Tag Archives: ruth ware

Aug13

Lil Red’s Book Club: The Woman In Suite 11 By Ruth Ware Edition

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Lil Red’s Book Club: The Woman In Suite 11 By Ruth Ware Edition

Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new edition of Lil Red’s Book Club! In a spoiler free setting, as always, we are going to be discussing the long awaited sequel to Ruth Ware’s The Woman In Cabin 10 called The Woman In Suite 11. I have to admit that it has been a phat minute since I read The Woman In Cabin 10 – it was six years ago so I was a little blurry on the details that were referred to throughout The Woman In Suite 11. However, after reading a summary or two, it all came back to me and this was a fairly decent follow up to one of Ware’s best sellers. Before we begin, I will be placing a trigger warning on The Woman In Suite 11 for violence and sexual assault references. Now, let’s get to it:

We are reunited with Laura “Lo” Blacklock in New York City with her beloved husband Judah and precious children Eli and Teddy. Since her traumatizing experience aboard The Aurora, Lo had her fifteen minutes of fame with her best selling memoir, Dark Waters. However, she has been out of the travel journalist game since having children and processing her near death experience. She’s not over it completely, but she’s doing so much better than before. With her children now preschool age, Lo finds herself seeking purpose and has a hankering for a new writing gig to sink her teeth into.

Like magic, an invitation arrives in the mail for a soft launch of The Hotel du Lac located on beautiful Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The ultra posh property belongs to businessman, Marcus Leidmann, who is expanding his empire to luxury resorts. A handful of influencers and food and travel journalists will be there and Lo considers it a fine tip of the hat to be thought of after not writing for so long. With encouragement from Judah, Lo decides to go for it and hops a flight to assist in the success of the launch with the best of the best in the business. Not only will she be creating articles for the new hotel, but she even has a request from an old contact from the Financial Times to do a profile on the elusive Leidmann who keeps his life totally private.

The Hotel du Lac is more incredible than Lo could have ever imagined and she is ready for an amazing time and to reignite her career. As the other guests arrive, Lo is shocked to find that several people who were aboard The Aurora are also at the hotel. She chalks it up to a coincidence – the travel journalism sector is quite small, after all. It doesn’t mean she has to be happy about it, though, and after a fairly awkward banquet, Lo can’t wait to retire to her room and decompress. R&R will have to wait because in her room there is a note that requests her immediate presence in Suite 11. Thrilled by the prospect of scoring an interview with Leidmann, Lo hightails it to the suite and isn’t greeted by Marcus but the ghost of Christmas past… Carrie.

Lo has not seen or heard from Carrie since they saved each other aboard The Aurora ten years prior. Rather than catching up on the past decade, Carrie divulges a dark secret. Her and Marcus are together and their union is anything but loving. Marcus is a monster as are his plethora of henchmen and employees. As terrible as he is to her, Carrie can’t leave. Marcus knows about what happened on the yacht to Norway and will turn her into the authorities should she escape his grasp. That’s where Lo comes in.

Carrie has a plan that she deems to be foolproof to get her freedom back. Lo doesn’t have to do anything dangerous. All she has to do is let Carrie use her British passport, Lo will use her American one, they will take a train to England, and rendezvous at a fancy hotel as Carrie’s way of saying thank you. What could possibly go wrong? A murder, perhaps? Before she knows it, Lo finds herself as the prime suspect for the suspicious death of one of the world’s most powerful men and Carrie is nowhere to be found. Will Lo solve the mystery in time before she winds up in jail for a crime she didn’t commit? Read The Woman In Suite 11 to find out!

I have read a ton of Ruth Ware books and I have found the majority of them to be incredibly… fine. They always fall under the category of “good but not great” and that is exactly how I feel about The Woman In Suite 11. I found Lo to be super cool in The Woman In Cabin 10 and that sentiment remained in the sequel. She’s an excellent leading lady and is such an easy character to root for, especially in this plot. After all she has been through, of course you want to see her succeed and protect her from the mess she finds herself entwined in. Every time another foot was about to drop in The Woman In Suite 11, I felt so scared for her!

As much as I like Lo, I really found this sequel to be unnecessary. Honestly, it was the same plot as The Woman In Cabin 10 with different details. It made the predecessor feel like a regurgitation of the OG without adding anything fresh or new. And, I’m sorry to say it, I couldn’t freaking stand Carrie who played a major role this time around. She was just SO extra all the time and while I understand the juxtaposition between Carrie being too much and Lo’s steely confidence, it became irritating to a fault. Try as I might, she was a difficult character to get behind fully and that’s how the reader should have felt. And, when Carrie left Lo high and dry with murder charges looming over her, all I could feel was downright resentful.

Overall, I am going to rate The Woman In Suite 11 with a five out of ten stars. If you really want to read the sequel to The Woman In Cabin 10, go for it. You will not be missing out on anything if you don’t though!

What are your thoughts on The Woman In Suite 11? How do you feel about Ruth Ware’s other books? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct14

Lil Red’s Book Club: The It Girl By Ruth Ware Edition

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Lil Red’s Book Club: The It Girl By Ruth Ware Edition

Hello everyone! We interrupt your regularly scheduled bonus pictures from my Pumpkin Patch Party OOTD with a brand new edition of Lil Red’s Book Club. Today, without giving any spoilers away, we will be discussing a thriller by Ruth Ware called The It Girl. To be frank, I have never been overly impressed with Ware’s books but this one was very good. In fact, it’s my favorite book that she has written. Before we begin, I will be placing a trigger warning on The It Girl for violence and disturbing content. Now, let’s get to it:

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Hannah Jones appears to have it all. A husband, Will, who she has loved since first sight, a baby on the way, and the charming life of a couple in their late twenties. Could she have said the same for herself a decade ago? Not at all. Ten years ago, her roommate, April, at the prestigious Pelham College at Oxford was brutally murdered. Despite her seemingly picture perfect life, Hannah struggles with this on a daily basis. She did not have a role in April’s death but she played a big part in the trial.

During her time at Pelham, Hannah was joined at the hip with the gorgeous, effervescent April. April was, indeed, an It Girl and everyone knew about her beauty and wealth. Their friend circle of Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily seemed to revolve solely around April but her and Hannah shared a bond that only roommates could have. Hannah felt completely at home in her new life at Pelham except for one major issue… John Neville.

Neville was a porter at Pelham and he seemed to have it out for Hannah from the jump. Hannah was uncomfortable walking alone and would plan her routes to avoid John but he seemed to be everywhere. He was also the last person to see April alive and is what sealed his conviction for her death due to Hannah’s testimony. There have always been whispers that Neville was innocent. However, his recent death in prison means he will never see justice and the case is blown back open. If Neville is innocent, then April’s killer is still on the loose ten years later.

After Hannah talks to a journalist who claims to have new information on the case, she begins to doubt her story even more than she already did. Now, it is up to her to put the pieces together and find out what really happened the night of April’s death. If Neville is out of the picture, everyone is now a suspect. Her old friends, teachers, and even her own husband. Will Hannah solve the case of April’s killer? Read The It Girl to find out!

While I have enjoyed previous Ruth Ware books before, I have never felt too excited when she has a new book out. In comparison to other thrillers, her novels always seem to fall just a bit short. Needless to say, I was incredibly surprised with how invested I was in The It Girl right from the start. It was completely unputdownable and I couldn’t wait for free time so that I could read more!

The It Girl featured one of my favorite things of going back and forth between Hannah’s past at Pelham College to present day. This allowed you to get to know the main suspects in their youth and in current times. It also made it very difficult to pinpoint the killer because all of these players were incredibly likeable despite the usual flaws of first year college students. And, any tension in present times from them felt understandable after ten years of trying to get April’s death out of their minds. Every lead felt like a Red Herring and it made you relate to Hannah even more as she continued to second guess everything she thought she knew.

I loved Hannah as a main character and I thought that she was really brave. Her pregnancy also heightened the suspense because her sleuthing could turn dangerous at any moment. It was so easy to sympathize with her after all that she had been through. I definitely spent the whole book rooting for her to have the life she always wanted.

My advice if you read this book and you like to try and figure out the grand reveal ahead of time is to go with your gut. Like Hannah, I second guessed and then vetoed one of my initial instincts and I ended up being right on the money. It’s also very important to pay close attention to everything said and done at Pelham because it will all come back soon enough!

I am going to award The It Girl with a seven and a half star rating. I was originally going to give it an eight but I realized that that was only because I liked it better than other Ruth Ware novels. Was this the most groundbreaking thing that I have ever read? No. But, it was a fun read and it put Ware back on the map for me after years of feeling wishy washy. I think you all will like it too!

What are you currently reading? What should I read next? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

 

Oct23

Lil Red’s Book Club: The Death Of Mrs. Westaway Edition

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Lil Red’s Book Club: The Death Of Mrs. Westaway Edition

Helloooo everyone! I recently just finished the fifth book out right now by Ruth Ware called The Death Of Mrs. Westaway. I, for the most part, have had a very positive experience with this author. Though there were a few books like The Woman In Cabin 10 and In A Dark Dark Wood that I wasn’t wild about, I highly enjoyed The Turn Of The Key and The Lying Game. Unfortunately, The Death Of Mrs. Westaway was a big miss for me with the grand reveal so, without giving any spoilers away, let’s discuss:

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The Death Of Mrs. Westaway revolves around twenty-one year old Harriet AKA Hal, a tarot card reader who runs a small stand on Brighton Pier. She inherited the shop from her mother after she was killed in a car accident and needed to take up shop immediately to try to make ends meet. Young, broke, orphaned (she doesn’t know who her father is), and owing money to a dangerous loan shark Hal is in way over her head when bills pile up, her stand is lacking customers in the winter season, and the threats from the man she owes to turns dangerous.

Hal feels the need to escape and she can do that if she can swing fooling an entire family into believing she’s related to them. When she receives a letter in the mail claiming that she is the recipient of a substantial inheritance from the deceased Mrs. Westaway, it seems almost too good to be true – especially considering that she believed her grandparents to be dead. Despite committing a major act of fraud, Hal has nothing left to lose and everything to gain and heads to the funeral with the claim that she is the daughter of the deceased woman’s daughter, Maud.

At the funeral, Hal encounters the three brothers of her “mother” and, though lots of questions are raised, she is supposedly in with a family that she seemingly has no connection to. Or so she thinks. Because when she discovers her real mother in a photo of the siblings at their elaborate Victorian manor, everything she thinks she knows about herself and her mother becomes flipped. Does this family know who her father is? What is Hal’s mother’s relation to them? Is she a rightful heir to the inheritance after all? Read the book and find out!

I am not sure how to feel about The Death Of Mrs. Westaway. I actually loved it until the grand reveal and, although I saw it coming, I was disappointed with the outcome. I genuinely can’t say anything more than that without giving it completely away. But, what I will say, is that I did enjoy a solid ninety percent of the book. It was well written, suspenseful, downright sinister at times, and I liked almost all of the characters.

I appreciated Hal’s bravery throughout the novel and I liked that she didn’t back down to find the answers that directly pertained to her. She was able to play herself off as the mousy long lost niece and all the while she was making plans and using her intuition to solve the mystery of her own life. She was a heroine that I rooted for the entire time and I wish that the grand reveal did her more justice.

All in all, I’m going to rate this book with a six out of ten. I did not hate it but it was certainly not my favorite Ruth Ware novel by any means. I feel like I ended my reading journey with her on a sour note and am looking forward to a new book by her so that redemption can possibly happen.

What are you reading right now? How did you feel about The Death Of Mrs. Westaway if you read it? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct15

Lil Red’s Book Club: The Turn Of The Key Edition

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Lil Red’s Book Club: The Turn Of The Key Edition

Hello! In today’s edition of Lil Red’s Book Club, we are going to be discussing another one of Ruth Ware’s novels called The Turn Of The Key. If Ruth Ware’s name sounds familiar to you, that’s because it probably is! I have spent this past summer reading all of her novels and she has been featured in many a Lil Red’s Book Club posts these past few months.

While recovering from the car accident, I was able to dedicate my time to reading The Turn Of The Key in a matter of days and I enjoyed it very much. So, without giving any spoilers away, let’s discuss:

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The Turn Of The Key revolves around Rowan, the new live in nanny for an extremely wealthy husband and wife architect duo and their four daughters. They live in a remote location in the hills of Scotland in an old house with an eerie combination of extremely modern technology and the original layout of the home from decades ago. The technology is so advanced, in fact, that everything can be controlled by an app called “Happy”. The shower settings, lights, curtains, doorbell, coffee machine, and oh yeah – the video monitoring in the bedrooms.

Rowan gets thrown right into her new position, as Sandra and Bill, the parents travel a lot for work and is almost immediately left alone with the girls Maddie, Ellie, Petra, and Rhiannon. The seemingly “perfect” position with the plush pay and fancy accommodations is anything but, though. Especially considering all four of the previous nannies were driven out by forces that can only be described as supernatural.

These powers that be get to work as soon as Rowan starts her new gig. From creaking in the attic to a freezing cold bedroom and the Happy app working on its own, all of the frustrations of caring for the difficult children and a lack of sleep begin to catch up with her and everyone is a suspect. The maid, handyman, children, – heck, even the parents could have a role in what’s going on because Rowan firmly doesn’t believe in ghosts.

Is what’s going on a prank, the old house just being an old house, or something far more sinister? And is everyone in the home really who they say they are? Read The Turn Of The Key to find out if Rowan can uncover the mystery before someone gets seriously hurt.

The Turn Of The Key has easily become one of my favorite Ruth Ware novels. Wrote in the form of a series of letters, this page turner keeps you guessing until the very last sentence of what really happened in the house during Rowan’s stint as the nanny. So many bombshells were dropped and twists and turns happened that I simply didn’t see coming and, normally, I’m really good at that!

I can’t give too much away in the synopsis of the book without spoiling the surprises but, if you’re in need of a good story to crack into, then definitely give The Turn Of The Key a try. Especially since I’m rating it with an: eight out of ten stars. For a unique story line, interesting characters, and being absolutely un-put-down-able. Bravo!

What book are you reading right now? Have you read any of Ruth Ware’s other novels? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep9

Lil Red’s Book Club: The Lying Game Edition

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Lil Red’s Book Club: The Lying Game Edition

Howdy! I recently finished another Ruth Ware novel called The Lying Game and have read The Woman In Cabin 10 and In A Dark, Dark Wood by her this summer, too. I have to say, I wasn’t overly impressed with either of those books but The Lying Game was a great read and I am happy that I chose to give Ware one more try before calling it quits and finding another author to read. So, without giving any spoilers away, let’s discuss:

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The Lying Game revolves around new mother, Isa, and her three best girlfriends from high school, Kate, Thea (Whose name I’m still not sure how to pronounce!), and Fatima. At their boarding school, the girls reveled in what they called “The Lying Game” and would keep a scoreboard to record the points from the tall tales that they would spin based on the quality and if people actually believed them. The game was supposed to be all in good fun and the rules were simple, including “never lie to your friends” and “know when to stop the lie”.

The girls spent one year at the boarding school together, which came to an abrupt halt when they were asked to leave quietly in the wakes of a possible scandal that directly involved them. And, although it’s a rarity that they talk now as they are all in their thirties, when a friend texts the three words of “I need you” the now women drop their responsibilities immediately and flock to the one in distress.

So, when Kate sends Isa the call to action, she packs up her belongings with her six month old daughter in tow and makes the journey to her, near the old boarding school. The text was indeed an urgent one because once the ladies arrive to Kate’s, it is revealed that a human bone was found in the sea – a result of their “game” being taken too far. With a police investigation nipping at their heals, the once best friends have to come up with a plan and unravel the truth behind their lies before an arrest is made. Were they murderers? Covering something up? Or just plain stupid? Read the book and find out!

I absolutely adored The Lying Game and devoured it in a matter of days. It was so refreshing to read a book with a tangible plot and told from the perspective of someone with a sound mind. Because, let’s be honest, the unstable narrator shtick has been hopelessly drawn out. The Lying Game was filled with twists and turns that actually seemed plausible and I really had no idea what the end result was going to be.

It was interesting to see how a mistake that happened in their teenage years has haunted each woman in the almost two decades since it happened. Each one dealt with the trauma in a different way and it made for fascinating characters with realistic flaws and personalities. The Lying Game was a wild ride and I am now ready to tuck into another Ruth Ware novel ASAFP!

And, now for the star rating…. I award The Lying Game with an eight out of ten. The plot was riveting, the characters were all likeable in their own ways, and I genuinely enjoyed myself while reading it. Highly recommend.

Has anyone read The Lying Game? What were your thoughts on it? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep1

Lil Red’s Book Club: The Woman In Cabin 10 Edition

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Lil Red’s Book Club: The Woman In Cabin 10 Edition

Salutations! In the newest edition of Lil Red’s Book Club, we are going to be discussing the mystery thriller, The Woman In Cabin 10, by Ruth Ware. This author might sound a bit familiar to you, as I just recently reviewed another one of her books, In A Dark, Dark Wood. And, similarly to it, The Woman In Cabin 10 is another one that revolves around an unreliable narrator. Let’s discuss, without giving any spoilers away!

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Lo Blacklock, a writer for a travel magazine is your classic “can we trust everything she sees” narrator. Following the usual formula of a heavy drinker while on medication, sleep deprived, as well as recently traumatized by a break in, Lo is… well, at a low point. Ba dum chhhhh. Anyways, very shortly after the break in happened, Lo sets sail aboard a luxury “cruise ship” that’s more like a yacht as a fill in for her boss on maternity leave.

The Aurora is welcoming a select few in the travel industry to board for a week, sailing around Norway, to get the hype built for their launch. The surroundings are swanky and the guests are even more posh – ranging from photographers to heiresses as well as journalists and models. This is a big break for Lo and, while she should be networking her little butt off, she ends up investigating a murder that she only heard, instead.

Enter The Woman In Cabin 10, a cabin that was supposed to be empty.  Lo spoke with the tenant one time after knocking on her door to borrow a tube of mascara and didn’t see her again that night at dinner. A dinner that she ended up getting WASTED at, by the way. So, who’s to say that what she saw was accurate when she claimed she saw a bloody smear on the glass divider on her balcony once she was back in her room? Or heard a huge splash that sounded like a body falling overboard?

The whodoneit begins, as Lo questions all of the staff with the help of the head of security and prying into just what the guests were up to after the dinner party. No one has seen the woman who she saw in the cabin and absolutely no one is ruled out as a suspect. Filled with red herrings and hidden intentions, will the murder get solved or remain a mystery at sea? Read The Woman In Cabin Ten to find out!

I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan of In A Dark, Dark Wood and wasn’t expecting much better from The Woman In Cabin 10. But, I ended up enjoying it a fair amount. If I’m being honest, I am SO. Freaking. Sick. of the unreliable narrator angle. However, this murder mystery set at sea was too dishy and fun to not be a total page turner. The grand reveal at the end was also one that I wasn’t expecting at all and, normally, I am very quick to solve it on my own.

While I couldn’t stand any of the characters from In A Dark, Dark Wood, I quite liked the cast of players in this one. They all held my interest because all of their personalities were so different and it made for a fun reading experience to watch and study their interactions with each other. The finger pointing and guessing games between them kept me on my feet till the very end.

I didn’t love The Woman In Cabin 10 by any means but, I finished it in three days so that has to count for something, right? I’m going to give it a six out of ten rating and would recommend it for a quick summer read, if nothing else.

Who else has read The Woman In Cabin 10? What did you think about it? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jul25

Lil Red’s Book Club: In A Dark, Dark Wood Edition

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Lil Red’s Book Club: In A Dark, Dark Wood Edition

Hiii everyone! Today, we are going to be discussing Ruth Ware’s debut novel entitled In A Dark, Dark Wood. Miss Reese Witherspoon actually just bought the rights to this book to be made into a movie so be on the lookout for a Gone Girl-esque, twist and turny murder mystery flick on the horizon. And, *without spoilers* let’s discuss:

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In A Dark, Dark Wood tells the back and forth tale of an adorably British term “hen do” AKA bachelorette party gone horribly wrong. Our story is told from the point of view of Leonora, Lee, Nora, or Leo depending on who she’s talking to and saying she’s not the most reliable narrator is an understatement. Especially considering that she found herself waking up in a hospital after a murder that she can’t quite remember the details to.

The hen do gathering is for Leonora’s high school best friend, Clare, but – the trick is that she hasn’t spoken to her in ten years. So why did she receive an email from Clare’s extremely passionate bridesmaid, Flo, in the first place? Reluctant at best to go, Leonora and another high school friend, Nina, make a pact to go together but leave if they see fit.

Surrounded by strangers at the bachelorette bash in a house made of all glass in the middle of the forest, Leonora finds herself trapped for a long weekend. Tensions build, secrets are spilled, and someone gets shot with a gun that was supposed to be filled with blanks. And, the question now is, whodoneit?

This is actually my second time reading In A Dark, Dark Wood because my mom thought it might be something that I would like. By the time I was about twenty pages in, I had realized that I read it before so that kind of shows you how memorable the book was to me, despite it’s grand reveal at the end.

Was this book entertaining? Quite. Was it just like Every. Other. Gone. Girl. Style. Book.? Abso-freaking-lutely. I won’t say I hated it, because that’s not true. I wouldn’t have reread it if I didn’t. However, it wasn’t the best thing that I’ve ever read and none of the characters were particularly likeable, which made it hard to get really into it.

Overall, I’d give this book a 5.5 out of ten. It was readable and a nice page turner to spend an afternoon with. But, I think you will find the superficial characters over the top and the narrator to be a bit of a bore. Read it, maybe. Or, better yet, just wait for the movie to come out, instead.

Has anyone else read In A Dark, Dark Wood? What were your thoughts on it? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah