Welcome to Litsy!

Creepy old houses, mean housekeepers and loan sharks — what‘s not to love? Ruth Ware writes consistently good, dark, page-turning thrillers, and the characters that inhabit them. This one doesn‘t disappoint. My only criticism is having Harriet use the nickname “Hal.” I kept thinking it was a male.

Hal‘s desperate when she gets an inheritance letter. But it‘s for someone else. It leads her to a history she never knew and a possible family connection she can‘t figure out. All unfolding at a creepy old country house. Fun and quick audio book mystery. Recommended for anyone wanting a simple fun mystery with some likable characters .

Suspenseful story (I listened to the audiobook) featuring layers of family secrets. Recommend to dark mystery and thriller fans. Tarot card readings a bonus. Good narration, too. #secrets #audiobooks

Enjoying this audiobook I got from Libby with my library card. Had a fever yesterday, & the upside was I could nap & listen... gotta love checking out a good audiobook with your library card for free! #amlistening #audiobooks

A twisted tale of long buried family secrets with an unknown beneficiary (Harriet) receiving a letter announcing that her grandmother has died and she is inheriting her estate.Harriet's grandparents died years ago.An atmospheric read I felt as if I was reading it in the estate itself,the eerie lake and the attic with bars on the windows.A twisty dark read, richly written characters, twists I didn't anticipate..⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a light pick, but a fun listen for my daily commute and really fabulous audio. I didn‘t quite figure out the whole situation until the end, although at times things seemed a little too obvious along the way. Still entertaining.

#WickedWhispers #Death
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I own this on audio but haven‘t read it yet. I do love Ruth Ware!

#HauntedShelf #bookscavengerhunt #gate #DeadSerious

#WickedWords #Disguise
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Pretty okay…. Kinda figured out most of it pretty early on. The cast of characters could‘ve been fleshed out a bit more… utopia to see what the book group thinks about it. Definitely like that narrator.

Ware draws a sinister and gothic setting well but her characters were rather flat and the main character is far less perceptive than the reader is told she is. Also large portions of the plot are completely obvious long before they should be. 🤷‍♀️ Full review at https://booknaround.blogspot.com/2023/10/review-death-of-mrs-westaway-by-ruth.ht...

The last 90 pages something happens. The rest….nothing. It was boring.

Buddy read with @BookKenz

We guessed a lot of it pretty early, but the storyline made us question ourselves a few times.

Lots of fun and very different from the other one I've read from her ( In a dark dark wood- I enjoyes it too 🙂)

Looking forward to reading more from this author!

Next adventure.

Good thing I brought multiple books for the flight. 😉

This has been on my bookshelf for AGES and is my September #bookspin pick! Starting today!

#unreadbookshelf #bookspinbingo #23in2023
@TheAromaofBooks

My September #bookspin and #doublespin

For the rest of the year, I‘m trying to finish challenge prompts and just read books I own. 🤞🏼

#dontgetdistracteddontgetdistracted

Thank you for hosting, @TheAromaofBooks Looking forward to a great September!

I‘m going with a pick because I liked the characters & the premise. Interloper who inherits a fortune to the chagrin of the family is a classic for a reason. But I feel like there is one thing I am fundamentally confused about that should have impacted the story in a significant way… & where it recurred in the story… the reaction didn‘t make sense to me. Did I miss it? Did the MC miss it? Did the author miss it? I don‘t know.
#20in4 #authoramonth

Finished my first book of #BacklistReadthon and my third for #AuthorAMonth for April.

This was the most enjoyable of the books I have read by Ruth Ware, and worked really well as an audiobook. Quite a long read but tells the story of a woman who pretends to be a descendant of a family in order to get an inheritance. Turns into quite a family saga, with many twists and developments along the way.

@Clwojick @TheAromaofBooks @@Soubhiville

I definitely preferred this one to the first title I tried for #AAM but still a low pick for me. The characters were more likable and believable in this one, but it was even easier to predict all the plot twists, and I didn‘t find it very tense for a thriller. @Soubhiville

The author did a great job of creating the gothic atmosphere and writing a cast of colorful, interesting characters! It kept me turning pages. The outcome of the mystery, though, was pretty predictable. I had guessed numerous "plot twists" before I was even halfway through the book. The "clues" just aren't very subtle. Regardless, it was an enjoyable read.
This April #AuthorAMonth gave me my first Ruth Ware experience. @Soubhiville

I started #BackListReadathon by listening to the tagged book by Ruth Ware.

Enjoying it so far.

@Clwojick @TheAromaOfBooks

#AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville

@ElizaMarie very kindly gifted me this book❤️
I‘m enjoying the premise so far! Maybe I‘ll have better luck for #authoramonth with this novel. It Girl was just ok.

It took me a long time to finish this audio book. My commute is only 20 minutes each way and I wasn‘t interested in listening at any other time. It is my first Ware and likely my last. I did like the MC Hal but it felt too long to get to the big finish. It does ticks some challenge boxes.

#AuthorAMonth #Bookspin #52books #withanimheritance

The magpies are back.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

This book took me a long time to get into, but once I did, it turned out to be good. The twists, although I saw a few coming, were really good. Harriet gets a letter about an inheritance. She believes it to be a case of a mistaken identity, but she's broke and has a loan shark breathing down her neck. So she heads off to collect anyway.
#AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville
#WickedWords #wreck @AsYouWish

I found this one to be quite engaging, partially because I actually liked Hal, which is more than I can say about other Ware MCs that I have read haha Not a lot actually happens here and it seemed like I should be bored, but instead I really did want to find out how Hal was connected to this family. Not a book I will read again, but a one-off I really enjoyed.

#WeeklyForecast includes some April reads, woohoo!! I started the tagged book yesterday and it's good so far. Not pictured are this month's buddy reads: The Once and Future King, Life of Pi, Agnes Grey, and On the Shores of Silver Lake. I have some shorter books coming up so hoping to get through a few this week, but I am also really addicted to Horizon: Zero Dawn right now so...what can you do? 😂
@Cinfhen

I really liked the ending and the characters. Got me in the mood for more family thrillers.

I guessed the lineage early on, though (but that didn't distract from my enjoyment). I enjoyed how she infused Tarot into Hal's personality and the way she navigated through her life. Making this a #HalfAudioHalfPrint kicked up the ability to finish it.

This COVID recovery period has now given me spurts of energy to read (but not do much else).

#ReadMyRoom #BookSpinBingo
@TheAromaOfBooks @AkashaVampie @jb72 @Bookworm54 @AsYouWish @CocoReads

I found this one on Libby in audio. So now I can do a combo #ReadAndAudio while I use my eye masks and shower off the fevers. My nurses keep sleeping on the job. #DogsOfLitsy #PugLife

Enjoyable read, 4/5

Not started yet but this will be my next nonfiction read.

#AlphabetGame #LetterD
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I really ended up enjoying this one. The main character Hal learns the secrets behind the family she never knew she had. I like that it wasn't obvious to me what the mystery was. The author did a good job throwing in a few misdirections i think. For some reason I kept forgetting that it wasn't set in historical times until they would mention cellphones or online searches. If you're looking for a good mystery without being too creepy check it out.

For some reason with this book I keep thinking it's set in the past. It just seems like Victorian times until someone mentions cellphones, text or Google.

Read this one a while back, really enjoyed it! Hoping to re-read it soon.

BRB going to go order every single book she‘s written that I haven‘t already read

I enjoyed this mystery novel. There isn't a ton of action, but I enjoyed the suspense and it kept me engaged until the end which became much more exciting. Ruth Ware tends to follow a certain formula, as most writers do, but there is nothing wrong with that if the story is engaging.

So frustrating. I‘m not even going with a bail, tho I did not finish it. It deserves a 👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽 so so so long, nothing ever happens, there‘s very little ambiance, and ooft, I did get to the twist at the end and at that point I did not care. Yikes.

This was another slow burn to the good stuff, but honestly the chaos at the end was super fun to read through.

I finished this near the beginning of February, so here‘s to more reads in this month! 🍻

#thedeathofmrswestaway #ruthware #mystery

This is the 4th novel by Ruth Ware that I‘ve read. She does tend to follow a formula, and her main characters can tend to be annoying and/or unlikeable, but I was sucked in nonetheless. I read most of this on audio because, well, Imogene Church, but I ended up finishing via hardcover because I was snowed in and didn‘t want to wait to get back to it in the car. I had some of the plot figured out, but other aspects were a surprise.

An atmospheric family mystery, good twists and turns and well written characters. I enjoyed this but not my favourite of her books
3 ⭐️

Book 11

This one felt like adult Clue. I really liked it. The characters were messed up but likeable.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ • Has atmospheric Rebecca vibes, but not as good. I liked better than Cabin 10 and was a fine spooky season read.

I could not put this book down. It‘s twisty and turny and I thought I knew the answer and I kind of did but it was an awesome time getting there. #teamslaughter

Last year's spooky book exchange gifted me this and I'm diving in.