Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Fool Me Once

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben

7 reviews

xabbeylongx's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Spoilers Ahead:

I’ve been really getting into Coben’s books, and I saw that this had been developed into a TV show and the cover, therefore, was absolutely gorgeous, so I was a little bit disappointed with this book, I can’t lie.

We follow Maya as she is burying her husband, Joe. She was there when it happened, as he was shot by two thugs. However, she sees him on a nanny cam, and she wonders what the hell happened for him to be seen like that.

She’s looking into his murder, trying to find a connection. She thinks his family is involved. They are rich and snooty, and all of them knew things about the murders that shouldn’t have been known. For example, one of Joe’s brothers apparently ‘committed suicide’, but Maya starts to believe that someone was actually behind it, and she starts to suspect that Joe might have been behind it. Both Joe’s and his brother’s bodies are never shown, and she suspects them to be missing. She keeps on digging and digging, until she finds that all of Joe’s family are responsible for covering up skeletons, but the one who was behind his murder was actually her!

First of all, it took me ages to get into. I don’t know why, just starting it off was very slow. I find that, with Coben’s books, at least, the beginning is always quite slow, but then it pulls you in deep, and that’s why I stuck it out, but I didn’t get that pull with this book, unfortunately. When Joe showed up on the nanny cam, I was so shook, and I thought that that would make such a good book. I think I then had quite high standards, and that was my downfall. I was expecting more to be happening with the nanny cam, because that was such a good opening, but it wasn’t really talked about much after that. Even the blurb talks about the nanny cam, because it’s one of the most interesting parts!

I think, personally, the whole plot felt a little forced, like all of the pieces are from the same jigsaw, but it’s not being put back in the correct way. I can’t describe it, but the story just didn’t click for me. Normally when I read books, there is a clicking moment where I finally understand what’s going on in the story and why everything’s been done the way it has - normally it has to be spelt out VERY clearly otherwise I will miss it or misinterpret it - but I never got that with this book, which is a shame. The ending was a little bit of a let-down for me too, unfortunately; I just felt… unsatisfied.

I thought all of the characters themselves were miserable, also, and unlikeable too. I didn’t bond with Maya at all… I had no emotions towards her whatsoever, which is a shame. I felt she was trying too hard to be one of those women, I don’t want to use the word, but pick-me-ish? The type to try too hard, that sort of thing, which I find a really unlikeable and distasteful trope, to be honest. I’m not going to go into another rant, but why on earth was Maya looking into his murder that deeply, if she already knew it was her? I know she apparently didn’t know, but how could you not know that you killed someone?? And where did the bodies go, if no one saw them, or did I get the wrong end of the stick with that? It doesn’t make any sense!! I feel so frustrated with how the book, and how it ended!!

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sandysmith's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

My first Harlan Coben read, which I thoroughly enjoyed, so I will read more of his books. The story is about Maya and opens with her attending the funeral of her husband, who died a few days earlier in a shooting following the death of her sister a few months earlier. With great supporting characters, Maya is a veteran who flew helicopters and handy with guns who had been exposed by Corey, the whistle, for firing on civilians. She has a 2 year old daughter Lily she cares for. A friend gives her a nanny cam on which she sees her husband playing with her daughter, which she investigates both his death and his appearance on the nanny cam. Dark secrets in this brilliant twisty thriller. Whilst I didn't like Maya particularly, you can't help but get swept away with the story. It's a riveting, surprising, twisty, dark, tightly plotted, easy to read ride of a book. Excellent stuff.

Content Warnings