The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion
This topic is about
The Turn of the Key
Group Read Discussions
>
March 2024 Group Read with spoilers: The Turn of the Key
date
newest »
newest »
So many books to read this month but hope to get to this one if I can find it in all my boxes 🤞🏻
Just picked up this book. I can’t wait to dive in. This will be the first book from this author for me. I look forward to our discussion.
I’ve read this book in the past and I’m gonna reread it again for the purpose of this discussion. It’s one of my favourite books I read last year. Can’t wait to lead this discussion!
Just ordered a copy of this book!
I'm a huge fan of Ruth Ware and read this book in 2019. Here is my review (there aren't really spoilers but they might be considered spoilers):I have conflicting opinions about this book. The first 70%, while entertaining, never really grabbed me--there was something very measured about the writing, and I knew I wasn't being told the full story. Which is okay, I like an unreliable narrator as well as the next person...but this wasn't that. The next 25% became a page turner and I was like, yes, this is what I was looking for (even if the clues were unfair, since there is no way anyone could see what was coming, coming). But the end was just so disappointing. Definitely my least favorite of Ware's books to date.
I'm on the waiting list for the audiobook at the library.
Judy wrote: "I'm a huge fan of Ruth Ware and read this book in 2019. Here is my review (there aren't really spoilers but they might be considered spoilers):I have conflicting opinions about this book. The firs..."
Yes, that's my opinion too. The ending is terrible and in my opinion the whole concept of the book falls flat. (view spoiler)
I found myself flying through this book. I enjoy reading right before bed, and would end up going down the rabbit hole reading this and realizing that what should have been a few minutes before I drifted off turned into a couple of hours later. It's extremely well written and Ware's voice is so familiar and inviting.This was my fist Ware book. And I have continued to grab her books time and time again! I did find some of her descriptions to be a bit extraneous and unnecessary at points and did skim a bit of the sections that described the scenery. I know that they're well-written. I just don't always care about those types of descriptions because my attention span isn't always there. Ha!
Judy wrote: "I'm a huge fan of Ruth Ware and read this book in 2019. Here is my review (there aren't really spoilers but they might be considered spoilers):I have conflicting opinions about this book. The firs..."
Huge fan of Ware myself! This is one of my favorite's from her.
Amanda wrote: "Judy wrote: "I'm a huge fan of Ruth Ware and read this book in 2019. Here is my review (there aren't really spoilers but they might be considered spoilers):I have conflicting opinions about this b..."
Which only goes to prove reading is subjective!
Just finished this book, and while I didn’t dislike it, it was just so so for me. The 75% of the book leading up to the murder did have me flying through the pages wanting to read more, but I found the ending to be too simplistic. It was disappointing and not very believable in my opinion. Maddie may have been discerning and troublesome, but it still seemed a little out there that she would be that sneaky to continuously go on the roof into the attic just because she wanted to scare the nanny’s away. And that a child (8 I think) would have deciphered a plan to try to poison Rachel in the wine. I was surprised that Bill was Rachel’s biological father and that’s what spurned the whole idea to try to be the nanny and meet him. The snippet about Jack ending up being married with a child seemed pretty random. I gave it 3 of 5 stars, mainly because of the disappointing ending. I’ve previously read a different book by Ruth Ware, The Woman in Cabin 10, and liked that one better.
I've just finished listening to the audible edition and did not guess how the murder happened. It held my attention throughout; thus, it earned 5*s.
I enjoyed this book. 4 stars for me. Having read 4 of her books i will continue to read her books. I also didn’t guess the ending and it was pretty creepy. It stayed with me for a couple days thinking about it. Though not in a super disturbing way like a recent popcorn thriller I just read. To give a couple spoilers since this is the spoiler thread (Warning). I wanted to see how things turned out for the main character. Also i thought we would meet the lawyer and see the trial. Fooled me. Overall i am glad I read this book!
I've read two other of Ware's books that just didn't light my fire. But this one was so, so good. I thought it all (including and especially the ending) were perfect. I could re-read it again right now and enjoy it just as much.
The highlight of this book was the delightful reading by Imogen Church, the voice actor. Not only was she an excellent actor, but she did a marvelous job with the many English and Scottish accents. The plot centers around Rowan, the new nanny at a creepy old haunted(?) house in Scotland which has been totally upgraded electronically with technology so advanced only a 7-year-old can possibly understand it. The pay is incredible because the preceding four nannies have left suddenly and without warning. Why? (Cue ominous music) But the man and lady of the house take off immediately after Rowan arrives and Rowan is left with three young girls who vary from adorable to hateful. There is yet a fourth daughter, a teenager, who is away but who is expected to return. From the first day, weird and frightening things happen – creepy noises at night, the climate system going wrong, locked doors becoming unlocked and vice versa. You get the idea. The story is told in a series of letters from Rowan to a solicitor asking for legal representation as Rowan has been charged with the murder of a child. We don’t know who the victim was or why she’s been charged.I thought it was going to be a crime mystery, but the murder part is left alone till the very end. The main body of the story is really a haunted house/ghost story, not what I was looking for. The plot suffered from a lack of plausibility and Rowan is a hopelessly inept character, hard to find sympathetic. I was disappointed in the ending, but the story had enough action of the creepy sort to stay somewhat interesting.
Jenni wrote: "Just finished this book, and while I didn’t dislike it, it was just so so for me. The 75% of the book leading up to the murder did have me flying through the pages wanting to read more, but I found..."Spot on, Jenni. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't always compelled to pick this book up - I found it very readable and it kept me guessing. However, a lot fell short for me in the end. I found it a really cool setup to invoke the "smart" house and all of the mayhem that could ensue as a result of that technology, but, I thought that angle was never fleshed out to its full potential. The "twists" inserted, like Jack being married and Bill being Rowan's dad felt like they just existed to elicit a gasp, rather than having any plot consequence. I don't understand the need to frame the story within the format of a letter to a lawyer. And the end reveal was hard to believe and entirely too rushed, especially on the heels of a great deal of attention and page space spent revisiting essentially the same events -- house is dodgy, kids don't like Rowan, noises upstairs, Rowan not sleeping and disheveled, Jack to the rescue. Kind of disappointing, too, after all that setup, that nannies were leaving in droves because of a perv dad, rather than something supernatural or intriguingly sinister. And then the discovery of the pages by an unrelated character at the end, employing another element that added no value, was weird to me. I'd have preferred to find out what happened to Rowan. Still giving this 3 stars, because it kept me interested and engaged throughout. Ware's books are kind of like junk food to me :)
Until the ending, I was enjoying myself being scared for Rowan. But that ending! No, that was unrealistic. The girls were eight years old (Maddie) and five years old (Ellie). There was no way Ellie could be that ‘on it’ intellectually.
Here's the discussion thread for The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware lead by Wiam.
Enjoy!