The Turn of the Key

I really, really enjoyed this. I listened to it on audiobook and the narrator did a lovely job.

This book was well written, at times creepy, and had a bit of a mystery as you knew part of the ending when you begin reading (the main character is now in jail for killing a child she nannies for) but you don't know how that ending came about or if Rowan is innocent or not as she claims:

I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending but am giving it a solid 4 stars for now, though I may come back and bump it up to a 5 in the next day or two if I'm feeling that way.

Edit: about a month later still sitting solidly at a 4 star. The very, very ending with what happened to the main character just could have been better for me.

This was fun and compelling in an easy-reading kind of way. Just what I was in the mood for - far from Literary Fiction, you know there's going to be a twist or two, (and there's enough information to figure some stuff out and feel smart), and compulsively readable. I even got the audiobook so I could read while doing other stuff. The narrator is fantastic!

One thing I really liked was the protagonist wasn't just making bad decisions for no reason, or because she's an alcoholic or something. She's being deprived of sleep, which is a very relatable reason for not having all brain cells functioning! Also, she realizes when something is creeping her out at 3am, but she can't really TELL anyone or call the police, because those 3am fears sound very explicable and unthreatening when described in words to someone who wasn't there.

I will say I found the very end to be a letdown. It didn't really deliver on the twisty turny, mysterious and spine-tingling setup, for me. I figured out The Big Twist at about 45% of the way in, so that revelation didn't have a huge kick for me, and the final answers about who did what were just kind of sad, rather than thrilling or deliciously Gothic.

Still, it was a lot of fun getting there!

2/5

Great book, kept me hooked from the first page.

THANKS FOR THE ANXIETY RUTH

One thing I know about myself is that I dislike unreliable and unlikable characters, which the main character kind of is. And yet... it worked for me?

See, she herself is part of the mystery, part of the “something isn't right” feeling. I had thoughts on this too– regarding the mystery, the suspense. At the same time, it was one of the weakest links for me because it was so unbelievable and unsustainable. The main character was perhaps the weakest link to the book for me haha.

I'm a huge fan of books told in letters though, it is such an interesting storytelling format. While the writing here didn't always have me hooked, the mystery behind everything had me and forced me to continue reading, reading, reading, without wanting to stop.

Did the ending surprise me? YES, in more ways than one. Like that ending had me shook. It is an ending that I both loved AND hated.
Do I recommend this to people? 100% if you like thrillers or are even new to the genre, this is a good one to try.

3.5 to 4.

I really enjoyed this book. Kept me guessing till the end.

This was a very creeping, slow-paced book that kept me intrigued despite it's slowness. I liked the characters and was interested to see what happened, and the plot twists were pretty good, but they didn't make me gasp or anything. A pretty good thriller but not my favorite I've ever read.

I have high expectations going into this book since it received a lot of hype this year. This is also my very first Ruth Ware book and I had heard mixed reviews about her works but I was still so excited to read this.

The Turn of the Key, follows a nanny named Rowan where she applied to be a live in nanny to four children in a rich family. She moves in with this family in a high-tech house that has surveillance in every room, has voice activated appliances and everything else mostly works in a touch of a button. But then, she has been accused of murdering one of the children.

I thought that the premise of this book is very interesting which made me intrigued right from the start. I liked the writing in this book because it's written as a letter and it's easy to get into. The atmosphere is so well done that I can clearly imagine the setting right in my head. However, this story fell a little bit flat for me. It made me feel all the tension in the beginning, it dragged on in the middle and when it got to the ending, the tension and the build up of the story was just gone. Basically, it didn't deliver what I was expecting to happen and it also felt rushed. And the twist... oh the twist. As much as it pains me to say, the twist is so lame. It's so underwhelming that I didn't even flinch. Instead, I just rolled my eyes and stared into nothing for a couple of minutes. I also didn't like the characters that much because I thought that there's no depth to them.

I can see the potential of it being a good mystery/thriller book but it is poorly executed and I feel so bad because I really want to love this. Nevertheless, this is not the worst thing that I've ever read but it is definitely disappointing.

This would have been better if I cared at all about Rowen as a character. The epistolary format did not work for the narrative.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It's one of those stories where you don't really know what's going on until the last couple of chapters and then it all unfolds like you could never have imagined, but it all falls together seamlessly. Some of it I realized, of course, like who was causing the ‘problems' for the protagonist, but there were so many key components that led up to this and there was another ‘out of nowhere' background story where you say to yourself, “Wow! I never in a million years expected that!”. I read the hardback version that I got from Book of the Month for August 2019. I also had the privilege of listening to the audio book simultaneously via Scribd. The narrator, Imogene Church, is incredible - one of the best. I'm becoming a real Ruth Ware fan and I can't wait for her next book!

Ruth Ware's books are just fun. This was a great popcorn read. And, Ware just keeps getting better with time. Her writing is elevated enough to bring these types of stories to life with a hint of sophistication but a whole lot of old fashioned suspense. Very enjoyable.

Ruth Ware is echt een meester in het creëren van een dreigende atmosfeer en in dit boek is dit niet anders. Ik las het als een audioboek en ik voelde meermaals de haren in mijn nek rechtop staan (de creek-creek-creek was bijzonder spooky)

Het verhaal en de plottwists had ik vaak vrij snel in het snotje, maar net door de fantastische manier waarop het verhaal wordt opgebouwd, de manier waarop het verhaal wordt verteld, nam dit helemaal niks weg van mijn leesplezier. Ik kon het boek met moeite wegleggen.

Een spannende, meeslepende en atmosferische thriller, ideaal om bij een nachtlampje te lezen ;-)

I listened to the audiobook and it was very well done. The narrator added to the creepy atmosphere and suspense as the story unfolded. I found it to be a compulsive read and would highly recommend to mystery/suspense fans.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital review copy of this book.

Worst. Nightmare.

This was SOOOO spooky dooky and the atmosphere was absolutely amazing. I loved that this kept you wondering if what was going on was paranormal or not. There were multiple twists at the end and I guessed a couple of them, which I usually suck at, which brought my rating down a bit.
Overall, I loved this & would 10/10 recommend waiting until Spooky Season with some Spooky Songs in the background to read this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!