Harvill Secker Archives - Debbish Archive

Book review: The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

Sunday, September 15, 2019 Permalink

Ruth Ware’s In A Dark, Dark Wood was met with much adoration and acclaim. I still haven’t read it but leapt at the chance to read her second novel, The Woman in Cabin 10, and was – I must admit – a tad disappointed.

The premise of her latest, The Turn of the Key, sounded interesting however, though I was a little worried when there was talk of ghosts and haunted houses as I’m not a fan of the fantasy genre, however this didn’t really go in that direction and was sufficiently gripping that I easily read it in a sitting.

Book review: If I Die Before I Wake by Emily Koch

Monday, January 8, 2018 Permalink

One of the things that usually draws me to a book is the voice of the narrator or lead character/s. Sometimes it’s through the story they’re telling or the dialogue or just the way they describe the world around them.

This debut novel by Emily Koch unfolds from the point of view from a man lying in a hospital bed in a coma. It’s interesting because we only get ‘some’ of the information we want or need – which I guess means we very much understand what Alex is going through… privy to only that part of the world to which he’s now exposed. In moments of clarity.

Book review: Here and Gone by Haylen Beck

Wednesday, August 9, 2017 Permalink

Although I enjoyed this book it needed to be a little bit ‘more’ for me. It started really well and author Haylen Beck built a lot of suspense early on. But the pacing felt a little off and it was almost as if there was a rush to get to the end… while the plot simultaneously fizzled out a little. The book however, did have a lot of potential and grabbed my attention enough that I was forced to read it in a night.

Book review: The Schooldays of Jesus by JM Coetzee

Wednesday, September 28, 2016 Permalink

You know when a book blurb includes the phrase ‘mesmerising allegorical tale’ that you’re in trouble. If you’re and a literary heathen (like moi) that is.

I was reminded of Charlotte Wood’s The Natural Way of Things, which many Aussies were disappointed not to see on the Man Booker Prize long / short list… which I read in my own very logical and literal way; discovering later that it was dystopian fiction with some deep meaning I’d missed completely.

Book review: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

Monday, July 4, 2016 Permalink

I’d had this book on my iPad to read for a long time before its publication date. I’d not heard of author Ruth Ware before, but many tell me they’ve read her previous book – In a Dark, Dark Wood – and enjoyed it a lot.

I liked The Woman in Cabin 10. It offered up a flawed lead character who may, or may not, be trustworthy as a narrator and a whodunnit of sorts.