In a Dark, Dark Wood

If you love fast paced, intriguing, edge of your seat thrillers with well fleshed out characters, twists and turns, and gripping narratives, don't pick this book up. This is probably the least thrilling thriller I've ever read in my life. Incredibly predictable, boring is all get out, and absolutely not worth my time.

I've seen this book floating around the book community and recently saw a good review from an acquaintance and decided to pick it up when I saw it at my local shop. Trying not to be spoilery, so here's a quick synopsis. Nora hasn't spoken to her school friend, Clare, in a decade. But out of the blue, she receives an invitation to her hen night. She decides to go. The group is staying for a couple nights in a glass house in the forest. Nothing can go wrong there, right?

This is a fast paced read and I got through it quickly, as is the case with most well written “thrillers.” Problem was this wasn't much of a thriller. From the blurbs, description, and cover, I was expected to be scared. And I will admit, the setting of the glass house in the forest was enough to creep me out at first. But that's about it. The lead up is pretty quick and the action happens about halfway through the book, which had me so confused. The second half is strictly trying to find out who did it. I've never read anything quite like it. To be marketed as a psychological thriller, it was pretty lacking. The characters are pretty transparent and it's clear what's going on pretty early on. In fact, it was so obvious who the villain was, that I thought the psychological part would be that I was wrong and it was someone else entirely somehow. But no.

Would I recommend?
No, not really. I mean, if you don't read a lot of thrillers and you're looking for something lightly creepy for the autumn season, maaaaybe. But I've got some better suggestions, tbh.