Still looking for twists which surprise me. 3.5/5 stars.
The blurb: Nora hasn’t seen Clare for ten years. Not since Nora walked out of school one day and never went back.
Until, out of the blue, an invitation to Clare’s hen do arrives. Is this a chance for Nora to finally put her past behind her?
But something goes wrong. Very wrong. Some things can’t stay secret for ever.
My take:
This review is short to avoid spoilers. It’s also rather disjointed, but that’s just my fault for being incoherent!
My experience with this book has compounded a suspicion which has been growing for a while: I think thrillers are ruined for me. I can’t help but spot the tell-tale sentences thrown in “casually” in the first third of the book. I’m instantly suspicious and trying to figure out why certain objects/decisions are significant. The upshot: the twists aren’t suprises 😦
In the case of In a Dark, Dark Wood, the lack of surprises are not the fault of the book at all. In fact, the twists are well-handled and the time switching between the “present” with Nora in hospital and the “past” sections as she tries to remember when the heck happened are very effective.
I also had a similar problem with this book to that I had with When She Was Bad (read my review of that one here): I didn’t like any of the characters enough to care who got bumped off, who did it, and who might get bumped off next!
However, if you’re a fan of dark thrillers, don’t let me put you off. In a Dark, Dark Wood is very well-written and structured. I can understand why it’s been so popular. But I’m still on the hunt for a thriller that makes me care about the characters and has a twist which is truly shocking.
Overall: if you enjoy dark thrillers, I’d encourage you to give In a Dark, Dark Wood a try.
Claire Huston / Art and Soul
Art and Soul 
Tire never incoherent! Are you the same with thriller films or just with books?
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I’m far worse with books. It’s that random apparently “throwaway” sentence which just jumps out at me every time 😦
Although, I do tend to be quite bad with films too. And sometimes the casting doesn’t help. I mean, you see Charles Dance and you know he’s the baddie!
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haha. He does tend to be for sure.
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Sorry the twist wasn’t suprising in this one.I liked The woman in cabin 10.This sound interesting.Enjoy your next thriller:-)
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Thank you 🙂
I want to read The Woman in Cabin 10 because I’ve heard good things. Perhaps that will be the one to surprise me!
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I try and limit how many thrillers I read in a row because I do the whole ‘looking for clues’ thing too!
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I can’t help myself. Every time I go into a thriller/whodunnit, I think “This time, I’ll just let it all wash over me.” Nope. Can’t do it. They might as well underline the clues!
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This one is waiting patiently on my Kindle…I hope to get to it soon. I have no problem with thrillers that aren’t total shockers…but it is fun to experience that kind of suspense, too. Thanks for sharing.
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The suspense is well-built in this one. I hope you enjoy it 🙂
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Ha ha, we’ve had this conversation before about how you see the clues a mile off and how I’m completely oblivious! 😉
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Every time I start one of these I think, “Just read it Claire, look past the details!!!” But they jump out at me 😦
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Ahh shame the twist wasn’t surprising- sadly I’m finding that with more and more thrillers these days!
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I know 😦 I think maybe once you’ve read a bundle you’ve seen most of the angles covered!
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Yeah definitely agree!!
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Great review! I can definitely see your point; while I still love thrillers, I tend to find the plot twists just not that surprising anymore lately. Maybe a little break should help?
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Thank you 🙂
This is with me only reading one a month! 🙂 I usually find them so stressful to read I can’t do more than that 🙂 This one wasn’t particularly stressful though because I didn’t really care what happened to anyone
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I normally love them, but I’ve been reading so many Netgalley thrillers that I just don’t enjoy them the same anymore… Or at least I don’t connect to the characters. I should probably do as you do and read only one or two a month as soon as I’ve caught up with my ARCs.
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I think the more you read, the more you’re able to predict the outcome of stories. That ones that shock you are the ones that end up sticking in your mind. Great review!
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I think that could be the problem. The second there’s any kind of hint, I’m guessing all the possible endings based on the previous books I’ve read 🙂
Thank you!
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