Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda

25 reviews

herelieshenry's review against another edition

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

3.75

I really enjoyed this book, admittedly to my own surprise—I initially expected it to be a let down because of the slow start and the fact that the narrator of the audiobook wasn’t really to my taste (once again I am asking audiobook producers to instruct narrators on pronouncing Appalachia correctly, especially when the word appears so frequently in a book), but I found myself pretty invested by about 30% in and remained so for the rest of the book. I do wish there were more breadcrumbing of the resolution
and of Abby’s true identity
, and I would have rated this a bit higher if the ending felt a bit more “earned”, but overall, this is a competent small town thriller. I like the themes of belonging and the different kinds of roots people may have in a town, how one becomes part of a place over time, and the effect notoriety and “dark tourism” can have on a community. I can relate to some of that, in that I have personally seen coverage of certain events in the town I grew up in that felt incredibly jarring, exploitative, and misrepresentative at best; that added a dimension of connection to the story for me
and made me empathize with Celeste more despite her not getting nearly enough screentime
.

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thatonecatmom's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

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amelia_horseman's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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

4.25

I really liked the idea of this one, but I felt like the end
kind of brought in someone that  I wasn't connected with. Also, where the hell did the MC get the dead brother's phone? I must have missed where she had that because all the sudden she did, and I even went back to try to find what I missed, and I couldn't find it.
But whew, was everyone hiding their own little secret in this one. It did feel like people needed to chill a little bit and understand that if you live in a place where people are constantly going missing, you're probably going to get asked about it.

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cassielaj's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Very slow start, but a pretty good mystery/thriller. Some of the twists definitely got me, but part of that is because certain things weren’t developed/hinted at very well. Having read two of Megan Miranda’s books now, I see some themes of tight-knit communities with secrets and the lengths people are willing to go to to protect their communities. 

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chloe110803's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


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sierracaine's review against another edition

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

3.75


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gellyreads's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Very twisty, I didn't see a lot of it coming and I couldn't put it down. Maybe not the best mystery or extremely well written, as I wouldn't know - I was having too much fun reading it. I really didn't expect
Abby to be related to one of the Frat 4 for at all! Although Celeste was shady and the town.

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creepycrawlybookworm's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-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

This is my first Megan Miranda book, and I loved it. Not the typical fast-paced thriller or crime novel that I often read, it reminded me of Barbara Erskine’s writing, with the use of nature writing and descriptions of place and time. It kept me hooked though, with just enough mystery and tension, and most of the reveals and twists were not ones I saw coming. I can’t wait to read more by the author. The only thing it lacked, which may be due to the setting, was some diversity in the characters.

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bringmybooks's review against another edition

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

4.0

How well can we ever really know the place that we live? Especially if we didn't grow up there?

B̷R̷I̷N̷G̷ ✨ 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗪 ✨ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷

This was my third Megan Miranda book (in less than a week) and while it was my least favorite of the three, it was still worth the read and I would readily recommend it! 

(For those wondering, thus far my favorites in order are The Only Survivors, All The Missing Girls, and then The Last to Vanish)

I love how Miranda plays with memory, first (and second, and third) impressions, and with unreliability in narration. This one didn't feel very taut or propulsive; it was more deliberate in the way that information about both characters and the town itself was parsed out. This worked for setting up the atmosphere, but in a way it kept me kind of removed from creating real attachments to the characters or their motivations. 

I didn't see the end coming, and there was at least one jaw dropping moment - so for me, that works as far as what I'm looking for in a thriller!

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