Name: The Woman in Cabin 10
ISBN: 9781501132933

Ruth Ware

The Woman in Cabin 10

Ashley Carlisle

Alyson Kauffman

'Reads like Agatha Christie got together with Paula Hawkins to crowdsource a really fun thriller' Stylist A PASSENGER IS MISSING...BUT WAS SHE EVER ON BOARD AT ALL? This was meant to be the perfect trip. The Northern Lights. A luxury press launch on a boutique cruise ship. A chance for travel journalist Lo Blacklock to recover from a traumatic break-in that has left her on the verge of collapse. Except things don't go as planned. Woken in the night by screams, Lo rushes to her window to see a body thrown overboard from the next door cabin. But the records show that no-one ever checked into that cabin, and no passengers are missing from the boat. Exhausted and emotional, Lo has to face the fact that she may have made a mistake - either that, or she is now trapped on a boat with a murderer... _________________ Praise for THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10: ' Scary and unsettling, it's' edge-of-your-seat stuff' The Sun 'A tense, moody drama set on a press trip that goes horribly wrong... a brilliantly claustrophobic setting' Sunday Times 'A twisty puzzle' Shari Lapena 'Terrifically tense' Good Housekeeping

Moira

General Notes:

- Decent plot that involved a few twists I didn't see coming. Nailed the main reveal: Richard and Ann being involved in the murder, though I didn't suspect that "Ann" was actually Richard's lover in disguise. 

- Pacing a touch slow at times.

- Repetitive phrases everywhere you look.

- Somewhat unlikeable main character primarily due to poor decision-making (I mean, really, inviting a guy you just kicked in the family jewels - in self-defense because he groped you - into your cabin to ice his injured groin, then apologizing to him? Come on now, the man absolutely deserved it.) 

- Listened to this as an audiobook. Not sure that I'm a fan of Imogen Church's narration style...it drove me crazy with the slow pacing and the awkward, adolescent-esque tone she used for the protagonist. 

3.5 stars

Die erste gute Hälfte wird von einer unoriginellen zweiten und den deplatziert wirkenden feministischen Anflügen ausgebremst.

Elias Butting

Entertaining and suspenseful. It left me on the edge of my seat! Had a few slow spots though and a somewhat unlikeable main character. But I suppose that just made it more lifelike! :)

Amelia Macy

Lauren Piper

Maya 

A solid read! 

The idea of a cruise murder mystery is so interesting. The idea of it being at sea with a potential murder, horrifying. It did seem to drag for a bit but the book saved itself, for me, in the last 50~ pages. Loved the ending.

Kellie Davis

Loved this book! I'm normally not into thriller/mystery stories but Ruth Ware has a way to make you want more. I had a hard time putting the book down and even when I did I would find myself trying to think of different theories. I can't wait for her new novel!

Zoe R

Ryan Mateyk

Jessie!

armoni mayes

if you haven’t read a lot of thrillers you’d probably like this but i wasn’t super shocked by the twist although it really wasn’t a bad book i’d still recommend it

About half of the book was engrossing, consuming my thoughts.  But, the ending seemed rushed, would have liked more wrap up.  

Jenny Engel

When travel journalist Lo Blacklock is invited on a boutique luxury cruise around the Norwegian fjords, it seems like a dream career opportunity. But the trip takes a nightmarish turn when she wakes in the middle of the night to hear a body being thrown overboard, only to discover that no one has been reported missing from the boat.

Jaden Nelson

Very good ideas and good plot twists, however I thought it was a bit slow and sometimes dragged on without me seeing a whole lot of point in it. The plot was pretty well thought out though and there were definitely parts where it was quite the page turner, so I'll give it that. Good book, but these kind of books don't seem to be my favorites. That being said, I know that some people absolutely love this book, so I would recommend reading it. Sorry sara...

Slow burn, but once it gets going it’s great! So many twists and turns and revelations.

Christen 

Sierra

best part of the book was prior to the climax which is :/ to me . lots of loose ends. Not a bad book but definitely had some missed marks for me

Denaiir

4.5 stars

I didn’t go into this book with very high expectations since it's not generally my genre of predilection (I prefer procedurals and serial killer stories). I wasn’t a huge fan of In a Dark, Dark Wood but since I loved The Turn of the Key, I wanted to dive deeper into Ware's backlist. And this one really worked for me!

The author did a great job with Lo, who was questioning her sanity but without being totally unlikeable. At first I really thought she was both hiding something and losing it, but after a while all the passengers became suspects and nothing was that black and white.

The twists were good, and I loved the ending, overall had a great time and I highly recommend the audiobook read by Imogen Church, as usual she does a great job!

Patricia Nelson

I loved this book! It grabbed me from the first page and wouldn't let go until the last page. I am a sucker for books that pull at me and make me want to forget my responsibilities and see what happens next. The twists and turns kept coming, and I found myself anxious on behalf of the main character many times. Good book - I would definitely recommend!

this book did not improve my fear of cruises

Megan Christensen

Briar's Reviews

The Woman in Cabin 10 was a book that had me thoroughly engaged and kept me hooked at every turn. I'm surprised I ever put it down!

Now, I will be honest - it's not the best book I've ever read but it was a well written book. The writing style really vibes with me, to the point I'd be reading on and not realizing I had planned to stop "after just one more chapter." It was like that bad meme that goes around... I was staying up late past my bedtime, sneaking chapters in while I was waiting to pick someone up, and stealing peeks whenever I could get the chance. It was that kind of book, which was really nice! I hope to pick up some more books by Ruth Ware, because her writing style was just nice.

The story itself falls in line with a lot of other unreliable narrator books that came out around that time. Think Gone Girl, The Woman in the Window, The Girl on the Train, etc. We have a woman who may or may not be an alcoholic or taking drugs, and she's super unreliable. Something bad happens to her, and in this case Lo deals with a break-in, and then has to deal with some sort of issue. For Lo, she has to go to work on a cruise ship of sorts and write some stories for her job. But, of course, things aren't what they seem and nothing goes right. When the woman in Cabin 10 mysteriously dies and no one else but Lo saw (or will even accept that this woman is dead and gone), a cold case mystery ensues. Lo will find out what happened... even if it might kill her.

Things go sour and things get bloody. Each twist and turn makes me question if Lo is reliable, if the people on the boat are stupid, or if something is being hidden. It doesn't take a detective to figure out what's going on, and if you have an eagle eye you'll start to catch onto the story. There are hints and clues along the way, but it's not super obvious until you get to the end. So sleuth away!

Notes about the book:
1. The setting is very different compared to the other books follow this trope. A luxury yacht/cruise ship at the Northern Lights is a lovely sounding trip. Of course, it's rather hell-ish when you think about being trapped there with a murderer and everything thinks you are crazy (and all of your family thinks you are dead...)
2. No cell service. That's horror all by itself. Enough said.
3. Lo's ex-boyfriend is on the ship. Now, that can either be a nightmare or a potential source to help... or a potential source to blame it all on Lo...
4. There's so many suspicious characters. It's a fun mystery to try and solve.
5. There is a lot of anxiety, depression and fear in this book through the main character. It may not make her all that likable to some readers. I found it bearable. I was more in it for the mystery anyways.

Overall, this book definitely followed the "unreliable woman narrator" really well, but made it so I enjoyed the book regardless. I do like this trope when the books are well written. You need to have a special style and tone to get it right.

Four out of five stars.

Waaay too slow of a start. There were several times I wanted to give in and put this book down. The last 100 pages or so is good but overall this just wasn't a vibe for me.

Caelyn Dionne

Another good Ruth Ware read! Felt so fast paced. Was a little hard for me to keep up with all of the names/characters on the boat. It was a nice level of predictable vs surprising. Enjoyed!!

Harlee K

Colleen

3 Stars

This is probably one of those times when my rating has more to do with my mood than the book itself. But for me, The Woman in Cabin 10 hovered directly between 2 and 3 Stars, and it was hard to decide which way to tip the scale. In the end, the main reason I am giving this book 3 Stars is simply because I was a bit prejudiced by reading it and I can't differentiate between my mood while reading it and actual dislike for the book.

The Woman in Cabin 10 was this month's bookclub selection. I have been tremendously disappointed with the Suspense / Thriller genre the last couple of years to the point where I can't help but groan every time people start raving about whatever the current best selling Thriller is. The Woman in Cabin 10 was no exception to that. Especially when I saw the "Instant Best Seller!" sticker smugly slapped on the cover. Not just "Best Seller" but "Instant Best Seller." Because usually the only time books instantly hit the best seller list is when they are over-hyped. It also did not help that the hold list for the book was ridiculously long. As soon as we selected this book, I requested the book, the ebook, and the audiobook from the library. A month later I was still over 100 holds away from getting any copies. I ended up having to buy the hardcover at full price. Now, I love supporting book stores. But in an effort to, you know pay bills, I limit how many new books I buy. Shelling out $27 + tax for a book that I was not excited to read in the first place did not improve my mood.

So to be fair I was left feeling decidedly cranky towards this book before I even started reading it. I tried to keep an open mind, but it sunk lower in my regard because the premise reminded me far too much of The Girl on the Train: woman thinks she might have seen a crime, no one believes her, she takes it upon herself to investigate, she has serious psychological problems, she drinks too much... sound familiar? Just replace the train with a boat and there are enough similarities to cause comparisons. All it was missing was to sub the world "woman" for "girl" in the title.

To be fair, the writing was definitely better than The Girl on the Train (a book that I most decidedly detested). And at least The Woman in Cabin 10 did not fall into the common pitfall of making every single character despicable and repellent. On the other hand, the characters still were not captivating. There just was not any real character development. The plot rears up and runs off from page one which gives the reader absolutely no chance to get to know the main character at all. She is just some random woman who is not vibrant or complex. The secondary characters never incited much much interest either. Most of them felt as if their only purpose in the story was to cast confusion about who the culprit was. They had no depth beyond that. Even a good plot suffers if the characters are flat. 

The book also ends most of the chapters with annoying flash-forwards to foreshadow coming events. It did build some tension, but it was a bit gimmicky. The first half of the story was definitely only a 2. I was halfway through before even felt a twinge of interest and even then it was more from momentum of the plot than genuine involvement. The ending was good but not mind blowing. 

If I had not suffered through The Girl on the Train first, then I might have enjoyed this book more. Despite the my lack of interest in the first half of the story, most of my exasperation was from being continually reminded of the former. That is why I am going to go ahead and give it 3 Stars even though it was not a particularly gratifying read for me.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters: 2 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 2 Stars

I didn’t mind this book. It takes about 100 pages to get into the problem. For me, that’s sometimes I bet too long. This was one of those times. Second half of the book, I enjoyed much more. I was becoming more curious about how this was gonna end. Overall, it was an okay book. It had potential to be a lot better though!

Bookworm

i don't think unreliable narrators are for me. or maybe it's just the main character in this book

nuha ✨️

I didn't think this book was worth the hype. It is marketed as a "psychological thriller", but it did not deliver. It was very slow-moving, only to reach an anti-climactic ending.