The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

Overview: 

Laura “Lo” Blacklock is a travel journalist who is lucky enough to get the chance to be on and report on the maiden voyage of the Aurora. The Aurora is a cruise ship owned by Richard Bullmer, a very wealthy businessman who is married to the heiress of a large fortune. While on the ship, Lo swears someone in the cabin next to her was murdered and pushed overboard. The problem is no one is missing from the ship and the girl she thought was in the cabin next to her doesn’t exist.

My thoughts:

This is definitely an intriguing book. You have both mystery and thriller aspects that make you want to keep reading.

I did have a major issue with Lo at the beginning of this book but that could be from my lack of familiarity with this genre. I was not a fan of Lo’s character at first because she was kind of established as an unreliable character. She had been drinking the night before someone broke into her apartment and couldn’t remember much about what she had done when she got home. After this incident, Lo tells herself she should lay off drinking a bit but then actually turns to alcohol to help cope. She turns to alcohol again the first night aboard the Aurora, the night of the alleged incident, knowing she has work to do and people to meet. So, when she makes allegations of someone missing from the ship, even she questions what she heard that night. My issue wasn’t with her drinking, it was with the fact that she would tell herself to do one thing and then do the complete opposite more often than not.

I would say this story has a trigger warning: Lo does have anxiety and experiences panic attacks so it may not be an easy read for anyone who has anxiety or panic attacks.

One of the things that really lures you into this book is the way it was written. The story in mainly told from Lo’s perspective as she experiences things but the author inserts parts into the story that aren’t from Lo’s perspective and are dated ahead of what is happening with Lo. It makes you wonder what happened in order to go from point A (everything that you’re seeing with Lo) to point B (the snippets of information you’re getting from sometime in the future). It’s hard to explain so sorry if I didn’t make any sense.

In the end, I didn’t expect for things to turn out the way they did which, for this genre, is a good thing. I classify this book as a good read. I wasn’t head over heels for the book but it was a decent entertaining read. I encourage anyone wanting to try the mystery/thriller genre or just wanting to try something new to read this book.