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I am not typically a mystery/thriller reader but one title kept coming up among my friends and coworkers: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. I started off listening to the audiobook in my car, but got so hooked into the story that I checked out the ebook just so I could finish it up in one night. (By "finish it up", I actually mean "read the last 5 chapters in one sitting")
The Woman in Cabin 10 pulls you into the plight of Lo Blacklock, a British travel journalist. Lo finally gets her big break when her boss sends her on the maiden voyage of a luxury cruise ship traversing through the North Sea. The ship, appropriately named the Aurora, is the picture of modern high-class luxury. Lo, however, goes through a frightening ordeal right before she embarks on this journey. Despite being shaken, she perseveres knowing this may be her only shot at career advancement and who'd want to miss out on a free luxury cruise? On the isolated ship, Lo has a chance encounter with the woman in the next door cabin, but then her neighbor disappears completely. No one on board seems to have encountered this woman, nor do they have any record of her. Lo struggles with whether something terrible truly has happened or if she has merely packed up her personal demons and paranoia and brought them along on the trip.
The setting is what really brought this story to life for me. It's not a part of the world that is frequently visited in literature and Ware's descriptions made me really picture the cold, somewhat melancholy beauty of the region. The ship is described in careful detail and I was both jealous of Lo's trip in such a posh space, but also felt the claustrophobia and isolation of it all. I think those feelings are what have prevented me from taking a cruise, that and I can't afford it. I pictured sort of a floating Nordstrom store, both modern and luxurious where the staff will go above and beyond for their customers.
So, let's move on to characters. I think Lo is a well-rounded modern woman. I certainly found myself sympathizing with her and despite what was happening to her, she made smart, logical decisions. She also didn't have her head turned by some handsome stranger, though I expected her to because of tropes in similar stories. The other passengers were a quirky assortment of personalities, which made me think of Agatha Christie.
Ware does a really exceptional job of ending each chapter with a cliffhanger or with the revelation of new information. Dispersed among the narrative are chapters which take place after the story's timeline. Ware is careful not to give too much away too fast with these alternate chapters, but they will keep you on your toes.
My one chief complaint is the ending. I was really digging this book; I mean we were headed into potential 5-stars territory. The ending just let me down. As I said, this is not usually my genre of choice, but I was able to at one point guess "the big plot twist". I thought I had to be wrong though. I thought it was a red herring and the author would have a much more clever ending.
Nope.
I mean, It's not the worst ending I've ever read (now there's an interesting thought to ponder later). It ties everything up nicely and it fits in with character motivations. It's just that the bar had been raised so high only to be dropped back down by a cliche ending.
I would recommend this book to people looking for a quick, fun read. It'd be a great airplane or vacation book. It seems like it has potential to be a movie or miniseries, so if that happens I would definitely give it a read first. (Honestly, there's something a little Hallmark Channel about it, but not in a bad way. I will totally binge watch those movies).
I've decided to use a GIF rating/reaction system, because....why not?
Overall GIF rating:
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