The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
I love Ruth Ware. I am thankful that I was introduced to her through Book of the Month when I read The Woman in Cabin 10, and again for The Lying Game. I still need to read her other two books and I know I will get to them, but I picked up her most recent book, The Turn of the Key, for my next read, and just like always, was sucked into the mystery that Ware creates for her readers.
Rowan was not looking for a new job when she found the ad for a live-in nanny, but she thought it would not hurt to apply. In the interview, she falls in love with the extravagant smart home at Heatherbrae, the scenic Scottish Highlands, and the beautiful family. When she actually gets the job, she cannot believe it. But everything is too good to be true, and everyone is hiding something. These hidden truths result in the death of a child and Rowan in prison. From her cell, she pleads to her lawyer that while she may not have been completely innocent, she did not kill that child, which means a murderer is still out there.
I doubt that Ruth Ware knows this, but she definitely played to one of my fears in this book: a smart home being smarter than the people in it. I have made concessions and let Alexa into my home and control my lights; I ask Siri to set timers for me when I cook and trust that they will go off and I will not set fire to the oven; I even refuse to buy a car that does not have Apple Car Play in it. But everything in Heatherbrea House is smart and there are surveillance cameras everywhere, and that includes Rowan's bedroom. I can almost understand having one in the girls room since they are still so young, but give your nanny some privacy! Also, everything is controlled through a very complicated app that does not just outright say what it controls, and instead has weird symbols that control everything from lighting to music to heating and cooling to how the shower is set up. All of these things make think of the Disney movie from the 2000's with the smart house that falls in love with the dad and locks the family in the house (way to scare an 11 year old, Disney). While this house might sound like a dream house to my boyfriend, I am right there with Rowan in thinking this house is a nightmare, even if it is right on the marshes before the Scottish Highlands.
The "malfunctions" of the smart technology really play into the ghost aspect that Ware has perfected in adding into her stories. There is just enough weird coincidences that can make a person believe in ghosts, but not so much that it becomes unbelievable or takes over the plot. In the books I have read of Ware's, she has a way of taking a completely sane protagonist and slowly wearing them down with these coincidences making them think they are crazy and leaving the reader guessing if there is something supernatural behind everything, and then seamlessly explaining away everything, making the reader feel silly for getting pulled in to a ghost story - and I love it!
The mother, Sandra, really annoys me. She is a very contradictory parent: let the kids roam free, but record their every movement; I want them to be safe, but let me leave them with a stranger I have only met once. I do think she knew that her husband was a cheating bastard and that was why she felt the need to follow him across the world as they worked, but what she subjected her daughters to because of that was much worse than a divorce, and what eventually happens. You could tell the father was scum to begin with. The daughters were interesting characters, they were very complex for such little children, but with everything they had been through with their parents frequently gone and a new nanny every few months, they are allowed to have some angst and conflicted feelings. Jack Grant, the groundskeeper, really threw me through a loop when I learned his dirty little secret and I immediately went from rooting for him to despising him. But I could not figure out Rowans dirty little secret to save my life. I knew there was something more behind her "R" necklace she wore, and the one scene that would give the reader the clue they needed, I read a few more times and still though that Ware played this seamlessly and gave nothing away.
Oh, but the ending, the ending! It was so frustrating, so beyond frustrating. Before I could write this review, I needed clarification. I do not what to give it away, because this might as well be the best ending in any of her books and one of the best endings I have ever read. But I did my research and trust Goodreads did not let me, so I will leave this link here if you are interested or are as confused and baffled as I was...or if you just want to ruin the most magnificent ending.
As I have repeatedly stated, this is Ruth Ware at her finest. It combines so many beautiful, complex characters in extenuating circumstances and you cannot help but be pulled into their lives and try to figure everything out before it is too late.
Rating: 10/10
Author: Ruth Ware
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Dates Read: October 9-11, 2019
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| (Source: Kelsey Darling) |
Rowan was not looking for a new job when she found the ad for a live-in nanny, but she thought it would not hurt to apply. In the interview, she falls in love with the extravagant smart home at Heatherbrae, the scenic Scottish Highlands, and the beautiful family. When she actually gets the job, she cannot believe it. But everything is too good to be true, and everyone is hiding something. These hidden truths result in the death of a child and Rowan in prison. From her cell, she pleads to her lawyer that while she may not have been completely innocent, she did not kill that child, which means a murderer is still out there.
Content Warning: This book discusses sexual harassment.
I doubt that Ruth Ware knows this, but she definitely played to one of my fears in this book: a smart home being smarter than the people in it. I have made concessions and let Alexa into my home and control my lights; I ask Siri to set timers for me when I cook and trust that they will go off and I will not set fire to the oven; I even refuse to buy a car that does not have Apple Car Play in it. But everything in Heatherbrea House is smart and there are surveillance cameras everywhere, and that includes Rowan's bedroom. I can almost understand having one in the girls room since they are still so young, but give your nanny some privacy! Also, everything is controlled through a very complicated app that does not just outright say what it controls, and instead has weird symbols that control everything from lighting to music to heating and cooling to how the shower is set up. All of these things make think of the Disney movie from the 2000's with the smart house that falls in love with the dad and locks the family in the house (way to scare an 11 year old, Disney). While this house might sound like a dream house to my boyfriend, I am right there with Rowan in thinking this house is a nightmare, even if it is right on the marshes before the Scottish Highlands.
 |
| (Source: Giphy) |
The mother, Sandra, really annoys me. She is a very contradictory parent: let the kids roam free, but record their every movement; I want them to be safe, but let me leave them with a stranger I have only met once. I do think she knew that her husband was a cheating bastard and that was why she felt the need to follow him across the world as they worked, but what she subjected her daughters to because of that was much worse than a divorce, and what eventually happens. You could tell the father was scum to begin with. The daughters were interesting characters, they were very complex for such little children, but with everything they had been through with their parents frequently gone and a new nanny every few months, they are allowed to have some angst and conflicted feelings. Jack Grant, the groundskeeper, really threw me through a loop when I learned his dirty little secret and I immediately went from rooting for him to despising him. But I could not figure out Rowans dirty little secret to save my life. I knew there was something more behind her "R" necklace she wore, and the one scene that would give the reader the clue they needed, I read a few more times and still though that Ware played this seamlessly and gave nothing away.
 |
| (Source: Giphy) |
As I have repeatedly stated, this is Ruth Ware at her finest. It combines so many beautiful, complex characters in extenuating circumstances and you cannot help but be pulled into their lives and try to figure everything out before it is too late.
 |
| (Source: Giphy) |
Author: Ruth Ware
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Dates Read: October 9-11, 2019
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