I hadn’t heard of Ruth Ware before joining Bookstagram. She is one of those authors I’ve seen highly praised all over the book community, and even before reading any of her books I ended up collecting four of her books. The Turn of the Key is the first Ware book I’ve ever read and boy I am glad I pulled it out of my TBR jar this month.
The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
4 out of 5
Published in 2016, by Vintage Publishing
You can order a copy from Amazon, Waterstones
Blurb: When Rowan stumbles across the advert, it seems like too good an opportunity to miss: a live-in nanny position, with a very generous salary. And when she arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten by the luxurious ‘smart’ home fitted out with all modern conveniences by a picture-perfect family.
What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare – one that will end with a child dead and her in cell awaiting trial for murder.
She knows she’s made mistakes. But she’s not guilty – at least not of murder. Which means someone else is…
My thoughts: Do you guys take notes when reading a book? I tend to take more in a notepad when reading an eBook for some reason, and trust me the notes are MeSsY! Trying to gather the thoughts I wrote down about The Turn of the Key is like translating hieroglyphs..
I absolutely loved how the book was written. It is essentially a letter from Rowan to her (hopefully-would-be) solicitor Mr Wrexham. In this letter Rowan explains how she ended up in the prison and why she is now standing trial for murdering the child whose nanny she was.
When something sounds too good to be true it often is. This is what Rowan thought but put her worries aside when she arrived in Heatherbrae House for her interview. Ware created a perfectly dark and eerie atmosphere with the location and history of the Heatherbrae House; I got a nice spooky vibe throughout.
The pacing was good and it made me fly through the book in a day.
I felt slightly let down by the ending; having said that there was a JAWDROPPING moment that made me drop the book to my lap and shout “NO WAY!”
I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who have not yet read Ruth Ware. The Turn of the Key is a great place to start to get to know her writing style and get a feel for her as a new author. I read the book in a day, so that really does say something! Definitely recommend.
Have you guys read it? What were your thoughts? Do you agree with my rating?
Please mind that not everyone has read the book yet, so please keep the comments spoiler free (if you want to discuss the book in more detail, DM me on Instagram @bookskatlikes)
Kat x
!!Now – major spoilers below!!
I will be discussing the last chapter below, so unless you’ve read the book, please do not read further.
Firstly – Rhiannon did my absolute head in! Such a stroppy, rude teenager – I really did not like her.
And Bill – OHMYGOD, an absolute no-no; selfish, self-centered and hit on the nannies. Ew! Such a shame he turned out to be Rachel’s dad.
Rowan = Rachel?! Hey, this shocked me! It was the only time that made my jaw hit the floor and I loved the hell out of it! This is what I expect from a nice thriller/mystery novel. A twist that makes you reconsider every line you’ve read up to that point. All the yesses!
And the ending – guys! I am slightly baffled by the letter Ellie wrote to Rachel in prison telling how and why she killed Maddie? It definitely didn’t have the desired shock effect on me and felt truly pointless!
