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Christine A. (965 KP) rated The Turn of The Key in Books

Sep 10, 2019  
The Turn of The Key
The Turn of The Key
Ruth Ware | 2019 | Thriller
7
7.7 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

What would you do if you were in jail for murder? Try to get someone to help you, of course. That is exactly what the main character in Ruth Ware's latest, The Turn of the Key, attempts to do. From her jail cell, Rowan Caine writes her lawyer begging for his help.

I work in a courtroom in the criminal court system and hear trial after trial of people accused of various felonious crimes, including murder. I heard countless defendants testify. However, their stories are always fed bit by bit as the attorneys ask questions. This book is a defendant's story as it happened, from her point of view, from start to finish.

While I enjoyed the format, I found the story hard to get into. I am glad that I finished reading it because the surprise ending makes the story worth reading.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the story takes place inside a smart house. The house is so central to the story it could be considered a character itself. Ware makes us question whether the convenience of smart technology is worth the lack of privacy.

The story is a slow burn but worth reading.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 9/9/19.
  
    Cryptid

    Cryptid

    8.0 (2 Ratings) Rate It

    Tabletop Game

    You've studied the footage, connected the dots, and gathered what meager evidence you could. You're...

40x40

ClareR (5864 KP) rated Hold Back the Night in Books

Jul 7, 2024  
Hold Back the Night
Hold Back the Night
Jessica Moor | 2024 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I’m still reeling from this book, and I read it about a month ago.

Hold Back the Night is set in 3 timelines:
1959, Annie and Ruth are training to be psychiatric nurses in an institution that believes they’re at the forefront of treatment. They learn to speed-shave and dress male patients, hold down women receiving ECT, and take part in conversion therapy for some male patients. “Conversion therapy” sounds pretty harmless, doesn’t it? In reality it wasn’t.

1983, Annie is widowed and bringing up her daughter, Rosie, alone. She meets a young man who is ill, and his friend. She learns that he has been evicted because he has HIV. Annie offers them a home and nursing care. Soon her home becomes a haven for infected, homeless, shunned boys. I think in the back of her mind, she knows she’s trying to make amends for her part in the conversion therapies she took part in.

Which brings us to the third timeline in 2020, and Covid.
There are some parallels to be drawn (uncertainty, fear), but this timeline wraps everything up together, and Annie faces up to her part in 1959.

I loved this book, and the way the timelines wove together really helped me to understand Annie and her reasons for doing just what she did - rightly or wrongly.

Definitely one of my books of the year.