Ruth Ware is a bit of a hit or miss author for me. Some books I have really loved, while others I find predictable and a bit... boring. This one was a middle of the road read for me. I think some people will love it, but for me personally, it was pretty unremarkable and a "paint by numbers" mystery. I felt like it took quite a bit to really get going in this book - it wa shard to keep track of the characters at the beginning as they were all being introduced.

If I am ever in a murder-mystery, I am going to die. I am the worst at figuring out who the killer is. My only hope is that because I am so clueless I will be spared as I will have no idea about the murderer's identity. Please, I am stupid, don't kill me.

One by One by Ruth Ware is an enjoyable mildly predictable locked room mystery set in a French ski chalet. This book features an internet start up company on the verge of a big shake up and they are on a corporate retreat to try to figure everything out, unfortunately it ends up in MURDER. There is a large cast of characters but it is fairly clear who the murderer is right away. Despite this, Ware is always an entertaining author and it is interesting to see how, why, and who is murdered.

Entertaining and brisk as always! I kinda figured out the killer (just shortly) before it was revealed. Ware is an exceptional talent at building suspense and keeping the thrills going even after major reveals.

There is something about a Ruth Ware story. In the beginning you're a bit confused. So very many characters, are you keeping them straight? What's going on with this person, how do they know that person?

Inevitably I'll wonder if I know what I'm doing by continuing to read the book, but in the end, GAH. I always semi love them.

This is the same. A straight up who done it and why, with lots of twists and turns, and skiing. If you know anything about skiing, (I do not), I bet this is even more interesting! The setting itself is always a character in Ruth Ware's books, which I always love.

4.25 stars. I had so much fun with this one. It was exactly the type of thriller I wanted and I loved the plot and the twist. Review to come.

Due to being a high school teacher, I often fall behind on writing reviews. Here are my initial thoughts.

This copy was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and the publisher for review: all opinions are my own. '

I just could not get into this book. Will I try to read it again sometime, maybe. Was it a bad beginning? No. I think I just have to come to terms that I don't tend to enjoy books by British authors (and that nothing against British authors); the dryer style and narrating voice just isn't my jam. Is that a reflection of Ware's books? I don't think so, they just aren't for me. I think if you're interested in picking it up, Ruth Ware is a favorite in the genre and worth a shot.

Its funny, I was talking to a coworker (I work at a library) about how I've realized that British isn't for me but how I had LOVED Alex North's The Shadows. I'll admit I read it and still felt that difference in narration voicing style but it was so well done in every other way it wasn't enough to put me off.

Review also published on blog: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

A Locked Room Mystery in a French Chalet? Sounds Idyllic!

Unfortunately, all does not end well for those who are snowed in at Chalet Perce-Neige.

Quelle Surprise!

“Snoop” is a social media app that allows users to listen to music that celebrities and their friends are listening to at the exact time they are listening to it. It has, in its own way, changed how people listen to music and has brought people together.

Now that there is some potentially big news on the horizon, all of the shareholders of Snoop gather at a Ski Chalet in France to vote on whether or not Snoop should go public. Most of those gathered are current employees of Snoop, with one exception. Liz is a former employee who is extremely uncomfortable in the company of her former coworkers. Though she is a minority shareholder, Liz potentially holds all the cards and this makes everyone else ill at ease.

Erin is an employee of the Chalet and is in charge of Guest Relations. She does her job superbly, even amid chaos.

Desperate to ski, most of the shareholders decide to go skiing right before a major storm hits. This decision is a costly one as one skier, Eva goes missing on the slopes. To make matters worse, while the storm gains traction, an avalanche hits and the Chalet loses electricity and WiFi.

If only that was the least of their problems.

Told from the POV’s of Erin and Liz, this locked-room mystery is full of suspense and kept me entertained throughout even though I guessed who the culprit was extremely early on.

The setting here is quite atmospheric. Cold, dark, and eerie, there was a sense of desperation throughout that was palpable. Though this wasn’t as good as my favorite novels by Ruth Ware (i.e. “The Woman in Cabin 10” and “Turn of the Key”), I found “One by One” to be enjoyable and intriguing and would recommend it to those who enjoy mystery suspense novels.
3.5 stars

A Buddy Read with Kaceey.

Thank you to Lucy Nalen and Jessica Roth at Gallery Books for the arc via NetGalley and Edelweiss / Gallery Books for the arc.

Published on Goodreads, Twitter, and Instagram.

I am a huge fan of Ruth Ware. I have loved every book she has written except this one. I believe it had too many characters for my liking.

I was expecting great things from One By One, and I’m left a little underwhelmed. I’ve read several Ruth Ware books, and each one has seemed like it’s missing something. I found most of the characters to be extremely unlikable, and that made it hard for me to stay interested. I did like Erin and Danny, and the mystery itself was okay, it just didn’t thrill me.

This was another intriguing release from Ruth Ware, full of twists and turns that keep the reader guessing until the end. I am usually let down by the ending of her books, but this one is the exception and it tied everything up really well!

This newest Ruth Ware read has the same pattern of delighing its reader that Ware's other books have provided. Great twisty thriller!

There is a reason Ruth Ware continues to amaze me with each of her books. I feel as if with each page turning that I have found the answer to the mystery but I am always wrong. They are unputdownable, unpredictable and just plain fun .

You’re snowed in at a Swiss chalet with eight of your co-workers, an avalanche hits and then things go terribly wrong. Who can you trust? How many of you will return? Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely love Ruth Ware, but I could not get into this book! I gave it 100 pages before putting it down. In the back of my mind, I'm hoping that this was due to the pandemic reading slump many of us are suffering from. I fully intend to give this book another try in the future.

This felt like such a classic Ruth Ware novel, and I loved it! So scary, twisty, and suspenseful- I couldn’t put it down. Some of the clues pointing to who the killer was felt a tad obvious, and I was able to guess before it was revealed, but that didn’t take away from the story, and definitely not from the fast-paced scene near the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books/Scout Press for an advanced copy of this book.

I loved the locked room feel of ONE BY ONE and the wintery setting fit perfectly for the time of year I picked this one up! I thought the concept of “snoop” and the whole business side of this book was kind of boring. However, once the drama started to happen, I was here for it! This book started slow but picked up pace towards the end. I love Imogen Church and her narration; she reads in such a way that made me feel the suspense with the characters. I would recommend this book for someone looking for a lighter suspense thriller.

This was a fun quick-paced thriller. This was a perfect winter read. It kept me entertained and guessing the entire time. Quite enjoyable. Ruth Ware has moved up to one of my favorite thriller authors.

3.5 stars. I liked this thriller — it was pleasantly suspenseful without being traumatic. The final 30 minutes are classic and very tense. The only part that really lost me was the ski jargon— I’ve never been skiing and had no idea what a lot of the terminology was and couldn’t picture a “piste” or what it felt like to ski in the alps.

Perfectly serviceable. I wouldn’t put it on the best of the year list ! Not at all.

Set in a luxurious mountaintop chalet in the French Alps, the Snoop shareholders and directors meet to discuss the future of their company. It could mean the end or the start of something new for them, depending on who has their way. A lot of money is on the line and tensions are high between all parties. When one of them ends up missing, believed to be dead in an avalanche as a blizzard blows in, it puts everyone else on edge. When one of them turns up dead, it puts doubts in all their minds. Could the first have been murder too? No one knows who to trust exactly. All they know is that there is a killer among them.

It was hard not to want to snuggle deeper under my blanket as I read One by One, the cold stormy weather coming off the pages. The novel is told from the perspective of two of the characters: Erin, the hostess and one of the caretakers of the resort, and Liz, a former employee of the company who is only there because she owns shares in the company and so has voting rights in any decision that will be made. I liked having the two viewpoints--one from the inside and one from the outside of the group. It offered unique perspectives and insight into the other characters.

You can imagine most of the characters are not particularly likeable. Topher, the founder and leader of the bunch, is an entitled white man who is used to getting his way. Eva, the cofounder, is polished and also used to getting her way. Frankly, most of the Snoop employees fall into the privileged and entitled camp. I could not help but feel for Liz, especially in the beginning. She seemed so out of place among the more sophisticated Snoop staff. Erin and Danny are the resort's caretakers, Erin being the more down to earth of the two, but neither of the same elk as their guests.

I enjoy a good locked room mystery and this one did not disappoint in the end. I admit I found the beginning to drag on a bit. It takes awhile before the action starts. Once it did however, at about 30% of the novel, it didn't stop from there. Tension was high with suspicion falling on everyone, not to mention the outside threat of the storm which only added to their predicament. The stormy isolated setting was perfect for this type of novel.

While perhaps the whodunit part was not too hard to figure out after awhile, the why of it was an interesting twist, especially as the layers were unraveled. And those seemingly trivial chapter headers . . . Well, they are worth paying attention to as the story unfolds. I cannot say this is my favorite Ruth Ware novel. But I did find it entertaining and once I really got into it, I found it hard to put down.