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A review by dilfpercyshelley
One by One by Ruth Ware
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
this was the first ruth ware novel i have read and you know what, considering it was a tiktok recommendation and the cover looks like shit, it wasn’t too bad.
i enjoyed it. the plot was captivating enough to keep me reading and the plot twists, whilst guessable, still made me want to keep reading. even if that was just to double check.
unfortunately, there were quite a few aspects that bumped down the rating. as previously stated, the twists were rather predictable and the characters were also very two dimensional. moreover, the writing at times felt rather lacklustre. whether that was down to predictability or just downright cringe, it didn’t do much for me. This was particularly prevalent in the repeated short sentences at the end of chapters, presumably meant to amp up the suspense but just fell short into 14yr old literature class territory.
i felt perhaps i have been a bit too harsh on this book, because it did hold my attention. but i suppose that is the bare minimum requirement for enjoyment.
i enjoyed it. the plot was captivating enough to keep me reading and the plot twists, whilst guessable, still made me want to keep reading. even if that was just to double check.
unfortunately, there were quite a few aspects that bumped down the rating. as previously stated, the twists were rather predictable and the characters were also very two dimensional. moreover, the writing at times felt rather lacklustre. whether that was down to predictability or just downright cringe, it didn’t do much for me. This was particularly prevalent in the repeated short sentences at the end of chapters, presumably meant to amp up the suspense but just fell short into 14yr old literature class territory.
i felt perhaps i have been a bit too harsh on this book, because it did hold my attention. but i suppose that is the bare minimum requirement for enjoyment.