Reviews

The Last Laugh by Mindy McGinnis

bschweig717's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Fantastic and surprising end to the duology-would highly recommend for fans of thrillers and the slightly creepy.

shmadsie's review against another edition

5.0

This was so good? I did not expect it to be so good, but I know the first one ended up surprising me too with how much I liked it and I think it's because I couldn't predict it at any point, the characters who would be 'safe' were consistently proven not to be, events that I assumed wouldn't happen did; it did a really really good job of keeping me guessing. It's not your typical fare, that's for sure, (none of this is predictable YA crap) and there was definitely a part I had to read through my fingers (if you've read it, I am certain you know which one) - and I cannot remember that happening since The Shining. The only part that I had to stretch to meet was Felicity immediately getting on Team Tress, that was exactly what I wanted her to do - naturally - but it also wasn't very realistic, haha, but I'll take it because so much of the rest of this was just freaking stellar!

lilyputienne's review against another edition

4.0

Kinda read it diagonal and then fastforwarded to the last chapters because I could not take another weird animal POV. Loved the ending, missed some things but I had the finale words and it was awesome.

kelly24lox's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

ellakostka's review against another edition

4.0

★★★★☆ 4/5 this one is definitely a hidden gem

legally_sherlock_holmes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

caitlinsnider's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

burningupasun's review against another edition

3.0

3 stars. This book was... a lot. Very dark, very gruesome, very depressing. Almost every human person in this book is an awful person. (There are a few exceptions but they're not the main characters.) Honestly, I only read it because I got through the first one and had to know how it turned out. Granted, at about 30% through this one I almost gave up because it was too much for me (too intense, too dark), but I really wanted to find out what happened and I couldn't find a summary anywhere, so I kept reading.

To the author's credit, she did a pretty good job. This is a well-written book, but it's almost TOO well-written. Every chapter from Ribbit's perspective made me literally shudder. Just having to read his thoughts made me feel like I needed ten showers. Truly just... the extra twisted epitome of a "good guy." (Though I did laugh when his final line was: "But I'm a good guy.")

I also wasn't a fan of the ending. It's hard to explain without spoilers but I think things worked out a little too well for certain characters. In more detail:

Spoiler

Tress finds Felicity still alive, Felicity FORGIVES HER for almost murdering her and bricking her up alive in the basement of an abandoned building, then Felicity blames Ribbit instead, and Tress somehow ends up... a millionaire? I just... I mean maybe it would have made sense for Felicity to forgive Tress in the first book, like if they'd made up before she sealed her into the basement. But Felicity really sat down there for days almost dying, no food, no water, wounded, trapped... and then is like ah, it's over, it's cool, let's blame your creepy cousin instead???? I mean. I guess? Idk it just bugged me. I don't HATE it but I don't like it either.

Anyway, it boils down to... if you like really dark, depressing, bloody YA books, go for it. If you don't like the dark stuff so much... maybe don't, lol.

jennoux's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

tracitheinkdrinker's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Geeeeeeez, this duology really has so freaking much to offer. It’s not for the faint of heart, there’s a lot of gross and graphic descriptions. However, it was a RIDE. Both books are so fast-paced, and so much was revealed in this one. It was hard to know, really, who was going to make it out alive and who didn’t, but spoiler: I’m really glad that Rue and the panther both did.