I am such a huge Ruth Ware fan. However, One by One might change that sentence to past tense. I’ve felt a bit let down by the last couple Ware novels, which makes me sad. She has such potential, but there are recurring themes that I have a problem with.

The Story

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?

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Turn of the Key and In a Dark Dark Wood returns with another suspenseful thriller set on a snow-covered mountain.

My Thoughts

Based on the intro of this post, I didn’t care for One by One. The whole book felt very forced.

The book is told in first person between two perspectives: Liz and Erin. Liz is the “outcast” on a company retreat and Erin is the chalet host. I could relate more to Erin than Liz, but both ladies were a bit unrelatable.

I have never read a book that read so rich. I don’t mean rich in the story line or content or writing. I literally mean how much money was being thrown around. It’s a level completely outside my realm of logic that it was unbelievable.

I mean, this startup that allows you to “creep” on other people and listen to the music they’re listening to has managed to gain millions in funding? I work at a startup… it’s unrealistic. Not only have they gained millions in funding, but they’re about to potentially be sold. THEN, not only are they about to be sold, but they don’t have good financial projections. How on earth is there an offer on the table for a company that’s going into the ground? I get the intellectual property and how it might be valuable to another program, but people don’t buy failing companies.

I also think Ruth Ware announced the villain too early. It made the ending drag on. For a book that built so much hype, it was like I was snowplowing the whole way down a mountain to get to the end.

Finally, there were so many characters in the book. We were almost immediately thrown into 10 characters? Since the book is told in two first-person narratives, each narrator had different feelings about all of the characters. It was easy to get mixed up, so I just kind of wrote most of them off.

One by One is my second Ruth Ware letdown in a row. I will give her one more shot, and then I may be all done. Or…she may just come off of my list of must-read authors. Time will tell.

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