Happy Wednesday! Here’s my review for Ruth Ware’s fifth novel, The Turn of the Key.

About The Book 📚

Publication Date: According to Netgalley it’s August 27th, but according to Goodreads the hardcover was published August 6th.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Goodreads Link

My Review

 › Inspired by The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, The Turn of the Key is the second Ruth Ware book that I’ve read. It’s a chilling story about twenty-seven-year-old Rowan Caine on trial for murdering a child while working as a nanny at Heatherbrae House in the Scottish Highlands. The story is told in letter-form to a lawyer, Mr. Wrexham.

› Heatherbrae House is part unique historic homestead – part modern, luxurious “smart” home. Doors, windows, heat, light, and sound can be all controlled via smartphone. Owners, Bill and Sandra, leave Rowan with their four daughters and two dogs, for a week while they are out of the country for work. It doesn’t take long for strange things to start happening, making Rowan feel like she’s losing her mind and wondering why the other nannies didn’t stick around.

 › Likes 😻
• Ruth Ware knows how to create an atmospheric setting.
• The Heatherbrae House, Rowan, unexplained happenings in the house, the sound of someone pacing in an empty room above you each night, a story told through letters, and a poison garden all make The Turn of the Key sound like a five-star book. I was turning pages, waiting for things to pick up, expecting a climactic ending, but was left feeling disappointed.

 › Dislikes
• Disappointment: This is a fascinating story that lacked execution. The weird things happening in the house needed to be turned up a notch. I was waiting to feel scared or worried for their safety, but that feeling just didn’t come.
• Disbelief: Why didn’t Rowan call the parents to talk about the problems that were going on? Rowan did not act like a 27-year-old. What parent would leave their four children with a nanny they hardly know for over a week?
• Dull: The characters lacked personality, the ending was unsatisfying.

 › Final Thoughts
• I liked Ruth Ware’s previous book, The Death of Mrs. Westaway much more than this one. I’m giving this 3 stars (2.5 rounded up) however, 76% of Goodreads reviewers gave this 4 or 5 stars, so I recommend you give The Turn of the Key a read!

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

About The Author

“Ruth Ware grew up in Sussex, on the south coast of England. After graduating from Manchester University she moved to Paris, before settling in North London. She has worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language and a press officer. She is married with two small children, and In a Dark, Dark Wood is her début thriller.”


https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9013543.Ruth_Ware

https://ruthware.com/

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