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A review by jenbsbooks
The Boy from the Woods by Harlan Coben
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.
Maybe it's me? I'm having a string of books that just aren't clicking. I made it 32% (Chapter 15, 130 pages in)... it just seemed so disjointed. I wasn't connecting or caring about the characters, I was confused as to what the story even was ...
The title, and the prologue indicate this is a story about a little boy, raised wild (dated 1986). Then Part one/chapter (dated 2020 - but non-covid world) one we meet high school student Matthew and his thoughts. Chapter two (no date ... still 2020, for all of Part One) but POV (all 3rd person) switches to Hester Crimstein, Matthew's grandmother. Hester is older (70s) but still active, a TV personality, and apparently still interested in romance. A couple chapters later the POV switches to the police chief Oren (also 70 years old) and for the first time, the old case of the boy from the woods is mentioned (the chief was the one who found him - Wilde as he is now known)... but the current concern is a missing girl.
Although the story wasn't what I thought (not much about Wilde, the past is still mentioned, and then we get grown-up Wilde's POV by chapter 6) I was still okay with the current "missing girl" storyline ... but then it just started to ramble and was just blah and my mind was wandering as I was listening (part of KU w/audio, I was listening, but had the kindle copy to check in on) and I had to keep rewinding because I didn't know what was going on, and didn't really care ...
Part Two - Chapter 12 ... one week later (after the last chapter/Part1 ends) and ??? Now what's going on? Miscellaneous Wilde memories? Then back to Hester's POV (not loving her surrounding storyline) ... not positive I'm sold on this 70 something lady acting like a lovesick teen "giant yum". Then Chapter 14 ... Rusty Eggers, he'd been mentioned earlier, someone in local politics? Other names, who are these people, do I care?
... and calling it.
Not rating as even 1/3 the way through, I don't know that it's fair, but I'm shaking my head at the 5* reviews, not sure that this would be able to be redeemed, and not willing to spend the time to find out.
The title, and the prologue indicate this is a story about a little boy, raised wild (dated 1986). Then Part one/chapter (dated 2020 - but non-covid world) one we meet high school student Matthew and his thoughts. Chapter two (no date ... still 2020, for all of Part One) but POV (all 3rd person) switches to Hester Crimstein, Matthew's grandmother. Hester is older (70s) but still active, a TV personality, and apparently still interested in romance. A couple chapters later the POV switches to the police chief Oren (also 70 years old) and for the first time, the old case of the boy from the woods is mentioned (the chief was the one who found him - Wilde as he is now known)... but the current concern is a missing girl.
Although the story wasn't what I thought (not much about Wilde, the past is still mentioned, and then we get grown-up Wilde's POV by chapter 6) I was still okay with the current "missing girl" storyline ... but then it just started to ramble and was just blah and my mind was wandering as I was listening (part of KU w/audio, I was listening, but had the kindle copy to check in on) and I had to keep rewinding because I didn't know what was going on, and didn't really care ...
Part Two - Chapter 12 ... one week later (after the last chapter/Part1 ends) and ??? Now what's going on? Miscellaneous Wilde memories? Then back to Hester's POV (not loving her surrounding storyline) ... not positive I'm sold on this 70 something lady acting like a lovesick teen "giant yum". Then Chapter 14 ... Rusty Eggers, he'd been mentioned earlier, someone in local politics? Other names, who are these people, do I care?
... and calling it.
Not rating as even 1/3 the way through, I don't know that it's fair, but I'm shaking my head at the 5* reviews, not sure that this would be able to be redeemed, and not willing to spend the time to find out.