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A review by yellacraion
The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware
1.0
Now I haven't read the first one in years so maybe it is nostalgia speaking but I LOVED The Woman in Cabin 10 and have had it on my favorites shelf for a long time. It was fresh and thrilling. So I was very excited to hear that there was going to be a sequel and I was sure that I would love whatever mystery Ware cooked up to follow the original page-turner.
Unfortunately, this book falls so short that it doesn't even feel like a true sequel. I am actually baffled at how there can be such a dramatic shift between the two--and I don't just mean in the characters. There is nothing in this book that feels like a mystery, let alone a fun one, or a thrilling one, or even a captivating one. Every 'twist' is extremely predictable and this isn't helped by Ware deliberately writing spoilers into the end of several chapters. ??? Instead of just letting the events play out.
The plot is so profoundly stupid, even though it gets off to an ok start. Once they left the lodge, I was off the train. Every single choice that Lo makes is unreasonable. I was willing to excuse at least the basic premise but I really find it hard to believe that a 40+ year old woman would choose to do even a fraction of those things, especially towards the end. I also hated that half of the characters were just dropped in from the previous book for only a very flimsy reason, and then never used again, and without a cast of new characters to replace them. Lo's family as well and their unwavering niceness, understanding, and forgiveness was not even just unrealistic it was frustrating and annoying to see them fawning over her while she is repeatedly shooting herself (metaphorically) in the foot. Not to mention Lo expressing almost every five sentences that she is ~old now~ and all that. It was just exhausting. She was supposed to be so much more mature and experienced from her last encounter and the therapy and all that but none of that showed. Ugh.
Everything was capped off with an ending that was so, so stupid. It is clearly trying to set up for more potential books but at this point please, no. Same with the loose ends that I feel were intentional to reference back to from a future novel. I just. I really, really, wanted to like this and I could not have been more disappointed.
This has honestly made me pretty wary about the upcoming movie. If the book was written to promote or perhaps create more fodder for Netflix maybe it makes a bit more sense, but it is not a good sign for what is to come.
Unfortunately, this book falls so short that it doesn't even feel like a true sequel. I am actually baffled at how there can be such a dramatic shift between the two--and I don't just mean in the characters. There is nothing in this book that feels like a mystery, let alone a fun one, or a thrilling one, or even a captivating one. Every 'twist' is extremely predictable and this isn't helped by Ware deliberately writing spoilers into the end of several chapters. ??? Instead of just letting the events play out.
The plot is so profoundly stupid, even though it gets off to an ok start. Once they left the lodge, I was off the train. Every single choice that Lo makes is unreasonable. I was willing to excuse at least the basic premise but I really find it hard to believe that a 40+ year old woman would choose to do even a fraction of those things, especially towards the end. I also hated that half of the characters were just dropped in from the previous book for only a very flimsy reason, and then never used again, and without a cast of new characters to replace them. Lo's family as well and their unwavering niceness, understanding, and forgiveness was not even just unrealistic it was frustrating and annoying to see them fawning over her while she is repeatedly shooting herself (metaphorically) in the foot. Not to mention Lo expressing almost every five sentences that she is ~old now~ and all that. It was just exhausting. She was supposed to be so much more mature and experienced from her last encounter and the therapy and all that but none of that showed. Ugh.
Everything was capped off with an ending that was so, so stupid. It is clearly trying to set up for more potential books but at this point please, no. Same with the loose ends that I feel were intentional to reference back to from a future novel. I just. I really, really, wanted to like this and I could not have been more disappointed.
This has honestly made me pretty wary about the upcoming movie. If the book was written to promote or perhaps create more fodder for Netflix maybe it makes a bit more sense, but it is not a good sign for what is to come.