Scan barcode
slider9499's review
2.0
Interesting story. But it is bloated and overwritten. The author constantly meanders off on tangents that have no bearing on the overall story. Do we really need 8 pages on the history of tilefish? The story is also very disjointed. It is all over the place. The author is not a great writer. This book reads like a very, very, very long newspaper article instead of a book. In short, this book should have been cut down to about 200-250 pages at the most. Thankfully, I didn't pay for this one. I got it from the library.
katsherms's review
I can't in good faith rate this bc my frustrations with it mostly stem from it not being what I expected. This is really an exploration of those left behind rather than a book about the physical ship sinking.
meg_in_progress's review
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
I read this book as a parent member of a book selection committee for the school district my children attend. This book was being considered for 10th grade and the teachers saw its value as an option for a small literary circle rather than a whole class read.
My thoughts, as shared with the district, under spoiler text just in case:
Spoiler
As a parent, I am comfortable with this book being offered as an option. I think there is value in the book for the right student. I trust our educators to identify the students that might connect with The Lost Boys of Montauk and to have conversations about any heavy material.
Overall, I was ambivalent about the book. I liked elements of it, but it did have faults. I think it was longer than it had to be and following the character friend and family trees was confusing at times. The two things I liked most were: 1. The theme of family influence and patterns passing generationally. We are defined by our roots and sometimes by the struggle to rebel against our families of origin. 2. Looking at the research that went into this book. The author left no stone unturned and followed every rabbit hole. This did, unfortunately, lead back to one of the faults in the book being longer than necessary. Even that thought could be an interesting conversation regarding self-editing.
There were descriptions of prolific drug use by kids as young as middle school. The people involved lived in the 60s-70s, before my time. This would be around the age many students grandparents were teenagers. I understand it was a different time. I do want to be candid about this only so any teachers who choose it would be ok with engaging with any questions raised.
readers_block's review
3.0
I thought this was decent because of my connection to Long Island and Montauk. Otherwise I think it would have been fairly boring. I almost feel like the author didn't have enough for a story here. Maybe for an essay, but I felt it was a stretch for a 300 page book.
It ends up being part biography of these men who went missing, part history of Montauk and then a lot of side streets that go nowhere (pages about tilefish, some detours about grief, etc etc). Bit meandering like it didn't know what it wanted to be.
It ends up being part biography of these men who went missing, part history of Montauk and then a lot of side streets that go nowhere (pages about tilefish, some detours about grief, etc etc). Bit meandering like it didn't know what it wanted to be.
lindsface's review
2.0
I listened to the audiobook version. First and foremost, the narrator sounded like a robot. I respect the research and interviews the author did for this book, I just didn’t think it was very well-written. It didn’t hold my attention well at all and the way it was put together had me confused several times throughout. So much potential for an excellent book about an intense, historical tragedy, just not executed well. Disappointing altogether.
leahjo91's review
3.0
It’s hard not giving this a 5 stars because the story is heartbreaking and it’s one that needs to be told. The flow of the book and the writing were just not my favorite. I understand the writers idea of going into the family histories to understand the men and their lives but I found myself losing interest because it was just so much about their families. I would have liked that to be a little less and more about the men themselves. I’d still say it was worth reading