Book #51: In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
At the start of the book, the central character and narrator, Nora Shaw, wakes up in hospital. It becomes clear there has been some incident; she has been in an accident, and has amnesia.
The book than flashes back to her receiving an invite to the hen do of Clare, a woman who she didn't exactly get on with at school, and he is left wondering why she got asked to come. At the urging of a friend, she goes along, only to find out that Clare's fiance is her own ex boyfriend, James. The relationship ended badly, with him dumping her by text.
Throughout the first two-thirds of the book, the narrative constantly flashes forward to the hospital scenario, with tantalising hints as to what has happened. Being familiar with one other Ruth Ware book, "The Woman in Cabin 10", I wasn't surprised when the characters mentioned a murder.
For the best part of this, I really enjoyed this. It was a good study in how people can really damage each others' lives through thoughtless behaviour, and I was excited to find out what had happened. Initially, my own complaint was that at times there were too many sudden switches between flashbacks and flash-forwards.
Then, along came the last few chapters, and I was left a little cold. First off, a lot of what happened felt a little too predictable, and secondly, at least one of the plot twists almost bordered on the ridiculous, and didn't seem to have a proper explanation. I couldn't decide whether the ending was a good cliche-breaker, or an anti-climax.
Overall, I did enjoy most of this book, I just wish the ending had been a little less messy.
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