Mystic river vs The Last to Know: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Fiction
Mystic river
“WHEN SEAN DEVINE and Jimmy Marcus were kids, their fathers worked together at the Coleman Candy plant and carried the stench of warm chocolate back home with them.”
More
When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. But then a strange car pulled up to their street. One boy got into the car, two did not, and something terrible happened -- something that…
The Last to Know
More
Townsend Heights is the perfect small town, just the kind of place Tasha Banks longed for when she left her big-city career for full-time motherhood. But now her dream is turning into a nightmare as a serial killer…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Mystic river highest: Mystic river 4.2 · The Last to Know 3.6.
- Mystic river has the widest readership — 171181 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| Mystic river | The Last to Know | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (171181) | — |
| Hardcover | 4.1 (184) | 3.5 (2) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (687) | 3.5 (28) |
Reception
| Mystic river | The Last to Know | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 171181 | 28 |
| Editions | 53 | 2 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 139549 | — |
| Reading it now | 4943 | — |
| Written reviews | 6742 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 5175 | 338 |
| Pages | 496 | 480 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Mystic river or The Last to Know?
Mystic river has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Mystic river 4.2/5, The Last to Know 3.6/5).
Which is shorter to read: Mystic river or The Last to Know?
The Last to Know is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Last to Know (480 pages, ≈ 8 h 53 m); Mystic river (496 pages, ≈ 9 h 11 m).
Which is harder to read: Mystic river or The Last to Know?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Mystic river: Moderate; The Last to Know: Moderate.
Have both books been made into films?
Mystic river: 5 film adaptations; The Last to Know: no film adaptation on record.