Reviews with content warning for War - Fool Me Once

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Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben

10 reviews

vouija's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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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.

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bri_cook's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

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tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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buriedinsatin's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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sophieelwright's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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narrrayu's review

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dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.5

I want to start off by saying that I'm one of those people who's annoying to watch thrillers with because I alway seem to guess the big twist before the end.

That wasn't the case while reading this book, and I was pleasantly surprised. That said, Harlan Coben has said that Maya is the first female MC he's created and that she might be his favorite so far, and I just hope he fleshes out the next one a bit more. I didn't dislike her, but I didn't particularly like any of the characters in the book. They seemed without depth.

The dead husband was the star of the show from start to finish and it seemed Maya was reduced to the military wife with PTSD. I guess we got other glimpses, like the fact that she didn't feel very maternal and also resented her husband's family for their money and their nannies and their perceived disingenuity. But all in all, the things that make Maya Maya were never super interesting to me, I wasn't invested because I didn't really care about her. She has PTSD and clearly she did something wrong at some point, because she keeps thinking about her "downfall" and her failures. But I never really cared enough to feel curious about that, and when it was revealed what happened to cause her "downfall" it was kind of predictable.

Coben made the story of Joe the main focus and that's all that I cared about throughout the book. Maybe that was intentional, but it almost seems like a shame considering Maya is the main character he loves so much.

It was a quick read and I enjoyed it for the most part. I was impressed that the twist surprised me and it kept me company during a long drive. I think I might stick to Coben's screen adaptations from now on, though.

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