I loved reading this book because it had so many things going for it: a protagonist I genuinely liked, unexpected twists in the plot line, and potential romantic partners at every turn. Most bestselling books are like this, fyi, so it’s not a slight against the author, she is truly giving readers what they want. Ware is no literary genius, her books won’t be up for a Nobel anytime soon, but they are extremely entertaining. Again, people who don’t like the sea really shouldn’t read this book, it will only make their phobia worse!

I don’t want to give anything away, but Lo finds herself in a small cabin for an extended period of time at one point, and her thoughts and feelings were so authentic that it felt like I was watching a movie. I love being on the water, but Lo’s anxiety made me think twice about how confining that experience can be. One thing Ware did particularly well was communicate a sense of claustrophobia while on the boat. But everyone claims that cabin was empty, even though Lo has actual proof she existed she borrowed a tube of mascara from her! You can see where this is going, and why it’s so suspenseful. But, once she gets on board, she briefly meets a woman in the cabin next to her, whom later disappears off the ship. Yay-free mascara! I was later disappointed to discover the mascara is pink (wtf am I supposed to do with that?) but no matter, this didn’t affect my impression of the book, I just thought it was cool that the publishers included that clever little publicity push.Īnyway, the story follows a young woman (very similar to the character in her first book) named “Lo”, a travel journalist that lands a sweet gig of reviewing an ultra-luxury cruise ship for the magazine she works for. And then I got even more excited when I finally received it in the mail, and it came with a tube of mascara with a little sticker on it saying ‘please return to the woman in cabin 10’. So I was super pumped about Ruth Ware’s second book The Woman in Cabin 10, because I loved her first book In a Dark, Dark Wood.

The woman in cabin 10 book review