The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Sorry for posting this so much later than normal! My junior year of college just started this week, so I have suddenly gone from not very busy to SUPER busy in the span of 36 hours. Because of this, I probably won’t be posting reviews as frequently :( I am so sad about this and I will try to post as often as possible!! My goal is to still post AT LEAST once a month, if not more. So please stay tuned for more reviews, just coming to you at a bit of a slower pace. I also wanted to take this moment to thank you all sooo much for reading my reviews. I appreciate you immensely and would love to hear any advice or opinions you have regarding my reviews or just chatting about books in general.
Now, let’s get to this review! I decided to read this book because I have read other books by the author, Ruth Ware, and I absolutely love her. She is one of my favorite currently publishing psychological thriller authors, along with Paula Hawkins. So, for any of you fellow lovers of this genre, make sure to check her out! Ware is super funny, has good twists and tells a good story in my opinion. I recommend her, and Hawkins, constantly to friends of mine who enjoy books of this nature, so you could say I’m a bit of a fan ;)
Our story revolves around a travel journalist named Laura “Lo” Blacklock who goes on a luxurious cruise for work. She ends up having the opposite of a fun, relaxing time and experiences things most people only ever have nightmares about. From the very start of this novel, I was immediately hooked. Ware jumps right in with the fear and pathos elements, which made it almost impossible to put the book down once I started it. Though this is fiction, there are a lot of elements within that people experience in real life all of the time and as you know from my previous reviews, I really enjoy reading books that include situations and events such as these. I’ll dive into these scenarios in a bit, but first I wanna discuss an aspect of Ware’s books that I really love, which is that they’re set in Europe. It is so cool to read books with slang from different countries and cultures so I can learn the meaning as I read. It makes me feel like I’ve been transported to these new countries and that is a HUGE plus for me when I am reading. I understand this is a personal preference and some people prefer to only read from books within their culture and frame of view. But, I definitely encourage everyone to try and give books from other countries a chance now and then. Having a new perspective is so refreshing and helps broaden your worldview!
One of the relatable things that is discussed within this book is the fear women face in the world just by existing. It is absolutely abominable to me that women have to be afraid everyday of their lives because we are seen as easy targets.
I kind of already touched on this, but I want to further explain how wonderful Ware’s writing is. I became so sucked into this book that I felt like I was Lo, trying to get to the bottom of the mystery and discover the truth. It was thrilling! I also often felt feelings of confusion, disbelief and disappointment, much like Lo does, while reading. The suspense was great and I felt a sense of relief at the end of the story because I finally came back to the realization that I was not actually part of the story and I could relax. Such a cool experience for me. Enjoying a good book like this never gets old for me and I am so grateful! If there ever comes a time when authors stop publishing, I am going to need you guys to help me find a new hobby, lol.
“I jumped to a conclusion that was so wrong, it was almost completely right.”
I chose this quote because it kind of illustrates a central idea in this genre of books. The author often leads readers in one direction only to completely redirect them into the right one at the last second. So quick and impactful that you almost feel like you’re suffering from whiplash!
I don’t wanna go into too much detail concerning how Ware leads readers from one conclusion to another in this book, because it will give a lot away. But I do want to kind of explain why I’ve rated this book a 4 instead of 5 stars. While I really enjoyed this book, I was able to figure out the twist on my own a lot earlier on than when it was expressed within the book. Maybe this is due to reading this genre a lot lately and becoming better at taking hints and reading patterns, I am not really sure. But because of this, it kind of killed the big shock factor I was hoping to receive. I really hope this isn’t the case for most people who read it because it is a super interesting twist and I was impressed with Ware’s imagination. It just did not work out in my favor when the big end reveal came to pass.
Final, Personal Opinion of the Book
I liked this book! It is so nice to read something that makes you feel things, no matter what the emotion. In this book specifically, I felt fear numerous times while reading. Within the first chapter, I was completely hooked and had to keep reading so I could know what happened next. Overall, I think this book was a good read and I recommend it to my fellow psychological thriller lovers. Read my rating for further important info. regarding the book if you are considering reading!
Rating: ⅘ Stars
I really love this author and I enjoyed this reading book. I did not give it full marks because I did not feel as surprised or on the edge of my seat with this one. I was able to figure out what the twist was before the end of the book. This isn’t always a terrible thing, but for this book I definitely wanted to be blown away and I wasn’t really. It did however make me feel super afraid multiple times while reading, so that’s why the score is still high.
