But Lo isn’t just flawed, she’s also boring. I have said this a million times and I will say it again, I love flawed characters. This is especially evident in her behavior towards her boyfriend Judah before she made her departure and poor Nilsson, the head of security. But even keeping that in mind, it’s difficult to see her as anything but an entitled lackwit without any sense of self-awareness. Of course she’s going to be less amiable that she might otherwise be under normal circumstances. She’s a victim of a break-in and has been struggling with mental health issues for most of her adult life.

I tried to give her the benefit of a doubt. As the novel progresses, however, Lo goes from being unlikeable to being downright unbearable.

The events transpiring around her are enough to keep the reader invested in the story even if she is not a particularly enjoyable character. At first, this isn’t that much of an issue. I realize this is a matter of opinion, but I personally found Lo to be a tedious narrator. However, the biggest problem of the story, in my opinion, is what lead to its inevitable downfall: Lo Blacklock. Tensions are high, stakes are raised with each turn of the page.

Like most of Ware’s novels, The Woman in Cabin 10 is excellently paced (well, mostly, we will get to that). I have read many of her books leading up to this one, and so I was more than ready to break into one of her most popular reads.ĭon’t get me wrong, I was able to stick with it for some time. This book has been on my TBR list for some time now as I consider myself a pretty dedicated fan of Ruth Ware. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for-and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong… But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. Amazon Summary: Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware