I love Ruth Ware’s twist and turns. This book had some really creepy factors in it. I really enjoyed the supernatural side and how creepy the house made you feel. Highly recommend.

*4-4.5 stars. I thought this gothic thriller was very well done. We know right from the start that our narrator Rowen is a nanny who is accused of murdering one of the children under her care. She is writing to a solicitor, protesting her innocence, asking him to take her case, and telling him the whole story in her letter. We soon learn that Rowen is a very unreliable narrator but is she a murderer?

Rowen takes a highly-paid position working for the Elincourts in their renovated manor house in rural Scotland. Both parents are busy architects who must travel for business, leaving Rowen alone to care for their four daughters. Their 'smart house' is rather difficult for Rowen to handle with lights and music going on inexplicably in the middle of the night, a door bell ringing when no one is there. But what bothers her even more is the relentless sound of pacing in the attic above her bedroom, making it impossible to sleep. What's behind that locked door in her room? Could the house be haunted as local rumors suggest? Is she going crazy?

Ruth Ware is a masterful storyteller--the pacing is just right to build tension and horror. The big question throughout is which child dies and who did it, if not Rowen. I was really drawn into the story as Rowen faced many problems dealing with these difficult children who had seen numerous nannies come and go. I'm sure any reader who has worked with children as babysitter or teacher could relate as well!

I received an arc from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am very grateful for the opportunity.

Ruth Ware’s The Turn of the Key kept me on my toes, wondering what was really going on, Clues were definitely presented along the way, but did not come together for me until the end, This is a good and quick mystery with questions still afloat at the end.

This is my first book by Ruth Ware. I’ve heard many excellent reviews about it, and after reading it, I can tell you just how accurate those are.

The entire story is told by Rowan, a nanny. As you start reading, part of the ending is revealed. This completely threw me off at first, but you slowly learn the events that took place prior to the tragedy...

The final 25% of the book had me not wanting to put it down, and that is when the plot twists will start to come at you like rapid fire. I thought that I had it all figured out, but I definitely didn’t. I’m left with a few questions, but I’m overly satisfied by this one.

I love a good ghost story, and this one's a doosy! It kept me guessing until the very end. I Love it!

This might be one of my new favorite thrillers! Although I wouldn't exactly classify this as a thriller, but more of a slow building mystery. Full review will be up on my bookstagram Friday, August 2nd! @IsabelRoseReads

<b> I RECEIVED THIS THROUGH NETGALLEY FOR AN HONEST REVIEW </b>


Finally. I read The Death of Mrs Westaway and dnf. I just didn’t care for it. This, this I really enjoyed. It’s creepy, entertaining and I love the format. It’s written in letters but you get so Immersed In the story you forget you’re reading letters.


Rowan is in jail. She’s in jail for killing a child she says she didn’t kill while being their nanny. She’s writing letters to a lawyer to try and explain what happened and hopefully be set free.

There are a ton of little plot twists in this and some you might figure out but some you probably won’t. Even though I figured out some small things early on it never bothered me to keep reading until those came about. You just get so wrapped up in what’s happening and who’s doing what to even think about trying to figure it out. That’s good writing. You never know if it’s supernatural, psychological or just an old house?


There isn’t much I can say without spoiling besides you should definitely read this. It’s more of a slow burn but I normally hate slower books and this one didn’t bother me at all. It didn’t feel too slow it felt right. The ONLY reason it’s 4 stars instead of 5 is because of a personal taste about the ending, and that’s just gonna have to stay with me I guess lol

Having read a few of Ruth Ware's previous novels including The Woman in Cabin and The Lying Game, I'm already a fan of her suspenseful murder mysteries and so, naturally, I jumped at the chance to read her latest story.

As with the other two books I read, the story-line centers around a female protagonist with a vague and somewhat shady past. The story opens with cryptic letters to a lawyer defending the narrator's innocence in a child's murder. The stage is set and we soon find that the letters are coming from the main character Rowan while in a Scottish prison. From there, Rowan tells her story of applying and accepting a would-be dream nannying position at a remote smart house in Scotland and how her time there led to her imprisonment for the murder of one of the children she was employed to take care of.

Red flags warned Rowan about taking the position from the very beginning when she first interviewed with the family. It's no surprise that technology in this day and age can be used for malicious spying so the premise was oddly relate-able - especially now as news continues to unfold around Google or Alexa assistants recording what were thought to be private conversations.

Without giving too much away, this was a fun, easy read that kept me guessing until the end. Several characters fit the bill as potential villains and once the story is fully unraveled, I felt like it was kind of obvious. Looking back, I saw it all coming, but I love that the clues are all there along the way IF you can put it together, but you can't be quite sure and are still kept guessing to the very end!

***The review will post https://thebookbasics.wordpress.com/ on the book's release date of August 6th

WOW!! Ruth Ware has blown me away again!! So many twist and turns, you think you have things figured out but then something happens to change your mind. The ending was amazing and one that I did not see coming! Can’t wait for Ruth’s next book!!

Suspenseful and thrilling! I had to stop reading this book before bed because it was making it difficult to go to sleep! This was an excellent book. The end fell a teensy but flat but the ride up to it was wonderful.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This story had an excellent context, but I felt that it fell short in the telling of the story. A bit long and over-descriptive. I would recommend this book however, but wouldn't buy for myself.

I’ve read all of Ruth Ware’s books and she continues to impress me. It’s a new direction for Ware to write a story with clear and intentional ties to another novel, and The Turn of the Screw is a particularly ambitious one to take on, but Ware rose to the challenge. This book is no imitation- Ware retains her distinct and compelling voice and an original storyline- but it shows Ware can be as effectively unsettling as Shirley Jackson. The gothic atmosphere of this story was incredibly well crafted; Ware’s vivid imagery and her choice of setting were a winning combination. The narrator was also a fascinating character, and the question of her reliability keeps the reader engaged.

Ruth Ware does it again. Rowan thinks that she is so lucky when she stumbles across an ad wanting a live-in nanny making a large amount of money. When she gets the job though things start to take a turn for the worst. The worst being that a child is dead and she is in prison. The book is written in an interesting format that of a her writing a letter to a lawyer she would like to defend her. This kept me intrigued and kept the story moving at a fast pace!

This is another hit out of the park for Ruth Ware. She has become one of my absolute favorite authors and I am always scrambling to get my hands on copies of her books when they come out! This is definitely up there as one of my favorites of hers!

I have read two other books by Ruth Ware, and I found this story to be fairly predictable, falling in line with her previous novels. I have always felt I could see the end coming from 100 pages away, and, unfortunately, the same was true with this novel. Others who like a simple mystery may like and enjoy it, but I need a little more weight and surprise.

This book does not make me want a "smart" home. Heatherbrae House may seem like a dream come true, but it is really a nightmare. Our narrator--the nanny--is in prison. A little girl was in her care and that girl is dead. The nanny will admit she made some mistakes, but she swears she does not know how the girl died. In her desperation she writes a letter to a potential solicitor attempting to tell her story and convince him to represent her. As with her other thrillers, there is a locked room type mystery to be solved. The tale becomes more and more twisted as we turn the pages. You are holding your breath until the chilling finish.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️Book Review ⭐️
The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
5/5 Stars

**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.**

I’ve never been creeped by a thriller/suspense novel to go to bed - until this book. I literally HAD to finish it in the middle of the night so I could find out how it ended. Ware is a creative storyteller keeping her reader guessing every step of the way- literary!

The story is told by nanny Rowan’s perspective as she is in prison. She has been arrested for murder (we don’t know for whom until late in the book). She is writing pleading for help from a criminal defense attorney and explaining her side of the story.

Rowan seems to be your average twenty-something and is trying her best in the situation. The family has 4 girls all with their major personality quirks. Mom and Dad are always traveling. This job was not what it seemed to be at all. Now strange, weird things are happening in and around the home. And why has this family gone through so many nannies in such a short time?

Just when you think the author has hit you with an unexpected twist and the creeps, she hits you again and again! Whew!

Suspenseful, exciting, and perfect for those who don’t like to sleep at night. The right amount of eeriness and intelligence to keep the reader turning the page.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a book suck me in like this one and I read it in one night. Rowan is a nanny who takes a job for a wealthy family living in a remote area of Scotland. She is advised before she moves in that there are rumors of the house being haunted and previous nannies haven’t lasted long there. She is getting adjusted to her new job when she starts hearing things in the house. Is it haunted, or is she just having trouble with the house’s high tech features that she isn’t used to? This book Is creepy in a great way, and the ending was not what I was expecting. Ruth Ware fans will definitely love this new addition to her great lineup of books.

I have really liked previous Ruth Ware books, so I jumped at the chance to read this one. It fell a little flat for me. You have a nanny who is writing to a lawyer/advocate about taking on her case. She didn't feel like the police or her original lawyer really understood her or believed her. So she sets about trying to get out the story in writing to see if he will take her case. This is how the book is setup.

So you know off the bat she is accused of murdering one of the children that were in her care. She knows she looks guilty and wasn't honest but adamant that she didn't kill anyone. She sets about telling her story. You have a lot of details on the day to day life of the family she is in charge of, mind you the parents leave within 24 hours of her starting the job and are gone for over a week. The children who were sweet at the interview become bratty and rude. She is not perfect either. There are unexplained noises in the attic and a "smart house" that is not so smart at all. Some twists and turns and the ending is a little rushed and left to interpretation which was a little frustrating. Held my interest throughout but left a little flat at the end.

This book had me hooked from the beginning. I felt every spine tingling twist and turn. And the ending? OMG! It was everything I wanted and so unexpected, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. You have to read this. This is now my favorite Ruth Ware tale.