Reviews

Win by Harlan Coben

lexidubbs's review

dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Another Harlan Coben book that reminds me why I love him so much!!! This was a lot of fun to read. I really liked all the characters and I really loved the narration style. I did have some questions at the end though and wish I got a little bit more info. 

mrsbooknerd's review against another edition

1.0

I have wanted a book based on Win for so long, and then it happened and I thought it was going to be the best thing that has ever happened in my reading life.

I hated it.

I cannot believe that I hated it but I did. I started it 5 months ago and the tedious, slow plot and the repetitive nature of Win's narration just couldn't hold my attention. In the end I had to sit down and force myself to read it just to get rid of it, and I never thought I would have to do that with a Harlan Coben novel.

kldeboer's review

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

rachelleigh_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

amylindgren's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.0

humatariq's review against another edition

4.0

This review is a work in progress, read at your own risk.







I have enjoyed some Harlan Coben books in the past and I still own around five of his books that I plan on reading. I like his brand of psychological thriller type of mystery books with a unique twist at the end. But for such books to be successful, the ending has to be great; and I have not loved all of his book endings. That's why I hadn't read any of his books for the past 2 year I think.

So I picked up this book expecting a psychological thriller, but that was not exactly the case. The tagline on the book, "If you lose you die", led me to expect a far different book than this one. To be clear, I was expecting maybe something like [a:David Baldacci|9291|David Baldacci|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1622821181p2/9291.jpg]'s [b:The Winner|113138|The Winner|David Baldacci|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347754561l/113138._SX50_.jpg|1369417]. But of course, the title of the book is not a verb but a noun. "Win", or Winsdor Horne Lockwood III is supposed to be a recurring character in Coben's Myron Bolitar series. So this is basically book 1 of the spin-off series for Win. I have read one or two Bolitar books and enjoyed them. But I do not remember this character. I understand he is supposed to be kind of like an anti-hero, but people still have to like anti-heroes. By the end of the book, I was still not sure whether I like Win or not.

The book is written in first person narration and at times Win seems to be just explaining his point of view to the readers. But I was a bit shocked at reading this line, it almost seems like he's breaking the fourth wall here:

"We are all masters of self-rationalization. We all seek ways to justify our narrative. We all twist that narrative to make ourselves more sympathetic. You do it too. If you are reading this, you were born in the top one percent of history’s population, no question about it. You’ve experienced luxuries that painfully few people in the history of mankind could have even imagined. Yet instead of appreciating that, instead of doing more to help those beneath us, we attack those who got even luckier for not doing enough."

I understand that Bolitar is a beloved character, but he referred to him so many times that I was rather sick of Bolitar by the end of the book. It seems Win misses his best friend way too much.

P.S. I understand that I made a mistake in not looking at the blurb carefully and expecting something else from this book entirely.

lilnug47's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

lavins's review

5.0

A 4.5 stars

This is the first book i read written by Harlan Coben. I've enjoyed it thoroughly. Win is a charismatic, extremely confident, sincere, well educated and likeable personage. The story is very well written, peppered with all kind of fun facts.
The plot is intriguing. We have a murder investigation in the present, a manifestation that went from bad to worse in the past, a kidnapper somewhere in between and they are all somehow linked.

The ending is good, and unexpected.

Involving his daughter and running by her some theories...didn't really agreed with me and that's where half a star was lost.

All in all a great read.

fricka's review

2.0

Audio

fredicia's review

adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

I'm giving extra points for style, 'cause oh boy, this book is fucking stylish The protagonist is handsome, rich, and smart. I'm not a fan of male power fantasies in thrillers usually, but Coben makes it almost charming. Almost. 

I do like the mystery though, the gradual revealing of pieces is nicely paced. And it's engaging. 

I find it strange that halfway through the book Win mentions a kid. Like it has never been mentioned up to that point, until it was relevant to the plot, I guess? It's abrupt.