Reviews with content warning for Murder - Fool Me Once

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben

15 reviews

vivisms_82's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

My stars are mostly for the amazing narrator January LaVoy - she did a terrific job creating the characters and bringing their own voice to the page.

I know some folks have issue with the "twist" but that didn't bother me and to me, frankly made sense.

I found Maya supremely unlikeable - she is brash, lacks warmth and her lack of remorse in war and unshakeable sense of self righteousness made it fine to me that she was a liar and the killer of Joe. Don't get me wrong soldiers have a duty and see and do what most of us couldn't fathom - it's just that I have never come across a soldier that had so little humility - even if they believed in the cause. Maya essentially killed Joe because he killed her sister. The fact that he also killed his own brother, a kid in an atrocious hazing incident and another gentleman (sorry escapes my mind who he was) were just details to Maya. So to Maya, her killing Joe was justified. He had gotten away with two murders already so Maya knew it was unlikely he would have ever been brought to justice for killing Maya's sister or the other gent. His family was too powerful. She essentially took justice in her own hands and even though I didn't particularly like her, I thought that made sense to her character.

As for Harlan's story... again a great premise but just a mediocre delivery. The problem I find with him is that although he is good at making a page turner, the climax is always underwhelming, convoluted and unfortunately forgettable the day after I finish reading. I also didn't like how Maya's looks were constantly brought up - added zero to the story and was unnecessary.

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exhaustedmumma's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

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

3.0

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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dev921's review

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

courtnetto's review

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

This book was such a good read, I loved how it kept the suspense up throughout, while also keeping you guessing on who was behind the murders.
Although, once you find out who murdered Joe, the title makes a lot of sense.
Maya is a doting mother, or seems to be but is it all an act?
You must read to find out the answer! Not as long as my usual reviews but I’d be on for ages if I tried to cover everything that happened, so all I will say is read this book!

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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

Content Warnings

makcrowley'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
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

- great unreliable narrative and twists and turns
- plot is fast so never have time to catch your breath
- was small detail but could have done with a better editor, several typos

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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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bertrandlm's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.5

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