#ATBR2020 – One by One by Ruth Ware

Sneaking in the last review from the end of last month!

Thanks to Scout Press for the free early copies in exchange for our honest reviews

ONE BY ONE – Ruth Ware (Released September 8th, 2020)

You can see the #allthebookreviews thoughts on her other releases – THE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY (here), THE TURN OF THE KEY (here), and THE LYING GAME (here)

Book Description:

Getting snowed in at a beautiful, rustic mountain chalet doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world, especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a cozy fire, and company to keep you warm. But what happens when that company is eight of your coworkers…and you can’t trust any of them?

When an off-site company retreat meant to promote mindfulness and collaboration goes utterly wrong when an avalanche hits, the corporate food chain becomes irrelevant and survival trumps togetherness. Come Monday morning, how many members short will the team be?

Chandra’s Thoughts: 2.5/5 stars

Well………. I didn’t hate it! And I say that because I’m sitting here contemplating how I really feel about this book.  I didn’t love it… but I didn’t hate it either.  I actually, weirdly, just feel ok with it.  But here’s the thing.  I love Ruth Ware.  This is my fifth book by her and regardless of my meh feelings on this one, she will continue to be an auto-buy for me.

Here’s what I love about her books – short chapters that keep you turning the pages for a one sit read.  For this particular one, I loved the wintry setting and what can I say, I love me a locked-in mystery.  Also, I had a dog named Snoop once so….   One By One has a fairly big cast of characters and I almost imagined this a bit like Clue – but then I suppose I feel like that for most locked-in mysteries.  

What I didn’t particularly care for – this was nothing new to the genre.  Fairly predictable.  While the cast was large, they were all fairly simplistic.  This isn’t always a bad thing, in my opinion… however, in this case, I just wasn’t utterly wowed by any of them.  Though I do appreciate it didn’t get too convoluted and messy.

There’s no taking away from Ware’s talent.  She writes super fun thrillers and I always fly right through each and every one of them.  I’ll certainly be looking forward to the next one that comes along.  I think if you like locked-in mysteries in a snowy setting that’s a bit of a lighter thriller, this is a good read for you. 

My Thoughts: 2.5/5 stars

Ruth Ware is one of those auto-buy authors for me, and like others, you don’t always love every single book they release. ONE BY ONE just missed the mark for me but I still managed to fly through it. That’s what I’ve come to expect from Ware, the short chapters keep me pulled in because I’m one of those readers that has to stop at the end of a chapter. Which turns into “oh, only 5 pages for this chapter, I’ll keep going”, and then I’ve read half the book without realizing it.

I do enjoy the locked-in and isolated type mysteries because it’s all happening in one area. There’s no escaping each other and it could be anyone. There was a big cast of characters but I never really connected with any of them because they didn’t feel fully developed. This was also a thriller/mystery that was fairly predictable and the villain very obvious.

If you’re looking for a lighter thriller or are relatively new to the genre, then I think this would be a perfect one to start with. Those that frequent the thrillers and suspense novels might be a little disappointed, but again, it’s such a fast read and I still love Ware’s writing. I will continue to pick up what she releases in the future!