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A review by cro777
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
3.0
This story starts with Nora, who receives an invite to her old friend Clare's hen party, apparently out of the blue. Nora hasn't seen or heard from Clare for ten years, so she is obviously a bit shocked to be invited to a special weekend away. Not wanting to seem like a stick in the mud by turning down the invite, Nora accepts and finds herself in route to The Glass House, tucked in a quite northern forest in England for a weekend of old friends. Upon arriving there, Nora realizes that something is off. Clare seems like no time had passed between the two and her new best friend seems a bit off and emotionally unstable. The ladies (and one man) begin their weekend of fun, but soon enough they realize that the phone lines are not working and strange footprints start showing up outside. Soon, everything comes to a head and Nora begins to realize what has happened and why she was invited to the weekend away.
Ruth Ware has a knack for writing a killer story that is packed with twists and turns, and things you might not expect. I don't know if she does it on purpose, but every time I read one of her books, I catch small details that seem to be hidden amongst the story, almost like a trail of clues. At about the mid to 3/4 ways through point, I always end up with a list of things that I want to yell at the main character about to warn them what may be coming and how to suspect. I love the way this story, and Ware's others always seem to have that aspect of reader engagement woven into them. They really keep me going.
I think I prefer stories of family secretes set in big, rambling gothic mansions, but this story still worked for me. I enjoyed the way it was told, through both flashbacks from Nora in the hospital to a more current-day flow of events as Nora is experiencing them. This really upped the story in terms of keeping you on your toes and guessing who the "bad guy" really was.
Something else is that Ware is really skilled at writing characters and making the reader develop feelings for or have empathy for them. By the end of this book, I really felt sorry for Nora, not just for her hard time at the hen party and the events that took place, but also for the sad lot in life she had to deal with and her relationship with Clare. I don't want to give too much away on this point, but by the end of the book my attitude for Nora really changes drastically from what it was in the beginning.
Overall, I highly recommend anything by Ruth Ware if you want something that is quick and that will keep you enthralled and guessing. Even at the end, I was still grasping for straws while the story continued developing. This book is a really fun, quick read, perfect for a weekend read or an audio listen.
Ruth Ware has a knack for writing a killer story that is packed with twists and turns, and things you might not expect. I don't know if she does it on purpose, but every time I read one of her books, I catch small details that seem to be hidden amongst the story, almost like a trail of clues. At about the mid to 3/4 ways through point, I always end up with a list of things that I want to yell at the main character about to warn them what may be coming and how to suspect. I love the way this story, and Ware's others always seem to have that aspect of reader engagement woven into them. They really keep me going.
I think I prefer stories of family secretes set in big, rambling gothic mansions, but this story still worked for me. I enjoyed the way it was told, through both flashbacks from Nora in the hospital to a more current-day flow of events as Nora is experiencing them. This really upped the story in terms of keeping you on your toes and guessing who the "bad guy" really was.
Something else is that Ware is really skilled at writing characters and making the reader develop feelings for or have empathy for them. By the end of this book, I really felt sorry for Nora, not just for her hard time at the hen party and the events that took place, but also for the sad lot in life she had to deal with and her relationship with Clare. I don't want to give too much away on this point, but by the end of the book my attitude for Nora really changes drastically from what it was in the beginning.
Overall, I highly recommend anything by Ruth Ware if you want something that is quick and that will keep you enthralled and guessing. Even at the end, I was still grasping for straws while the story continued developing. This book is a really fun, quick read, perfect for a weekend read or an audio listen.