Book Review: Shelter by Harlan Coben

Title: Shleter

Author: Harlan Coben

Series: Mickey Bolitar (Book 1)

Pages: 304

Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group

Year Published: 2011

“Mickey Bolitar’s year can’t get much worse. After witnessing his father’s death and sending his mom to rehab, he’s forced to live with his estranged Uncle Myron and switch high schools.

A new school comes with new friends and new enemies, and lucky for Mickey, it also comes with a great new girlfriend, Ashley. For a while, it seems like Mickey’s train wreck of a life is improving- until Ashley vanishes without a trace. Unwilling to let another person walk out of his life, Mickey follows Ashley’s trail into a seedy underworld that reveals that this seemingly sweet, shy girl isn’t who she claimed to be. And neither was Mickey’s father. Soon, Mickey learns about a conspiracy so shocking that it makes high school drama seem like a luxury- and leaves him questioning everything about the life he thought he knew.”

My Rating: 9/10

This is the first book I’ve ever read by Harlan Coben and I loved it! This book is not only written with suspense but also it made me feel as though I was experiencing everything with Mickey as he went through it. This book is made for people who love twists and turns that don’t want a nice calm novel. I really enjoyed the sense of humor that is used in this book and how Harlan seemed to get down to a high school level of writing. I could picture my high school as he wrote it. The janitor closet, the office and of course the cafeteria are all locked in my mind. I can’t wait to read the next book in this gripping series.

THANK YOU HARLAN COBEN FOR PROVING YOU CAN’T KNOW SOMEONE JUST BY APPEARANCE!           

Love,

Sidny ♥♪♫

Spoiler: Shelter by Harlan Coben

This book was one of the best I’ve read. The fact that it was a mystery and a thriller kept me reading until late hours of the night… especially last night. I loved that way that Harlan Coben combined humor and mystery into one stunning piece of writing. The fact that this book is branched on from another series scared me at first, when most authors do that they forget that you don’t know what’s going on if you haven’t read the first series, which sucks! But Harlan Coben didn’t make me feel lost at all.

Characters:

Mickey: An excellent main character who has already gone through so much in his young life, but this only makes for a better story. There are twists and turns that happen to Mickey that you don’t see coming. I did see that his mom would have to go back to rehab, that she was lying. People don’t just become instantly better after addictions, it doesn’t work that way. I love that Mickey fought so hard to find Ashley and the way he teamed up with unlikely people.

Ema: I felt for this girl. It’s not easy looking different or being different… especially in a small town where you went to the same middle school and usually the same elementary school as everyone in your high school class. Really it’s horrible because people already think they know you. I do think that maybe Ema lives on the street as we never see her house.

Spoon: What a hilarious guy? This character kept the story light for me with his random facts and his swooning. I loved that he wasn’t afraid to stick up to Chief Tayler.

Rachel: Who would think a pretty, popular girl would join this daring rescue? I sure didn’t.

The Bat Lady: I loved the twist at the end of this book, although we don’t see the Bat Lady often we do get to see that she plays a huge part in this mystery.

Ashley: It’s really to bad that her and Mickey wouldn’t work out but it’s better that she be safe.

Favorite Lines/Moments:

♥Pg. 10

“I approached tentatively. When I got close enough, I gave a half wave and said, ‘Hi.’

I always open with super-smooth lines like this.”

♥Pg. 116

“Grandma sprinted toward Myron and me, arms wide open, hugging us as though we were innocent men just released from serving an unjust prison term, which is to say, like a grandmother should.”

♥Pg. 122

“I don’t want to exaggerate, but the SnowCap Melter was the greatest thing anyone has ever eaten in the history of the world.”

♥Pg. 137

“’The future ex-Mrs. Spoon,’ Spoon said. Then, thinking about it, ‘Or would she be Fork? I must work on that.’”

Thanks for reading,

Love,

Sidny xoxo