Review: In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

Title: In a Dark, Dark Wood   

Author: Ruth Ware         

Published: August 2015, Scout Press  

Format: ARC Paperback, 320 pages    

Source: Publisher   

Someone’s getting married. Someone’s getting murdered.

In a dark, dark wood

Nora hasn’t seen Clare for ten years. Not since Nora walked out of school one day and never went back.

There was a dark, dark house

Until, out of the blue, an invitation to Clare’s hen do arrives. Is this a chance for Nora to finally put her past behind her?

And in the dark, dark house there was a dark, dark room

But something goes wrong. Very wrong.

And in the dark, dark room….

Some things can’t stay secret for ever.

My thoughts: I was fortunate to get a signed copy of this book at BEA this year and couldn’t wait to read it…I love a good psychological thriller and let me tell you – this definitely fits the bill and then some!!! I loved it and haven’t stopped thinking about it. This is definitely a keeper and I certainly plan on rereading it sometime in the future to savor it all again and again.

I loved the way this book was written. The way it goes back and forth between the present with Nora waking up in the hospital and trying to figure out what exactly happened and just prior to that at the hen party where everything happens. Nora herself becomes somewhat of an unreliable narrator in that she has a major head injury, and unable to remember what really happened, you question what she does remember. As the story slowly pieces the night together, it becomes a chilling tale.

The characters that Ruth Ware has created are wonderfully delicious in that they are so easily liked or hated, with some even both liked and hated. They are well-developed and even the setting itself, the glass house in the woods becomes a character at times. Add in the fact that once you’re at the house, you are cut off from the outside world – cell phone service is non-existent and a snow storm seems to isolate them even further. It only adds to the darkness and suspense of the book. 

This book had me guessing until the end how it would play out. It is clear from the beginning that something sinister is going to happen and it’s hard to walk away from the book until you find out what. The short chapters will keep you reading just a little bit more until you find that you are at the very end. I devoured this book and cannot wait to see what comes next from Ruth Ware – she is definitely going on my authors-to-watch list!!!