The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

3.5 Stars

Well, this was a strange one. I'd really been looking forward to this coming out and bought it on release day (for a good bargain too!). I think I was expecting more and could have been a lot better than it was in the end. 

The book follows Laura Blacklock, a journalist for a travel magazine who has finally bagged a job that will hopefully make her career worth while. However, when the Aurora makes her maiden voyage into the north sea with a cabin full of luxury passengers, Laura hears something unexpected in the night. As she calls for help and explains she heard a passenger going overboard, suspicions arise as to whether Laura is really that credible given her recent and past experiences. All passengers and crew are accounted for and as Laura delves deeply into the investigation, she is constantly questioned about her sanity. 

I don't think I've actually read any novels involving ships/cruises etc. That was a big pull for me to read this book. It felt so different and love finding out 'who the killer is'. I haven't read anything by Ruth Ware before hand so I definitely had no expectations on what to expect from her writing style and how the plot would develop/unfold. The beginning of the book starts off really well and definitely unexpected and sets us up for a lot of doubt in our minds about the main character, Laura. The writing is easy to get through and makes for a smooth and quick read, which I always love in a book. I don't like books which are really difficult to get through, not that I don't enjoy a complex story either though. Once we get to the main bulk of the story and actually board the Aurora, the story goes a little bland until the main event. Not to say that this overly boring or unnecessary, because it wasn't. It just takes some time to get really into after reading such a good beginning. 

I wouldn't say I loved the characters, but I didn't hate them either. They all fit in the way they did and worked as a whole. There wasn't any particular character backgrounds except the odd bit about our main character, Laura. It probably wasn't necessary to have much in the way of character development as I was certainly more involved with finding out who the missing passenger was and what had actually happened. I really enjoyed that part. However, there was a somewhat jump between the investigation and the last part of the book. I really wondered whether I'd missed a chapter. 

Overall, I did enjoy the book as a whole but it's certainly not a book I would start praising highly about. There was definitely some plot development that could be made here and it felt a little rough around the edges. Reviews on Goodreads are really great about this book and I could just be expecting too much. This will definitely appeal to all the thriller readers out there and will be highly recommended by a lot of readers. Hopefully you will enjoy it more than me however!

Happy reading :)