Reviewing in a dark, dark wood by Ruth Ware

I was genuinely excited to read “in a dark, dark wood” by Ruth Ware. There has been a lot of positive talk about her second and third novels, but I wanted to start with her debut novel, “in a dark, dark wood.” I wasn't sure what to expect. Her books are described as psychological crime thrillers. I'm not sure how much of a thriller this book was. It was rather....well, read my full-review below to find out.

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Near the end of what was supposed to be a fun, relaxed weekend in the English countryside at a bachelorette (Hen) party for Clare, Lenora wakes up in a hospital bed badly bruised, confused, a bandaged head and memory loss. The book and plot unfold as Nora remembers the events of the weekend. Then, the book delivers a predictable twist for an unclimatic ending.

What Nora uncovers for the reader is that she had fallen out of touch with her old best-friend, Clare, and decides both out of curiosity and guilt for not staying in touch that she will attend her Hen night. We also learn that Nora is still distraught over a relationship she had when she was 16. Why? Because there is this great, predictable, reason for the life-altering breakup. You know, the kind every sexually active sixteen year old fears. At the beginning of the night Clare tells Nora that she is going to marry none other than the ex-boyfriend that Nora has spent the last ten years so distraught over. One would think this was a big teenage drama was over, but the big foreseeable secret reason for the break-up is left looming chapter after chapter while Nora tries to piece together the events of a horrid Hen night with completely awful characters.

The characters in the book largely left me feeling quite annoyed. They were immature, judgmental and overly dramatic. The worst character of all was Clare's new best-friend, Flo. If I could have reached through the pages and slapped her, I would have. The reader has to suffer through nearly 23 chapters of this crazy annoying character to get to any meat and excitement, but that excitement is more like a one large wet, limp noodle than a great climax.

Reviewing The Space Between Words by Michèle Phoenix

I mentioned in a previous  blog post that I have an amazing book store in my home town of Monument, Colorado, Covered Treasures. In this amazing book store is an entire shelf dedicated to Advanced Reader Copies, ARCs. For a small donation to their charity, you can take home one of their many ARCs to read. Sitting on this shelf was The Space Between Words by Michèle Phoenix, a book that was released September 5, 2017. I was so pleased I picked up this book. Based on the description, I wasn't sure if this was going to read like an emotionally heavy Jodi Picoult book or an overly faith driven fiction book (the kind where either everything is due to the intervention of God or something terrible happens to someone and in return they find God and share that story with everyone). Instead, this book seemed to perfectly balance everything. I really enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it to everyone. A more specific book can be found below.

The Space Between Words by Michèle Phoenix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book takes on the seemingly impossible feat of having faith in a time of terror. The book begins with Jessica, an American girl trying to find her own way in life, regaining consciousness in a French hospital after the Paris terrorist attack at the Bataclan. She survived, and wants to run away from Paris, France and all of Europe as fast as she can, but her "platonically made for each other" best friend, Patrick, urges her not to leave and to follow-through with the treasure hunting trip they planned through southern France before heading back home to Denver.

The author, Michèle Phoenix, takes on the heaviness of the terror by stringing together words, each syllable a blow to the gut and the punctuation at the end of the sentence leaving your breathless. She flawlessly touches on all the facets of terror from the intentions of terror, to the sight of terror and the guilt of survival. With regards to the intentions of terror Phoenix has Patrick tell Jessica that: "The wanted you to feel so scared you'd never step foot outside again without looking over your shoulder and expecting more of the awful you've already been through." Jessica articulates the horrific sights and feelings of terror: "Death had burned its savagery into the fabric of my consciousness. I felt stained. Branded." Phoenix also has Jessica highlight the guilt of survival: "Little was said, but everything was spoken as the injustice and bliss of survival washed over me in jagged ways."

However, this story isn't a gruesome recounting of the events of the terror attack. This story is a relatively light, and entertaining read about discovering the history behind the faded documents Jessica found concealed in an antique sewing box. Through the treasure-hunt plot, the book tackles healing and how "...it's too easy to blame God for the stupidity of humans." In the end, it leaves the reader believing too that, as Grant said, "But if there is a God-the kind that weeps when the weak and powerless get hurt...that there's a force for good in this world....I want to believe that there's a force for good in this world and that that force won't let the bad have the final word. It doesn't explain or undo the darkness, but...I think somehow it covers it with light."

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