UPDATE:
After originally giving this book 4 stars, I am knocking it down to 3. I think I was just so excited that this was better than her other books and didn’t want to see the flaws that were pretty obvious. There is a scene early in the book where the truth is revealed if you read the scene properly. And there are just too many instances where the characters do unbelievably dumb things. Also, while the whole ‘smart house’ premise is interesting, it actually creates several plot holes throughout the story because there are so many points where they could have used the technology to figure out what was going on, but instead they just wandered through the book blindly. That being said, I still had fun reading this book, and it was a fast read, so it gets 3 stars from me.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
This is officially my favorite Ruth Ware book. I had almost given up on her as an author. Sometimes you just don't click with a certain author/writing style, and that's okay. I previously read In a Dark, Dark Wood and The Death of Mrs. Westaway and although I loved the atmosphere and the tension that she was able to create, I felt like the execution of the plot left something to be desired. Luckily, I decided to push my hesitation aside after I heard so many people raving about this book. I'm so glad I did, because it's absolutely her best book, in my opinion.

Primarily set in a remote part of Scotland, this book has creepy atmosphere for days. The setting, combined with a dysfunctional 'smart house' and a story revolving around a nanny with a mysterious past made this a tense read. Tense, but engrossing.

The book is written in an epistolary style, primarily as letters from our protagonist to a man she's hoping with agree to represent her in her murder trial (not a spoiler, it's known from pretty much page one). While I didn't dislike this format, It may be a little ridiculous to think that she would write what ends up being a 330 page letter to this attorney, but I choose to suspend disbelief in this case.

I will say, I knew what the twists were going to be from very early on. There is a scene that seems completely innocuous at the time unless you realize what it is you're actually reading. I can't explain it further without spoiling the twist, but I do wonder if I would've given this book a full 5 stars if I hadn't realized the truth of the situation. That being said, knowing the twist didn't keep me from enjoying how the story played out. I feel like the story was still well-constructed, even if the end felt a little rushed. My biggest problem with this author's previous works has been the endings, which never seem to pay off the tension created during the build-up of the story. This had that to a certain extent, but it wasn't as pronounced as her other books, perhaps because it ends rather abruptly. We are hit with the twists and then there is very little in the way of downtime at the end to process everything before the book ends. I liked it, but I also wanted to know what happened to the protagonist after the book ends. It's left purposely vague, which I could see annoying people who like to have more closure.

I'm glad I read and enjoyed this book. It's giving me hope for future books by this author.