I ended up being a bit disappointed with how this one ended up going. But, I didn’t hate it!
Rating: 4/5
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?
If you saw my post before I finally started this book, you’ll know I was wary about how I might like this one. However, I was still looking forward to this one! I had been saying I was going to read this since it came out. And how many months ago was that? I’m not going to think about it. Besides! I’ve finally read it now!
Going into this, I had a bit of a love-hate relationship with Ruth Ware. My first read of hers wasn’t the best, in fact, I hated it. It was The Turn of the Key, I found this one to just be entirely annoying. I picked it up for a book club a long while back, I felt it had so much potential but fell flat. You can see my full review here. Even after that bad first book, I gave Ware another shot and my second read was so good! It was The Woman in Cabin 10, I really loved this one! So after one I hated and one I loved, I had no idea what to expect with One By One.
After finishing, I still have that love-hate relationship. I ended up being a bit disappointed with how this one ended up going. But, I didn’t hate it! I just expected more than what we got, especially based on the premise.
I ended up being a bit disappointed with how this one ended up going. But, I didn’t hate it!
We follow a team from a company away on a retreat, However, things take a turn for the worse when an avalanche hits. Things get stressful fast, and everyone starts turning on each other. Will they all survive until help arrives?
This one started off really strong! We start the book at the end with a news article giving us the basics of what happened with the avalanche. Reading this article intrigued me, I wanted to know what happened. I was captivated as we got to know all the employees of the company and those hosting them.
I was captivated as we got to know all the employees of the company and those hosting them.
However, as I continue to go through the story I started to lost interest. It felt like a rehash of The Woman in Cabin 10, but instead of the setting being in the middle of the ocean, it’s set in the mountains, just as equally as isolated especially with the avalanche. There were just certain elements that sounded very familiar, just slightly different. But unlike The Turn of the Key and The Woman in Cabin 10, we get to see two perspectives instead of just our usual one. These two perspectives threw me off, I felt we missed key details as we went through the story. Thought by the end, it made sense why it was set up this way.
It felt like a rehash of The Woman in Cabin 10, but instead of the setting being in the middle of the ocean, it’s set in the mountains...
Speaking of the ending, I actually really liked how it ended especially compared to the other two I’ve read of Ware’s. Though I’ll admit it was much more gruesome than I expected it to be. Not ashamed to say, I think that’s why I liked it. I do think this ending might be a little too detailed for others, so just keep that in mind if you’re put off by gory scenes.
After this one, I can tell each read from Ruth Ware is going to be a hit or miss for me. This one was a miss overall, but I’m not against reading more from Ware. I definitely plan on reading her other books!
I would consider this to be a lighter thriller. But as I mentioned, be wary of some detailed scenes that could be considered gruesome. I think this is definitely worth trying! Especially if you’re a Ruth Ware fan. Also if you’re a fan of thrillers! I’d also consider this to be a great starter for someone just getting into thrillers!