I'm traveling right now in Finland with a group of my students - 15 of them! - and a couple of other teachers. It's all part of an exchange program we have between our schools.
When I was packing for this trip, I had to make a call about what books I would be bringing with me. I had quite a stack of marking already packed, plus gifts for the school and other teachers involved, and I was only traveling with a carry on.
So I needed to be selective with my book packing.
Because this is a picture I took of the books my husband and I brought on our vacation this summer:
Yeah. You can see the problem.
So, I only brought a couple books with me on this trip. Today's book review looks at one of them.
In a Dark, Dark Wood is the debut novel by Ruth Ware. I rarely buy books marketed as "scary", but this one I picked up because, quite frankly, it's freaking gorgeous.
See?
And it's all textured!
So, I judged a book by its cover, and bought it.
My expectations were high, so I saved it for my reading right before Halloween.
My expectations were not really met.
Now, I am going to be totally fair and explain that maybe, maybe this review is affected by sleep deprivation and jet lag, and the fact that I've been reading a lot of Stephen King it seems.
It's pretty hard for a book that promises to be "scary" to live up to Stephen King.
That being said, though, this one was the equivalent of a giant shoulder shrug.
I wasn't really scared at any point, and I'm one of those people who runs up the stairs from the basement just to get out of the dark.
In other words, I scare pretty easily.
The writing was fine; I actually liked the style in some places.
But my major problem with this book was the characters.
It's told in first person narrative, so we see the world through Leonora, a young woman and reclusive writer. She experiences "revelations, [...] an unnerving memory, [...] and a haunting realization."
The problem is, I just really didn't care about Leonora.
No, that's not quite right. It isn't that I didn't care. I actively didn't like her.
Which can be fine. There is no rule saying you have to like the protagonist. I don't always like Danielle in my own novel! But in this book, I think we are supposed to like Leonora.
In a story like this, I want to cheer for the protagonist. I want her to be flawed, sure, but also complex, and if not outright kick-ass, at least redeeming.
I just couldn't get behind Nora. She's so adolescent and judgmental... most of the characters came across that way, actually.
The story itself is a little uneven, though it's entertaining enough. It's mostly fast-paced throughout, so although I was left wanting more, wanting to care, I didn't feel like a lot of my time was wasted at least.
Overall, this read was fine, but not great.
I probably could have read it at home and saved the suitcase space for something else.
Have you read this new novel? Have you ever felt rather disappointed by a beautiful book not quite delivering?
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