Book Review - In a dark, dark wood

In a dark, dark wood by Ruth Ware

Geez - this was one of the hardest books for me to review... for SO many different reasons.... but before I list all of those I want to say... I did like this book but it was nothing special. The reason I gave it a 4 was because it was a popular book, read by a lot of popular people and 3 1/2 stars just didn't seem like enough...

One thing I am excited about though is it's supposed to be made into a movie sometime soon - and I would LOVE to see how the interpreted it into a movie (It might even be better - which is rare)

But first....

Quick Summary

This book is mainly about Nora/Lee (she is called many different names) who is kind of a lonely woman who enjoys it that way, until one day she is invited to a Hen Party (bachelorette party) to a friend she hasn't talked to in over 10 years. She ends up going which she finds out is a mistake because old memories keep resurfacing and she's not enjoying her time there. Things start to fall apart when people leave, get too drunk, and play jokes on one another - and someone ends up paying for it with their life. The book is told between two different times - the first one is the past, during the Hen Weekend and the other is with Nora in the hospital after the Hen Weekend. While Nora is in the hospital she tries remembering the events that led her to where she is now.

Okay... so here is the things that made this book so freaking difficult to rate...

1. The cover of the book... yes yes I am judging the cover ONCE AGAIN but the cover to me says "this book is scary and it will creep you out" but no... this book wasn't scary at all... which brings me to my next point which is Reece Witherspoons review saying something along the lines of "its super scary".... cue eye roll....

This book was a mystery at best with a side of suspense. Like just because you are a famous actress doesn't mean you are an expert book reviewer... shaking my head.

2. This book was SUPER predictable like I guessed who the killer was going to be right away haha... but for some reason that didn't make this book less enjoyable and maybe that's because the author did a great job at trying to trick your brain into - well maybe it could be this person because ABC....

3. This book was based in England so the dialogue was very foreign to me which made it harder to relate to but sometimes I would find myself reading to myself in a British accent and it was somewhat enjoyable haha. (I hope I'm not the only one who does this)

Characters

There aren't that many characters in this book so you end up finding and learning more about he main 6 characters pretty well and I am happy about that because a Hen Party with 20 people would just be too much to read into. Nora was definitely my favorite character because to me she was realistic... and I believe it's the last page.... the thing she did was honestly super surprising to me but made me like her more. Everyone else was pretty predictable and boring... the only thing I can't figure out is why she is friends with Nina... her attitude would honestly piss me off and while that's probably her coping mechanism or whatever... it's still no excuse.

Overall y'all if you love a good Agatha Christie Novel such as "omg who killed who..it could be any of us - even me" then you will love this book. It's an easy 300 page read and for some reason kept my attention 95% of the time!