Skip to main content


    Second thriller/suspense novel of choice for the year and Ruth Ware doesn't disappoint! I actually nominated this novel for January's choice for a book club at my work and I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts on this storyline. One By One is a 2020 publication depicting a group of current and former coworkers taking a frigid getaway trip to the French Alps. With two ski chalet employees accompanying them during their stay, a weather-predicted avalanche causes the party to end with a serious note of survival. Ware develops the storyline through two POVs, that of Erin (one of the two chalet employees with extensive medical background) and Liz (a former employee of the start-up group staying in the chalet). Erin and Liz are portrayed as slight opposites, but they both take time throughout the storyline to sit back and watch what's occurring among the guests, which happens to be murder.

    As each character is picked off one-by-one, (of course I'm using a pun in relation to the title, who could pass up this opportunity?) the reader is sucked into both Erin's determination in discovering who's dishing out the blows and Liz's instincts on utter survival among those last standing. Despite the POVs only giving clear thoughts of two characters, it's apparent how others are feeling/thinking throughout the novel given the circumstances of constant vigilance in determining who might be committing the crimes. Three characters end up dead in total, a fourth missing for a precarious amount of time and in the end it's just Erin and Liz to sort things out together. Although, in that sorting between each other, either has come to the conclusion of who the true killer is - which just so happens to be the other of the two...

I love Ware's writing style. Short chapters, subtle details that keep the storyline moving and characters developing within just the right amount of time for a plot twist that blows your mind. As a reader, you need a bit of time to recover after finishing the book but you're always left wanting more of Ware's next publication. I appreciated the setting of the novel, especially given the time of reading it within the first month of the 2023 new year - in the middle of my hometown's third/fourth blizzard of the season. It only seemed fitting! I'd have to give this piece 5/5 stars! Admittedly, I thought I'd read Turn of the Key but that doesn't seem to be the case - I'm looking forward to that one next! :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

April 19th Poetry Prompt: Write a poem without using pronouns

Don't for the past 10 months the 19th day (between 30 + 31 of those accounted for) has been the most difficult for so many reasons death isn't easy especially in the aftermath + to think differently should fain ignorance sympathy is an honest tactic until pity seeps in (which doesn't suffice) actions are louder than words however these words spoke volumes in an attempt to quit bullshitting relationships were halted-- relationships in which happiness/ brightness/giving was demanded-- to harbor for one let alone all was inhumane so snip in response: no wedding invitations (something to smile at + not mean) to stop wallowing in sadness + own pity + emotionally invest in the happiness of other recipients around -- to fake it + make it for a group effort in other words: get the fuck over it  + stop letting shit fly by be happy for all around because emotions were contorted due to the decision to guard + - hope to hear a cons...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spirits and Swords!

Onyx and Ivory , by Mindee Arnett, was a complete spur of the moment buy at the bookstore and  I am forever patting myself on the back because this YA fantasy novel is a hit! The cover caught  my  attention on the shelf, but the synopsis-- a "traitor's" daughter at a point of finding out secrets and rekindling love with an unsuspecting partner? Count me in! Following Kate's story was simple and riveting from the get-co. Magic influenced Kate from birth and  she spends her adolescence hiding it -- a final rule and request from her father before he was executed by  the crown. The crown being Kate's supposed love -- Price Corwin. Corwin undergoes his own growing pains  and turmoil as he's set up against his older brother to,   literally ,   contend for the future of the crown!  Between personal discovery and growth both individuals deal with, magic has a stronghold influence on  the storyline, primarily between those who...
Post a Comment
Read more

Everyone's Relatable

     Fredrik Backman's Anxious People  is a 2019 publication, translated into English in 2021. This novel was nothing I had expected it to be based on the synopsis of a desperate individual who turned to robbing a bank in order to overcome current life circumstances. The novel follows a number of characters and their current livelihoods; individuals "held up" as hostages in the middle of an apartment showing which took place before the New Year holiday. I was impressed with the attention to detail Backman was able to portray, not necessarily in backdrops of locations but between the different characters' thoughts/lifestyles throughout the piece. What I expected of an individual in the beginning was not relatable to what was uncovered/divulged to the reader towards the middle/end of the novel.     This novel did follow the actions of a woman (not identified gender-wise until late into the novel) who chose to rob a bank in order to retrieve financial means t...
Post a Comment
Read more