In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

🔲 DNF’d

🔲 Don’t bother

🔲 Would recommend

✅ +TBR ASAP!

🔲 I will re-read

Published by Simon Schuster Audio July 19, 2016

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

Tropes: whodunnit, “perfect” girl

🌶️ 0/5- no spice

📖 Length: 9 hours, 35 minutes or 310 pages

⚠️ Trigger warnings: murder, gun violence, negligence with a firearm, death, blood, car accident, suicide attempts, poisoning, toxic friendship, mild drug use, mild alcohol consumption, gas lighting, outing, pregnancy mention (multiple), abortion mention

🤓 ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY 🤓 

Nora is surprised to be invited to a hen weekend for her former best friend since they haven’t spoken since in more than 10 years— but what starts out as an awkward and cheesy bachelorette party ends in gunshots and bloodshed, and Nora can’t seem to find all the pieces to put the puzzle together.

👀 REVIEW 👀

A classic whodunnit with a “perfect girl” twist, this was a great suspense story and I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns— and I even thought I knew where it was going and was proven wrong. The way Ware uses Nora’s memory loss to slowly reveal the facts can be cliche or cheesy but I think in A Dark, Dark Wood, it was well done.

This wasn’t as great of a twist as The It Girl (one of my top 3 for 2024), but it was exciting just the same. I do feel like some characters could have been written better/ more likably and it still would have fit the plot. The constant digging at specific characters to make them SO unlikable almost made them unbearable. I also feel like the death shown was kind of abrupt and brushed over- I wasn’t hoping for gory details, but it just seemed so quick, I didn’t feel like I was fully able to grasp and process it and its implications on the story.

There was great world building and backstory establishment. The story wasn’t given up too quickly nor did it keep you confused for too long without an explanation. The setting was described well so you could really picture what was happening, but it didn’t use 500 words to describe a door like some books can do- I think Ware hits a strong balance here. The pace was consistent and there was a “comfortable” tension throughout the entire story; there were no particularly gripping spots but I never felt bored either.

Diversity wasn’t a huge focus but I think was also done well- there is a wide variety of characters who fit all kinds of unique representation, and it doesn’t feel forced or inauthentic at all. It can be difficult to illustrate true diversity without representing identities you don’t personally know in a poor light or simply inaccurately. Ware describes characters with diverse backgrounds without making them too specific and again, strikes a good balance between characters you feel you don’t know and characters you only wish you didn’t.

There was wonderful foreshadowing and I think it would be fun for a mystery lover to reread to see if they can spot the clues. Overall, I don’t think it’s Ware’s best but I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone who likes thrillers!