Review: In a dark, dark wood by Ruth Ware

in a dark, dark wood by Ruth Ware
Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press
Publication Date: April 19, 2016
Book Format: Paperback
# of Pages: 308
Synopsis: What should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in Ruth Ware’s suspenseful, compulsive, and darkly twisted psychological thriller.

Sometimes the only thing to fear…is yourself.

When reclusive writer Leonora is invited to the English countryside for a weekend away, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. But as the first night falls, revelations unfold among friends old and new, an unnerving memory shatters Leonora’s reserve, and a haunting realization creeps in: the party is not alone in the woods. 

My Review:

I bought this book with my own money and this is my honest review.

To start off, I want to mention how popular and talked about Ruth Ware’s books have been so I was a little skeptical about reading them based on the hype alone, but since they seemed like books that were right up my alley I decided to give them a try.

In a dark, dark wood follows Leonora who gets invited to a friends bachelorette weekend whom she hasn’t talked to in 10 years. The weekend put together by an unstable women starts off rocking and goes downhill from there. The novel includes many secrets and even a little blood which makes things even more interesting.

I am normally a slow reader, but Ware’s first novel took me no time to read at all. I find that ever since taking classes on writing in college my opinions on books have changed. I read books a lot more critically I find and that makes reading in some ways that much more enjoyable. Something that really stood out to me while reading this was the characters. To many writers write books in which characters don’t stand out therefore it ends up way to hard to tell them apart. Each and every person in this book had their very own personality and I have zero trouble telling them apart. Nina was so sassy, Tom was a guy but had a kick to his personality, Nora was way too quiet and an introvert, Flo was crazy and Clare was fake. It’s not every day I could safely give a list of characters and their personalities easily so that made me love this book that much more.

In a dark, dark wood reminded me a lot of And then there were none by Agatha Christie just because it was 6 people in a house but it had its own features which made it stand out. By the looks of the cover I never would have guessed it had anything to do with a bachelorette party and it was written so well that I had no idea what was coming. Being able to read a book and be completely clueless as to what is about to happen is the best in a novel.

The writing was fantastic, I didn’t feel like I had to keep stopping to re-read because of the writing, it didn’t feel too young or choppy. It flowed really well and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I was able to focus on this book perfectly while sitting by the side of a very chaotic pool only because the story and writing kept me so hooked.

I would recommend this novel to anyone looking to read something dark in which they wont expect what happens in the slightest. This is for anybody who likes a mystery and enjoys trying to put two and two together the entire time and to enjoy the story along the way as well. Definite 5 out of 5 stars.