The Turn of the Key
Ratings215
Average rating3.8
The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware ISBN 9781784708092
New nanny working for a family living in a remote home in Scotland. They can't seem to hold on to a nanny, all leaving the place after the house appears to be haunted with its dark history and secrets... A child dies while in her care....Here is her story.
A unique way of writing since the main character wasn't for me, at all likeable and while the format is through letters she's writing to a lawyer from prison , it's a novel approach, the way she formats her book, but not unheard of. I've read many books set out this way and its not more difficult than reading it as if it were a diary.
When Rowan, a young nanny who lives in London, comes across for an ad seeking a nanny to live in a remote area of Scotland, it sounds way too good to be true. The pay is too good to turn down, the house.. breathtaking, and the family seem welcoming and maybe this is the perfect fit . She is warned that previous nannies have quit due to the house being spooky and eerie and full of ghosts... she pays no heed to the warning, she doesn't believe in ghosts. She manages to secure the position, packs up her life and moves to the lush greenery and peace of Scotland. Little does she know that dark secrets never remain hidden.
One of most fascinating parts about The Turn of the Key is the house!. The whole place is full to the brim with technology and runs off an app... That's pretty cool by any standards but right there, wouldn't that make you wonder why a house, that sits in a place full of tranquility and rolling hills, needs to be loaded to the hilt with more gadgets than a computer store? The whole place called Heatherbrae (nice name), it takes on a life of its very own.
The house itself, is my favourite part of the whole book. Gothic and intriguing. Would I spend the night there? NO!
The Turn of the Key is told only through Rowan's eyes, as she tells us what led to her arrest through a series of letters to a solicitor. Rowan isn't the best at the truth and you never fully know what's real or embellished. While this type of narrative style can be annoying and wearing, I found that it was a clever way for us to get a more detailed account of Rowens time at Heatherbrae. One just needs to continue to question whether or not her version of events is accurate.
There are a few twists and turns and you will be lead on a merry chase. I found it a little predictable and I found myself getting annoyed with the pace a few times but I really enjoyed it for the most part. I maybe, would have liked another characters point of view for balance. Could have come as newspaper articles or a diary maybe. I felt a little unbalanced but I can totally see what the author was trying to accomplish. It was slow in places but the build up with nice and steady and you can really feel the pull of a big surprise coming.
She finished the book with a bang and it was worth the slow pace to get to the gooey end. I love Ruths work so I already was a little in love with the book before I read it and I wasn't disappointed.
If you are looking for a gritty but slower paced psychological thriller than this is the read for you. It was a fascinating read. 4 stars out of 5!
Dark & musty, with a smell of death and abandonment.
Very well written, but totally ridiculous, mystery thriller with a bunch of unpleasant characters doing extremely odd things just to make the plot work. Setting the story in a smart house in the isolated highlands of Scotland, rather than the leafy snoburbs of a large city, was a neat idea and added to sense of dread and loneliness . The resolution made me sigh but the big twist was Star Wars(ish).
Summary... Utterly bonkers, but was I entertained? Yes I was.
A few things
1. I'm sorry, Ruth Ware is not the Agatha Christie of our generation
2. Maybe I'm just old fashioned but I don't think Teslas and smart houses belong in gothic horror it just killed the vibe for me
3. The ending didn't really make sense and felt very forced
4. To whoever at Booklist made a “starred review” of this saying it's a spin on the Turn of the screw's gothic foundation, I think you need to reread that book (and probably watch House of Bly manor because THAT is how you put a “spin” on turn of the screw)
Aku mencoba buku Ruth Ware di tahun 2018 lalu, In A Dark, Dark Wood dan The Woman in Cabin 10. Keduanya kurang cocok.
Setelah hampir 5 tahun aku mencoba lagi karyanya, berharap yang ini mungkin lebih cocok. Namun ciri khas karya dia masih sama, tokoh utama wanita yang sangat sulit untuk disukai, lubang pada plot cerita disana sini dan penyelesaian yg terburu-buru dan sangat dipaksakan.
Setelah tiga kali sudah mantap menyampaikan selamat tinggal pada karya2nya.
NEW FAVORITE IM ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED WITH THIS BOOK! Definitely a top 10 read I was so scared it was gonna be rushed at the end but it was PERFECT every second of this book
The story itself was very well built but it was a very plain ending to a strongly built story....
hm so... the whole book was great until the ending and the little plot twists before the big plot twist. They weren't needed at all and take away from the story.
I didn't like the end or any of the plot twists but i still am rating this 4 stars because of the writing, characters, setting and just everything until the last 50 pages.
This book had me sweating and i had to close the book so many times because it was making me sooo nervous. I definitely want to read more books from this author!
I was having a good time reading this book, right up to the end. The ending seemed rushed and predictable. It was just okay.
4.5
So creepy,eerie,scary and intense. My fav by Ruth Ware so far!!
I loved the backstory abt the house and abt the biologist and his poisonous garden, it was very creepy and eerie! I wish we had gotten a letter from the solicitor coz I feel like the book ended on a kind of cliffhanger? coz we didn't know what happened to Rachel
This is my second book from this author and it was a far better read. Having said that I wish it was edited a bit. I know it's only around 300 odd pages but wow are there so many “huh? I don't remember that item being there” or “did I hear something?” moments where the author is trying to amp up the suspense. By 150th time I'm just waiting for the reveal.
Rowan was also a very confusing character. Shes flawed but also a bit ambivalent; happy and caring one minute while brimming with rage the next. By the end, my only reaction to the twist was “oh okay”. I think I'd had enough of Rowan.
Nevertheless a creepy suspenseful read.
The book had lots of gothic atmosphere to it but with a more contemporary setting. Is the nanny unreliable? Is she imagining stuff? Are the children evil? Is the house evil? Are the parents at fault? Lots of character development and the development of the relationship of the nanny and the kids is nice. Interesting turn at the key, like every good gothic mystery.
First of all omg did NOT see the ending coming!! This book had Bly Manor vibes so if you enjoyed that you may like this.
Es mi segundo libro de Ruth Ware, a la que consideran una de las nuevas reinas del suspense psicológico en Reino Unido. Las reseñas que había leído eran un poco dispares entre sí. Me ha gustado. Lectura ágil y argumento que atrapa. Mantiene la intriga desde el principio. A medida que avanza, es más interesante. Final inesperado. Lo recomiendo.
This was really good! Creepy and spooky vibes, solid mystery and a mix of weird, unreliable characters.
The ending was somewhat unsatisfying. I still enjoyed it a lot so I definitely recommend this one, especially if you listen to the audiobook.
This had kind of a slow, creepy build up, and I liked it. I also thought the way it's written as a letter is really interesting. (I'm aware it's not realistic, but I don't care, I think it's cool!)
3.5 Stars
The Turn of the Key is a creepy thriller. Starting with Rowan, a nanny, finding the post of her dreams then ending with shocking and devastating events that leave and child dead and Rowan in a prison cell.
It starts simple with a nanny wanting more out of her life. She is in a job that she hates, lives in a flat alone with no close friends or family in the city. She finds the job of a lifetime. A live in nanny position caring for 3 small children and a teenager in a remote house in Scotland. The house a mixture of old victorian and modern that is completely incorporated with technology. She cannot pass up the opportunity but there are heavy hints that not everything is as it seems.
From the beginning of her post she is riddled with mishaps. From technology not going her way, to not being prepared for how remote the house is, to the children not being quite as sweet as they first appeared. Not only those issues but issues arise that are difficult to be explained.
For most of the novel you are trying to figure out if the chilling nightmare Rowan is living is the work of the supernatural or a person(s) with ill intent. Told in the form of a letter to a solicitor that she is trying to convince to take her case. The book starts with the fact that a child is dead and the narrator is accused and awaiting trial for the murder. From there the narrator is creating a narrative for the solicitor to explain her side of things.
There were definitely some twists that I called early on but felt the reveal of them were still satisfying. It was a page turner with me changing my mind numerous times of what exactly I thought was going on. However, I did feel I was left with some plot hole and questions. Some portions of the story that, I believe, were meant to increase the creep factor and give you more things to question, weren't resolved in a way that made me feel satisfied. The parts I felt that were meant to creep out the reader didn't do it for me. The story as a whole was completely intriguing and I thought the reveal of the novel was done well. This is my first Ruth Ware novel and I am very excited to read more of hers.
My experience with Ruth Ware books is so erratic. I really enjoy some of her works, yet really dislike others. This one falls in the enjoy category. I rated it 4 stars because I liked the ending. There was enough of an interesting twist to make the book memorable.
The first half of this book was slow for me. I was not as interested in the narrator's experience as I hoped I would be. I would have liked for the action to begin a little earlier. Once the strange things in the house started to increase, I became more invested in the plot and really enjoyed the reading.
Since the book ended on a positive note for me with an interesting twist, I can say that I would recommend it.
As a modern retelling of The Turn of the Screw I was sceptical at first as I didn't enjoy the original. I saw a lot of positive reviews for Ware's interpretation and ended up receiving this via a giveaway on bookstagram.
I enjoyed this much more than ‘...of the Screw'! The modernised elements (such as the smart house) gave more avenues to explore strange goings-on at Heatherbrae and had me guessing. It is a clever use of technology in a ghost(-ish) story, proving that not all spooky things have to be in ancient mansions purely by candlelight.
I would have liked to have known what happened to the characters after the end of the main story - written as a letter from the protagonist as she waits in jail for trial - but I'm content enough to draw my own conclusions.
A good thriller, cleverly written and enjoyable (so much so I finished it all in one day).
4.5 stars. Ruth Ware never disappoints. I loved this creepy, atmospheric novel.
I was really hoping this wouldn't be a rip off of Turn of the Screw and while it wasn't EXACTLY, there were elements. I found the ending too rushed and all was explained in a page and a half. There are some wonderful bits of gothic suspense throughout and I did like the modern touches to what is a well worn story, but I felt duped by the ending.