In the Woods in PopSugar Reading Challenge en Español

Nov 02, 2016 Paloma rated it it was ok

Shelves: reviewed-reseñados, not-my-cup-of-tea, owned, reading-challenge-2016, thrillers

Honestly, I thought of rating this book with one star, but I guess I´ve been way much more benelovent with other books that I didn't like as much. I think the fact that I had too many expectations on this book is the reason why I was so disappointed. The premise was very interesting: three children lost in the Irish woods vanished and only one managed to return with no memory of what happened. Twenty years later, the boy who survived has become a policeman and suddenly faces a murder case on the Honestly, I thought of rating this book with one star, but I guess I´ve been way much more benelovent with other books that I didn't like as much. I think the fact that I had too many expectations on this book is the reason why I was so disappointed. The premise was very interesting: three children lost in the Irish woods vanished and only one managed to return with no memory of what happened. Twenty years later, the boy who survived has become a policeman and suddenly faces a murder case on the same woods. Allegedly, this would make him face his past and perhaps find some answers.

However, I felt that nothing happened. Nothing at all . The story of the disappareance of two children was -at least for me- the major plot, punchline and in the end it only seemed like a background story, like a detail. I felt that story had such a potential that was just wasted. Though in real life many disppareances go unsolved (most of them in fact), the book is not real life, is fiction! And I think there were lots of ways in which the author could have been able to give some answers to this case and build a great story around it. But no. This is just the past of a detective -Rob Ryan- who is not even hunted by the memory -because he can't recall anthing before the day his friends vanished!

And that brings me to my other major issue -the main character, Detective Ryan. I did not like him at all, but not because of his traumas, he being a jerk: literature has some detestable characters but this one in particular, made no sense to me. Sorry. He's a young man, intelligent, well-read, and he seems to be ok, cool, at least with his partner Cassie Maddox. I felt there was a 'Mulder & Scully' relation but in the end, he completely blew it and for no logical reason at all. Ok, it's understandable that living something like what he lived can have serious effects on people but... he didn't die, he wasn't raped, and he didn't look for any professional help. Now, given a detective, and working for security forces, wouldn't it be sensible if he underwent some counseling at some point on his life? He's just detached from everything and therefore, it makes it hard for me to really believe he could be committed to anything -relationships and his work included.

Now, the story of the murder of Kathy Devlin was interesting and unlike some other comments here, I really had no idea who the killer could be, so it came as a shock. I did enjoy the building of the plot and I found it quite chilling how it turned out -as described in the book, her murder was just pure evil, the evil that has no reason no explanation. I was particularly moved by the memories of Kathy's life, by her love for ballet, and by all the dreams that never came true because of some evil will.

I think I was expecting some sort of closure that could be linked in the two cases and would help us understand the mystery of those woods. As the first crime was never solved, I felt that literally, that could have been taken out of the story and nothing would have changed -except for a shorter and perhaps more powerful novel? Not sure. The story is perfectly well written, on that no complaints, but I am not sure if I'd be interested in reading the following books. ...more

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Jan 04, 2016 CA rated it liked it

Shelves: 2016

Por donde empiezo si quiera a hablar de este libro….
Primero, sus personajes, SUS MALDITOS PERSONAJES, creo que nunca he estado más satisfecha con el desarrollo y profundidad de unos personajes en un libro policial. Y si, Rob es tu típico hombre maduro con un triste pasado que lo hace mantenerse alejado del resto de la humanidad, como cada otro libro policial existente, pero hay mucho más en él y la autora en verdad se preocupa de mostrarte una imagen completa de el para que lo sientas real y no Por donde empiezo si quiera a hablar de este libro….
Primero, sus personajes, SUS MALDITOS PERSONAJES, creo que nunca he estado más satisfecha con el desarrollo y profundidad de unos personajes en un libro policial. Y si, Rob es tu típico hombre maduro con un triste pasado que lo hace mantenerse alejado del resto de la humanidad, como cada otro libro policial existente, pero hay mucho más en él y la autora en verdad se preocupa de mostrarte una imagen completa de el para que lo sientas real y no solo un cliché.

Cassie, es lo mejor que le ha pasado a este libro, la amo y una parte de mí desearía que el libro fuera contado desde ambas perspectivas, pero eso es solo mi espíritu egoísta que quiere saber cada mínimo detalle de su vida, diría que el libro está bastante bien solo teniendo a Rob de narrador.Incluso en las ultimas 100 paginas cuando lo único que quería era golpearlo porque era tan malditamente melodramatico.

Ahora, la trama, la forma en la que este libro se vende, por su sinopsis, son dos historias paralelas conectadas, una siendo la de los dos chicos desaparecidos en el bosque y la otra sobre el asesinato de una chica. Esa sinopsis no es exactamente una mentira pero tampoco es suficiente, no para mí.

(view spoiler)

Cuando se lleva a los capítulos finales y ya se sabe quien es el asesino y todo lo que hay por saber, es decir cuando se termina el misterio, siento que muchas veces la historia se vuelve aburrida, ya no hay nada que tire de la trama para moverse y se vuelve lenta, pero tal vez porque en este caso no solo se avanza con el misterio sino también con el desarrollo de los personajes no sentí que se volviera aburrido, más bien me mantuvo en un estado de sufrimiento hasta el final, en el que sigo estando hasta ahora.
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Jun 26, 2016 Ireniam rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, 4stars, thriller, 2016-reading-challenge, 2016-best-books, crime, leidos-en-2016, novela-negra

4.5/5

2016 Reading Challenge
[X]Un libro con más de 600 páginas

Una niña aparece asesinada en un pueblecito de Irlanda. El Detective Ryan intentará desvelar este misterio que resulta ser bastante personal puesto que hace 20 años en esa misma localidad, él y dos niños más entraron en ese bosque pero solo el volvió, lo más extraño del caso es que Ryan aun al día de hoy no tiene memoria de que pasó allí.

El libro está narrado en primera persona por Ryan, y recuenta los hechos de esta investigación de u ...more

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