I have had The Woman in Cabin 10 on my TBR pretty much since it came out. Something about it intrigued me, but not enough to actually pick it up apparently. And then it was one of the books my book club was going to read, so how could I not read it finally? And holy hell, I could have kicked myself for waiting so long!!
One of my favorite things in a book – especially a psychological thriller like this one – is an unreliable narrator. Especially when they’re unreliable for a good reason, not just that they are TSTL. Well, meet Laura – Lo for short. First chapter something incredibly scary happens to her and it shakes her to her core. And then she gets on one of those exclusive 10 cabin cruises for her work 2 days later – sleep deprived, self-medicating on alcohol (which believe me, I so would be too!) and despite clearly being a smart person, she’s suddenly not the most reliable source of information. Is she really seeing what she thinks she’s seeing? Is she the most clever person on board or has she lost it? Even she doesn’t always trust herself, so how can you? And yet I often really wanted to. I was on the edge for pretty much 99% of the book, as each page kept me guessing.
One element that added to the intensity of The Woman in Cabin 10 was the author’s use of flashes forward and to other locations via social media posts, emails and news reports. The flashes always gave you just enough to be like, “wait! What?!”
And to top it off, it ended it with a couple fabulous, unexpected twists that I did not see coming! The writing was really captivating and well, if you haven’t gotten the point yet, I friggin’ loved The Woman in Cabin 10! I can’t recommend it enough!
I’ve heard great things about this book. I guess I need to pick it up, especially since you say the audio is good. You know that is how I tackle almost all of my reading. Great review.
I haven’t read the audio – but I see several others saying the audio is good, so I bet it’s even better that way 🙂 definitely recommend it!
Oh I’m glad you loved this one! I though ti was amazing! I think I was holding my breath the entire book. I mean I know that’s not possible but it sure felt like it! I loved In a Dark Dark Wood too and now can’t wait for The Lying Game. If you’re in the mood for an audio Imogen Church does the narration for Ware’s books and she’s amazing!
Good to know! This was my first Ruth Ware and I definitely want to read more – I held my breath the whole book too 🙂
Oh yes, the narrator was really unreliable in this one. I remember that. I personally didn’t like Lo so I knocked off a star, but I am glad to see that you really enjoyed this. Ruth Ware is one of my auto-buy authors because unreliable characters are my favorite and she does them well. Great review!
Thanks Karen! You’re not the first person to tell me they didn’t like Lo, so you’re not alone 🙂 Ruth Ware was a new author for me, but she’s on my go-to list now!
I am in the minority as I didn’t like this one. I think the thing you liked was why I didn’t like it. I got so confused with the mainland stuff but I think it’s cause I listened to it so I was like..whoa, wait what just happened, and I was so confused. I think with this author the next one I will try in ebook format.
So for book club there was one person who didn’t like it either and her reason was that she couldn’t stand the main character – rather than seeing her as understandably unreliable, she felt she was acting stupidly. It was the minority opinion, but yeah I could see it being both frustrating and confusing if you weren’t loving the main character and buying into her mental state.
Wow! This sounds like it would be a great movie to watch. I’m not a huge suspense/thriller reader, but I can sometimes watch the movies. I have to laugh we you said “unreliable narrator.” I thought you meant the narration was full of issues, like changing voices or accents, being sad when should be happy, etc. Now I see what you mean – you cannot trust the “narrator” of the story. Great review!
lol yeah, in these days of audiobook narrators, I guess that does get confusing, huh? I agree, this would make a fantastic movie! I don’t typically go for thrillers either, but something about this one called to me (maybe the fact that I love cruises?) – I do definitely prefer the psychological thriller to horror though, I can manage it much better for some reason. Fingers crossed they make this into a movie sometime!
What a perfect descriptor for Lo! I couldn’t decide if I could rely on her alcohol fogged accounts either. Great review.
Thanks Jonetta 🙂 Yeah, I found MYSELF wanting to believe her because I didn’t want her to be losing it, but at the same time it was like, “how could she be the only one?”
Ha I laughed when I saw the title on your post! And so true- I loved how unreliable she was! Those flash forwards did totally screw with me too- I was like what??? I liked the ending as well, especially when she got on land and they were coming back- I was like RUN RUN RUN lol.
I just read her new one The Lying Game and it’s good also!
Lol I know! I was on the edge of my seat when she made it to land, “no, don’t tell them who you are!” “crap, run!” just a couple of the things I said 🙂 I’ll have to check out The Lying Game, since I enjoyed this so much!
WooHoo Berls! I’m so glad you enjoyed this one! I loved it, too, and I need to read more of Ruth Ware’s books for sure. I agree, in these kinds of psychological thrillers, unreliable narrators totally rock!
Yeah I will be reading way more of Ruth Ware, that’s for sure 🙂 unreliable narrators can make all the difference – it sure did in this book!