unleash ransomware? I don’t think I’ve ever worked somewhere where USB ports aren’t locked down on employer-owned hardware. Unless it had been configured to have the computer read it as a keyboard or something while it runs an executable, that’s a non-starter. But, we don’t know because THE AUTHOR DOESN’T TELL US. I’m a cynical reader when it comes to certain themes and the author’s reticence to dive deeper illustrates a fundamental lack of understanding that rendered a lot of the technical side inauthentic and unconvincing. Last example: how were they using a Raspberry Pi to haxx0r a Windows environment? I’m assuming, like most large enterprises, Arden Alliance is using Windows (they claim they hid exploits in Word documents after all) but don’t Raspberry Pis run Linux which wouldn’t run in a Windows environment? How are all these Raspberry Pis that Jack is chucking around like confetti even online? Is she tethering them to 5G transmitters that she’s also just leaving behind?
- The only part of this that felt authentic was the grief Jack felt over Gabe’s murder. Reading about her finding him and her inert processing of her loss was excruciatingly painful. The grief felt so real and was so upsetting to read.
- The overall pacing was dire. The beginning was so dull! But then it became hyper-formulaic in the typical “I’m innocent but running from the corrupt cops” trope which, frankly, is boring.
- The motive made zero sense to me.
- You seriously expect me to believe that a cybersecurity expert would be all over social media? And that Jack used her deceased’s husbands array of social media to POST THE ZERO DAYS EXPLOIT ONLINE?! 🙃
- I almost threw the book across the room because of the tired

a baby fixes everything and gives me a reason to live

trope. What a weak and feeble ending!

I only finished this because I was waiting for my nail polish to dry. If I wasn’t a captive audience, I may not have bothered. I remember really enjoying Ruth Ware’s earlier books but I think she’s lost me now.

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