Books & Bottles Series (#15)

Hello, dolls! It’s the end of the month and that means it’s time for April’s Books & Bottles Series (#15)! This month we’re going a little kooky. Instead of reviewing a bottle of wine, I grabbed a Washington canned wine to review.

I’m currently staying at a beach cottage in Ocean Shores, WA (more on that later) and a canned wine seemed more practical than a whole bottle. So, here we go!

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Books & Bottles The Woman in Cabin 10 Review

Table of Contents

Books & Bottles Series (#15)

This book was given to me by my friend Shanna. Since I’ve been trying to read different genres of books this year, she thought this physiological thriller would be up my alley. Though it’s an older book and a lot of people have read it, I didn’t know much about it. I was able to remain hidden from spoilers, which was really nice. I hate it when you already know what’s going to happen and then you don’t want to finish the book. This is also why I always read the book before the movie.

Anyway, here we go!

The Book: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

Short Summary (from the back of the book):

Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins…as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard.

The problem? All passengers remain accounted for and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

The Woman in Cabin 10 Review — The Woman in Cabin 10

Honest Review: 3.5 Stars (?)

I’m still on the fence about the last half-star. Here’s the deal, I liked this book a lot. I found myself wanting to know more. I kept picking it up to get in more reading time. That said… I also felt like it took forever. There were so many details that I tried to memorize, in case they came up later, but then it ended up being for nothing!

The suspense lead-up was done well. However, I don’t think I was satisfied by the end. I had so many questions and I didn’t feel like everything was unveiled.

I also didn’t love the main character. Understandably, she was a bit of a mess from being burgled before getting on the ship. She’s also undergoing depression and on meds while drinking. So, she’s not a reliable source but she’s the only narrator, so you don’t know if you can believe her. I found myself googling weird questions throughout the book and went down a rabbit hole about how many actual deaths occur on cruise ships… don’t look it up. In conclusion, cruise ships are not for either the main character or myself.

The suspense of not knowing kept me going through the book. For that, the 1/2 star stays. I don’t know if physiological thrillers are for me but I’m willing to try again. Do you have any other recs?

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The can: House Wine Chardonnay

Maybe it’s a PNW thing but canned wine has become increasingly popular over the past few years. It’s super convenient for recreational activities, traveling, hiking, etc (or if you don’t like beer).

As mentioned, I’m currently in Ocean Shores! Though I’m not traveling alone this time, this chardonnay would be perfect if I was. One can is the equivalent of a 1/2 bottle of wine. Just enough to wind down from a long day.

What I’m tasting:

Not great wine.

Haha! I can’t lie to you guys. To start, I don’t love chardonnay. They’re normally very oaky and that’s my least favorite wine taste. This particular blend is very acidic so it would go well with road trip snacks and/or s’mores, chips, and popped corn.

What I’m smelling:

A buttery white wine. It smells a lot smoother than it actually is.

Overall wine grade: D

This is the lowest I’ve ever graded a wine! To be clear, this is not a “classy” wine by any means. That’s not to say canned wines cannot taste fantastic. This is just the worst one I’ve had and it’s specific to my tastes. I should have known better than to grab the chardonnay but they only had brut rosé as the other option, and I don’t like carbonated drinks.

There is another canned wine I had a few summers ago while camping and I love it. I’ll grab one to review with a beach read this summer.

What are you reading you next?