Hello hello! Guess who’s back with a book review that is a long time coming!
Today I want to talk about one of my favorite reads of 2019 THE TURN OF THE KEY by Ruth Ware. While I do own a couple of Ware’s books, this is the first one I’ve actually had the chance to read. I totally wasn’t planning on reading it as soon as it came out, but when I stopped by my local library to pick up a book for my stepbrother’s class I saw it sitting on the new release’s shelf and I knew I had to snag it while I could. Man, was that a good call!
I started reading it on August 15th and finished on August 19th. It was so. Good. On GoodReads, I gave it a solid 5/5 stars because holy cow, guys, the plot twists!
Needless to say, my favorite parts were the plot twists at the end. I was hooked right from the beginning (or, let’s be real, right from the synopsis) but the last hundred pages or so are what really got me going. I’m not going to go into detail here because seriously, you need to read these twists for yourself to fully appreciate them. I remember sitting in my car, waiting for my brother’s soccer practice to finish up as I clutched the book, eating up every word trying to guess what was going to happen next. The main character, Rowan Caine, is someone I can sympathize with from the get go. She’s a nanny for a rich family in a supposedly haunted house who is in way over her head–but as the story progresses, you can tell she really loves the girls she’s taking care of, even if they don’t love her–looking at you, Maddie.
The ending has received mixed reviews online, but I stand by my initial thoughts when I read the final page: Oh my god I hate this so much I have so many questions this is so frustrating I LOVE THIS BOOK. I love reads that frustrate me (THE SILENT PATIENT by Alex Michaelides is another example of this) and this book did not disappoint. I wanted to scream when I got to the last page, the big reveal that solves the mystery once and for all… and opened up way more questions than it answered. I immediately texted everyone I knew and told them to pick this book up and get back to me ASAP.
I think it’s pretty clear that overall, I absolutely loved this book. I definitely recommend it to people who love a good gothic horror, who love some family drama, and who like ambiguity. I can’t wait to read more of Ware’s work!
A Fresh Startt 