Can you relate to The Woman in Cabin 10?

Rating: 7/10

Enjoying The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware seems to be heavily influenced by personal perception, biases, and experiences. Those who can relate to the protagonist tend to see this novel as a representation of themselves, while those who cannot identify with her trauma, gender conflicts, or mental health conditions find it difficult to relate to her or the novel as a whole. I had a strong connection to this character. Both the character and I suffer from an anxiety disorder, and we are both young women who live alone in apartments. This allowed me to understand her mindset, tap into her fears, and put myself into her situation. For others, this would be difficult to do. I have talked to other people about this book, and people who do not have mental health conditions (or do not know others who have them) are often unable to understand the protagonist’s predicament. They find her whiny, weak, and pathetic, and can’t understand her repetitive thought process or her pervasive sense of worry, self-confinement, and general entrapment. As someone who has suffered from this mental health condition, I can say that the protagonist’s thought process and the writing style used to express it very accurately depict what it is like to live with this condition (especially after experiencing a traumatic event and after being torn between confusion, paranoia, and suspicion). If you are going to read this book with the intent of connecting to the protagonist (or at least understanding her perspective), then you have to be willing to accept the circuitous, monotonous, repetitive, and obnoxious thought pattern that is anxiety. If you can understand that that is the condition and not the person’s regular personality, then you will be on your way to getting past your annoyance and seeing the effects of this disorder on an individual’s experiences and coping mechanisms.

The other debate that exists around this book is how it compares to a thrilling and suspenseful Agatha Christie mystery. Although this book was a bit simple at times, I believe it was gripping and that its unique writing style was surely appealing. I appreciated the e-mails and news clippings that were sprinkled throughout the book because they added details for you to mull over, and they added confusion and dread to the book. By seeing “premonitions” of what would occur later on, you were inspired to read more of the text to find out why these e-mails were being sent/why the news stories were written as they were. This writing technique especially helps readers who feel that the book might be dragging at certain moments and who need more of a push to continue reading. Although people can argue that implausible events occur in this book (particularly towards the end of the novel), and a case can be made that it is not as complex as an Agatha Christie novel, I found myself interested in it because it preyed on my particular fears. I do not like enclosed spaces, and I have a fear of modes of transportation such as boats and planes (since they cause me to feel trapped and out of control). I also fear realistic horrors such as murderers, rapists, etc. rather than supernatural terrors, and this book was based on a murder case. As previously stated, I also have a unique connection to the protagonist because we share similar life experiences.

To fairly represent the other side of the reading experience, I must mention that this book is certainly flawed and simplistic. Even though it was an entertaining, gripping, and generally enjoyable read, there were aspects of the novel that were lacking. The author incorporated a good number of unique details, but she did not take full advantage of these details. For example, the robbery which occurs at the beginning of the text is later discovered to have been planned as part of a bigger, master plan, but this fact is briefly stated and not well-articulated. As a result, it is easy to miss the fact that the robbery was purposefully included and wasn’t just a useful coincidence for the author to mention. It would also be unclear to the reader how the final twist occurred (in terms of money and weaponry) if they didn’t take particular note of what the protagonist thought about as she was in a certain cabin on the ship. The interesting connections the author was making were not tied together in an inspiring or detailed way for the reader, and as a result, the progression of the twist becomes muddled and confusing rather than enlightening. On the whole, the main flaws of this novel are the lack of proper character development and the implausibility of some of the events that occur. The characters were two-dimensional and were not detailed enough to be particularly memorable. This made it difficult to keep track of all of the characters and made it next to impossible to solve the mystery as you’re reading (you end up being surprised by the events, but not for the right reasons). The unrealistic events detracted from the believability and suspense of the novel, and made it seem like the author did not know how to properly finish the book. The ending seemed to be tied up in a neat little bow, and yet it had a nauseating sense of push and pull--it simultaneously felt like there was too much plot to wrap up in the last section of the book and like the author was wasting readers’ time by focusing on minute details in overly lengthy passages. There were concluding events that were meant to suspend the suspense, but because they didn’t meaningfully connect to the already existing conflict, they felt like added attempts to spice up the book and didn’t truly add anything to the reading experience.

You may be wondering why I would still rate this book so highly given these major flaws. This rating comes down to my expectations of the book and my motivation for reading it. If you or I or anyone is looking for a simple, enjoyable, and moderately thrilling story, then this book will likely be satisfying. It is when you expect this book to be more than it is that you will be disappointed. As you will always find with simplistic texts: be careful what you wish for, and keep your expectations in check if you expect to be pleased.

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