[Synopsis]

In this tightly wound story, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong…

[My Review]

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this novel – I’ve read some brilliant thrillers recently but many of them kind of merge into one another. This, however, really stood out to me and had me hooked from pretty much the first page!
Ruth Ware’s writing is great – the main character, Lo, really made me care about her, something which doesn’t always happen in these kind of novels, and even the people who you’re not supposed to completely like are well developed and interesting – and that’s the main thing. They need to make you want to read about them, whether you actually like them or not!
The story managed to be really different whilst still retaining the classic tropes of the genre; someone pursuing someone else, them being made to feel like they’re perhaps the one going crazy, the reader sometimes isn’t sure themselves… I won’t give anything else away but despite all these usual elements, the story managed to stand out to me, an avid suspense/ mystery reader! I definitely agree with others who have said that this novel is reminiscent of an Agatha Christie novel – it’s a testament to the author that this is true, I feel!
The story has enough twists and turns to keep me interested without being too crazy or ridiculous – I never lost sight of what was going on and really enjoyed reading it!

[Rating: 5/5]

Many thanks to Random House and Netgalley for providing a copy of this novel in return for an honest review