Review of In a Dark Dark Wood

Well, this is a twist. Usually I read a book, love it and discover that this author wrote tons of books before this one. Because I'm perpetually late to the party! I'm still late to the party but this time I actually read Ruth Ware's first book (first for adults, at least) and discovered she has nine other thrillers I can read. Nine! I'm so excited! But first, more about her debut thriller In a Dark Dark Wood.

More about In a Dark Dark Wood

Nora hasn’t seen Clare for ten years. Not since the day Nora walked out of her old life and never looked back.Until, out of the blue, an invitation to Clare’s hen party arrives. A weekend in a remote cottage – the perfect opportunity for Nora to reconnect with her best friend, to put the past behind her.

But something goes wrong.

Very wrong.

And as secrets and lies unravel, out in the dark, dark wood the past will finally catch up with Nora.

More about Ruth Ware

Right now, I’m a full time writer, and I feel very lucky to be able to type that. I’ve done a whole lot of other jobs, from waitressing to bookselling, and much as I loved them, my dream was always to be an author, and I was so glad when I was finally able to make that happen. I’m writing this at my desk in my office-slash-guestroom, so there is a bed to my right, which is very tempting when work is going badly. My desk faces a blank wall, which is deliberate, because I prefer to make sure the pictures in my head are more interesting than the view in front of me. But if I turn my head I can look out of the window at a beautiful living wall of trees – which I love. I find it very hard to live without trees, which is maybe why there are so many forests, woods and copses in my books. The trees are mostly holly and laurel – which is good, because they are evergreen, so it means I have something cheerful year round. But of course, they are also spiky (holly) and poisonous (laurel). Maybe that helps keep me on track as a crime writer?

How I got here is still kind of a mystery to me – but all I know is that I always wanted to be a writer, right from when I was a little girl. I was always scribbling out little stories, and when I was about 7 or 8 my mum went back to college and took a typing course, so then I began to type them out on her old fashioned type-writer, which somehow felt much more like a “real” book. All through my teens I kept writing, mostly on sheets of lined A4 paper, clipped into a ring binder, and the stories got longer and longer, until they began to resemble full-length books. A “novel” would take about one whole ring binder. But I was always too shy to show them to anyone (apart from my best friend, who read a couple of them), so they spent most of their time under my bed, hidden from prying eyes.

When I was in my twenties I began to work in the book industry. On the one hand, it was a brilliant apprenticeship, and I learned a lot about how publishing works. On the other hand, it gave me a massive attack of stage fright. I was working with some amazing, award-winning writers, and had a first-hand glimpse into the number of brilliant books published every single week, and it became increasingly hard to imagine that there would ever be a place for me on those heaving bookshop shelves. I kept writing, but I kept putting the books under the bed. (Or rather, leaving them on my hard drive, as by this time I had learned to touch type and use a word processor).

Eventually, when I was in my thirties and had two very small children, I realised that my writing was a hobby, and that I didn’t really have time for hobbies any more. I was snatching writing time in 30-minute chunks here and there while my baby napped, time I should more sensibly have spent washing my hair, or catching up on my own sleep. And I realised that unless I did something drastic, I was going to find my writing time whittled down further and further, until it likely disappeared all together.

That “drastic” step turned out to be plucking up my courage, and finally sending out a book to agents. It felt like a leap of faith at the time – like the main character in The Turn of the Key, I don’t deal well with failure, and publishing is full of rejections and heartbreak and set backs. I got my fair share of all three along the way. But I kept going, and I’m so incredibly glad that I did.

I’m often asked what advice I would give to aspiring writers, and although I wish I had a magic formula or something that would work for everyone, I don’t. The truth is that your obstacles are maybe not my obstacles. But I can tell you what I wish someone had told me, all those years ago, which was, have faith, and hang in there. Keep reading, keep writing, and keep sending out your work even when you get knocked back. Oh, and learn to self-edit.

Thoughts about In a Dark Dark Wood

Do you trust me? Great, then I have only five words for you: You must read this book.

What? Not enough? Ok, let me see if I can scare up a few more words.

In a Dark Dark Wood is a book that keeps the readers off-balance from page one. Our narrator Nora has a rich inner voice that has you wondering what's really going on behind the information she doles out to us. There are also two timeline. Nora and the Hen Party and Nora and the Hospital. It's marvelously confusing (probably because Nora is confused) and I wasn't certain which came first, the Hen Party or the Hospital. Maddening - but in a good way.

So at the Hen Party something expected happens and, because author Ruth Ware has shown us the good and bad (crazy?) sides of each of the six people at the party you'll find yourself spinning from one to the other, certain they DID IT. Or is there a mysterious stranger lurking about in the woods? I'm getting chills just thinking about it.

The chapters are super short, dashing in with a wild scene or secret and leaving you saying, "Wait...what?" So you'll read another chapter, then another....the pace is breakneck and you'll find yourself unable to stop. This book is to reading what potato chips are to snack time.

This is an addictive book. Don't think you can read a bit, pick it up a few days later and read a bit more... Start this book when you can dedicate a weekend to reading or you'll be dragging yourself into the office with huge dark circles under your eyes because you were up until 2:30 a.m. reading. I swear, it was beyond my control.

Something Extra

If you want to start reading Ruth Ware RIGHT NOW, try her Book Club where you'll get a free short story to read and solve. There are also some other fun extras like giveaways, live chats and insider info. Sign up for the Book Club HERE.

If you want more info about In a Dark Dark Wood, Ruth has the first chapter, some audio, some extra writing (don't read until you finish the book) and more HERE.

You can also watch the Netflix adaption of The Woman in Cabin 10 with a favorite of mine, Kiera Knightley. Check out the trailer HERE.