Reviews

The Woods by Harlan Coben

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jrice92's review against another edition

4.0

I haven't read many books recently (thanks to my manga obsession) but this was a really great, if somewhat predictable thriller!

lindyloureads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

litwithleigh's review against another edition

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2.0

Writing: 3/5 | Plot: 2/5 | Ending: c'mon bro/5

THE PLOT

Essex County Prosecutor Paul Copeland is tryna be a good guy despite all the death in his life. But when a ghost from the past appears, Paul is forced to confront that fateful summer and figure out what really happened 20 years ago.

MY OPINION

Bruh......... You can really tell this book was written in (approx) 2006. It certainly did not age well. Paul was anything BUT a protagonist. It was like he was having an identity crisis; at times he was hell-bent on justice but not shy from some casual racism (at one point he says Indian music sounds like cats fighting

j4sonenthal's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

zorhose's review

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3.0

meh. at some point this was building up to something promising but then it lost me.

i'll admit this is not my familiar genre, so i don't know the standards and conventions, but that usually means i'm easily impressed. here, i rarely felt surprised even when twists did take place.

i didn't like Cope. to me he was a prime example of "men written by men". i might dig through my copy later and edit this with some examples, but he was giving casually misogynistic, sometimes racist remarks throughout the entire book. i guess i still didn't completely hate him and there were other characters that were more annoying, but if there's a first person narrator with these kind of flaws it always makes me wonder about the author.

in general i felt like the message and the theme of the book were quite muddled. but maybe that's on me for going into a thriller with the expectation that there will be a message. as i said i'm new to the genre.

this wasn't awful. i had fun and it kept my interest while reading it, but the ending felt rushed and unsatisfying which dampered my reading experience. i might still watch the netflix show that the unremovable sticker on the book cover advertised. we'll see.