Ruth Ware

The Woman in Cabin 10

From New York Times bestselling author of the “twisty-mystery” (Vulture) novel In a Dark, Dark Wood, comes The Woman in Cabin 10, an equally suspenseful and haunting novel from Ruth Ware—this time, set at sea. In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant, but as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the desk, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong... With surprising twists, spine-tingling turns, and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read in The Woman in Cabin 10—one that will leave even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned.

Alyson Kauffman

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF IN A DARK, DARK WOOD Featured in TheSkimm An Entertainment Weekly “Summer Must List” Pick A New York Post “Summer Must-Read” Pick Included in Summer Book Guides from Bustle, Oprah.com, PureWow, and USA TODAY An instant New York Times bestseller, The Woman in Cabin 10 is a gripping psychological thriller set at sea from an essential mystery writer in the tradition of Agatha Christie. In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong… With surprising twists, spine-tingling turns, and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read in The Woman in Cabin 10—one that will leave even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned.

Ashley Carlisle

Maya 

A solid read! 

The idea of a cruise murder mystery is so interesting. The idea of it being at sea with a potential murder, horrifying. It did seem to drag for a bit but the book saved itself, for me, in the last 50~ pages. Loved the ending.

Kellie Davis

Loved this book! I'm normally not into thriller/mystery stories but Ruth Ware has a way to make you want more. I had a hard time putting the book down and even when I did I would find myself trying to think of different theories. I can't wait for her new novel!

Zoe Robeson

Ryan Mateyk

Jessie!

armoni mayes

if you haven’t read a lot of thrillers you’d probably like this but i wasn’t super shocked by the twist although it really wasn’t a bad book i’d still recommend it

About half of the book was engrossing, consuming my thoughts.  But, the ending seemed rushed, would have liked more wrap up.  

Jenny Engel

When travel journalist Lo Blacklock is invited on a boutique luxury cruise around the Norwegian fjords, it seems like a dream career opportunity. But the trip takes a nightmarish turn when she wakes in the middle of the night to hear a body being thrown overboard, only to discover that no one has been reported missing from the boat.

Jaden Nelson

Very good ideas and good plot twists, however I thought it was a bit slow and sometimes dragged on without me seeing a whole lot of point in it. The plot was pretty well thought out though and there were definitely parts where it was quite the page turner, so I'll give it that. Good book, but these kind of books don't seem to be my favorites. That being said, I know that some people absolutely love this book, so I would recommend reading it. Sorry sara...

Slow burn, but once it gets going it’s great! So many twists and turns and revelations.

Christen 

Sierra

best part of the book was prior to the climax which is :/ to me . lots of loose ends. Not a bad book but definitely had some missed marks for me

Denaiir

4.5 stars

I didn’t go into this book with very high expectations since it's not generally my genre of predilection (I prefer procedurals and serial killer stories). I wasn’t a huge fan of In a Dark, Dark Wood but since I loved The Turn of the Key, I wanted to dive deeper into Ware's backlist. And this one really worked for me!

The author did a great job with Lo, who was questioning her sanity but without being totally unlikeable. At first I really thought she was both hiding something and losing it, but after a while all the passengers became suspects and nothing was that black and white.

The twists were good, and I loved the ending, overall had a great time and I highly recommend the audiobook read by Imogen Church, as usual she does a great job!

Patricia Nelson

I loved this book! It grabbed me from the first page and wouldn't let go until the last page. I am a sucker for books that pull at me and make me want to forget my responsibilities and see what happens next. The twists and turns kept coming, and I found myself anxious on behalf of the main character many times. Good book - I would definitely recommend!

this book did not improve my fear of cruises

Megan Christensen

Briar's Reviews

The Woman in Cabin 10 was a book that had me thoroughly engaged and kept me hooked at every turn. I'm surprised I ever put it down!

Now, I will be honest - it's not the best book I've ever read but it was a well written book. The writing style really vibes with me, to the point I'd be reading on and not realizing I had planned to stop "after just one more chapter." It was like that bad meme that goes around... I was staying up late past my bedtime, sneaking chapters in while I was waiting to pick someone up, and stealing peeks whenever I could get the chance. It was that kind of book, which was really nice! I hope to pick up some more books by Ruth Ware, because her writing style was just nice.

The story itself falls in line with a lot of other unreliable narrator books that came out around that time. Think Gone Girl, The Woman in the Window, The Girl on the Train, etc. We have a woman who may or may not be an alcoholic or taking drugs, and she's super unreliable. Something bad happens to her, and in this case Lo deals with a break-in, and then has to deal with some sort of issue. For Lo, she has to go to work on a cruise ship of sorts and write some stories for her job. But, of course, things aren't what they seem and nothing goes right. When the woman in Cabin 10 mysteriously dies and no one else but Lo saw (or will even accept that this woman is dead and gone), a cold case mystery ensues. Lo will find out what happened... even if it might kill her.

Things go sour and things get bloody. Each twist and turn makes me question if Lo is reliable, if the people on the boat are stupid, or if something is being hidden. It doesn't take a detective to figure out what's going on, and if you have an eagle eye you'll start to catch onto the story. There are hints and clues along the way, but it's not super obvious until you get to the end. So sleuth away!

Notes about the book:
1. The setting is very different compared to the other books follow this trope. A luxury yacht/cruise ship at the Northern Lights is a lovely sounding trip. Of course, it's rather hell-ish when you think about being trapped there with a murderer and everything thinks you are crazy (and all of your family thinks you are dead...)
2. No cell service. That's horror all by itself. Enough said.
3. Lo's ex-boyfriend is on the ship. Now, that can either be a nightmare or a potential source to help... or a potential source to blame it all on Lo...
4. There's so many suspicious characters. It's a fun mystery to try and solve.
5. There is a lot of anxiety, depression and fear in this book through the main character. It may not make her all that likable to some readers. I found it bearable. I was more in it for the mystery anyways.

Overall, this book definitely followed the "unreliable woman narrator" really well, but made it so I enjoyed the book regardless. I do like this trope when the books are well written. You need to have a special style and tone to get it right.

Four out of five stars.

Waaay too slow of a start. There were several times I wanted to give in and put this book down. The last 100 pages or so is good but overall this just wasn't a vibe for me.

Caelyn Dionne

Another good Ruth Ware read! Felt so fast paced. Was a little hard for me to keep up with all of the names/characters on the boat. It was a nice level of predictable vs surprising. Enjoyed!!

Harlee K

Colleen

3 Stars

This is probably one of those times when my rating has more to do with my mood than the book itself. But for me, The Woman in Cabin 10 hovered directly between 2 and 3 Stars, and it was hard to decide which way to tip the scale. In the end, the main reason I am giving this book 3 Stars is simply because I was a bit prejudiced by reading it and I can't differentiate between my mood while reading it and actual dislike for the book.

The Woman in Cabin 10 was this month's bookclub selection. I have been tremendously disappointed with the Suspense / Thriller genre the last couple of years to the point where I can't help but groan every time people start raving about whatever the current best selling Thriller is. The Woman in Cabin 10 was no exception to that. Especially when I saw the "Instant Best Seller!" sticker smugly slapped on the cover. Not just "Best Seller" but "Instant Best Seller." Because usually the only time books instantly hit the best seller list is when they are over-hyped. It also did not help that the hold list for the book was ridiculously long. As soon as we selected this book, I requested the book, the ebook, and the audiobook from the library. A month later I was still over 100 holds away from getting any copies. I ended up having to buy the hardcover at full price. Now, I love supporting book stores. But in an effort to, you know pay bills, I limit how many new books I buy. Shelling out $27 + tax for a book that I was not excited to read in the first place did not improve my mood.

So to be fair I was left feeling decidedly cranky towards this book before I even started reading it. I tried to keep an open mind, but it sunk lower in my regard because the premise reminded me far too much of The Girl on the Train: woman thinks she might have seen a crime, no one believes her, she takes it upon herself to investigate, she has serious psychological problems, she drinks too much... sound familiar? Just replace the train with a boat and there are enough similarities to cause comparisons. All it was missing was to sub the world "woman" for "girl" in the title.

To be fair, the writing was definitely better than The Girl on the Train (a book that I most decidedly detested). And at least The Woman in Cabin 10 did not fall into the common pitfall of making every single character despicable and repellent. On the other hand, the characters still were not captivating. There just was not any real character development. The plot rears up and runs off from page one which gives the reader absolutely no chance to get to know the main character at all. She is just some random woman who is not vibrant or complex. The secondary characters never incited much much interest either. Most of them felt as if their only purpose in the story was to cast confusion about who the culprit was. They had no depth beyond that. Even a good plot suffers if the characters are flat. 

The book also ends most of the chapters with annoying flash-forwards to foreshadow coming events. It did build some tension, but it was a bit gimmicky. The first half of the story was definitely only a 2. I was halfway through before even felt a twinge of interest and even then it was more from momentum of the plot than genuine involvement. The ending was good but not mind blowing. 

If I had not suffered through The Girl on the Train first, then I might have enjoyed this book more. Despite the my lack of interest in the first half of the story, most of my exasperation was from being continually reminded of the former. That is why I am going to go ahead and give it 3 Stars even though it was not a particularly gratifying read for me.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters: 2 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 2 Stars

I didn’t mind this book. It takes about 100 pages to get into the problem. For me, that’s sometimes I bet too long. This was one of those times. Second half of the book, I enjoyed much more. I was becoming more curious about how this was gonna end. Overall, it was an okay book. It had potential to be a lot better though!

Bookworm

i don't think unreliable narrators are for me. or maybe it's just the main character in this book

nuha ✨️

I didn't think this book was worth the hype. It is marketed as a "psychological thriller", but it did not deliver. It was very slow-moving, only to reach an anti-climactic ending.

Kathryn Larson

Sarah Pino

Melyssa Tromberg 

This book was overall meh; just not great (in my opinion). I had a really hard time staying interested enough to try and remember all the different characters and just never liked the main character, Lo.

It's hard to explain but for me it was like the book lacked suspense througout and then at the end the author tried to pack all of it in. 

I have a feeling I am just not a fan of Ruth Ware and her writing style so I'm a little hesitant to read any other books by her.

Really enjoyed the suspense this book provided. It’s a good easy read, although It got a little slow there middle to end, but good ending! 

Aims

Shay

If the board-game Clue, the movie Titanic and the book The Girl On A Train were to be combined, it would be this book. A bunch of rich, posh elite characters on board the maiden voyage of a beautiful ship. Who was killed, in what room by whom with what weapon? Is the witness a crazy drunk or is what she saw and heard real? The narrator on Audible was brilliant. Her ability to change voices for so many characters was so great that I often wondered if there was a totally different narrator. That being said, it wasn’t until Ch 8 that I was really able to get invested. It was a very slow moving story and more details than were necessary were given during several scenes. However the ending was fantastic and definitely made me glad I trudged thru the story.

The Woman in Cabin 10

Reviews

Highlights