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shipleyd's review
4.0
This is my first book by Kate Gable thanks to a Goodreads Giveaway and I can't wait to read more from her! While I had some suspicions on who the bad guy was, I was hooked from the beginning. I enjoyed the different POVs from the three main characters even thought the series is based on only one of them. Lots of twists and turns while never a dull moment!
ericaregina's review
2.0
A little slow build but it does ok in keeping you interested in finding out the who, what and why. Entire story revolves around an ex-wife whose husband leaves her for the younger, hotter model. Gets married and they are now expecting their first child. She on the other hand is drowning in self pity and stalking their social media. When the ex and his new pregnant bride are murdered, she becomes the prime suspect. Especially since she finds the bodies and conveniently cant remember how she ended up there! Did she or didn't she do it?
katiya's review against another edition
4.0
Two people are murdered in their bed. The main suspect claims she can't remember how she came to be in their house. Is it as simple as it seems?
The story I read was Last Breath with Charlotte Pierce as the lead detective. I've noticed that there are two other versions Her Last Breath and What I Did with Detective Charlie Finn as the main character in some of them. This point is worthy of a mention because the story seems subtly edited in this newer version.
There were a few things that bothered me:
Let's start with the ending - it was too convoluted for my liking. I would have worked the story differently. The story had already wound around so many angles that it needed to wrap more cleanly.
The main character was lost in the plot. Charlotte/Charlie had less than a third of the screen time despite being the person who is the most likely to be continuing in the series.
The solution felt rather like bait and switch: a rabbit being pulled out of a magician's hat instead of the expected pigeon.
I'd prefer an omniscient narrator to a revolving point of view shared by several characters. Moreover, the shifts in time bogged the story down.
There were a few things I liked:
When the main suspect doesn't know if she is innocent or not, the plotline has so many places it could go and the author used that to her advantage.
The detective was not a "straight off the shelf" police officer. There was a degree of depth to her character. She had an intriguing backstory.
This book wasn't your typical police procedural - which, now that I think about it, is a con as well as a pro.
Overall, I liked the story. (But another edit wouldn't hurt.)
3.5 Stars
The story I read was Last Breath with Charlotte Pierce as the lead detective. I've noticed that there are two other versions Her Last Breath and What I Did with Detective Charlie Finn as the main character in some of them. This point is worthy of a mention because the story seems subtly edited in this newer version.
There were a few things that bothered me:
Let's start with the ending - it was too convoluted for my liking. I would have worked the story differently. The story had already wound around so many angles that it needed to wrap more cleanly.
The main character was lost in the plot. Charlotte/Charlie had less than a third of the screen time despite being the person who is the most likely to be continuing in the series.
The solution felt rather like bait and switch: a rabbit being pulled out of a magician's hat instead of the expected pigeon.
I'd prefer an omniscient narrator to a revolving point of view shared by several characters. Moreover, the shifts in time bogged the story down.
There were a few things I liked:
When the main suspect doesn't know if she is innocent or not, the plotline has so many places it could go and the author used that to her advantage.
The detective was not a "straight off the shelf" police officer. There was a degree of depth to her character. She had an intriguing backstory.
This book wasn't your typical police procedural - which, now that I think about it, is a con as well as a pro.
Overall, I liked the story. (But another edit wouldn't hurt.)
3.5 Stars
kdbug's review
2.0
I won this novel as a Goodreads giveaway.
I think I got my hopes up with the average review being 4.5 stars. I kept reading because in my experience, books that have a slow build sometimes get really crazy and intense in the last half or so. That was not true for this book. I didn't know who to root for because everyone in this book is so stupid, especially Erin. My initial issue with connecting to this book was the fact that POV is constantly jumping but the timeline jumps as well and there is no label at all to help the reader keep track of the timeline. The unlikeable characters just made it worse.
I think I got my hopes up with the average review being 4.5 stars. I kept reading because in my experience, books that have a slow build sometimes get really crazy and intense in the last half or so. That was not true for this book. I didn't know who to root for because everyone in this book is so stupid, especially Erin. My initial issue with connecting to this book was the fact that POV is constantly jumping but the timeline jumps as well and there is no label at all to help the reader keep track of the timeline. The unlikeable characters just made it worse.
kazza248's review
5.0
The sign of a good mystery writer is when you haven't a clue who did it and even though everything pointed at Erin, I knew she didn't do it, but had no idea who did or why, as you work your way through the book you are more confused as to who did murder Erin's ex husband and his new wife, everything points at her but she doesn't even remember why or how she got there.
For Charlotte and Will this was a really hard case to crack as Erin was the primary suspect but neither of them believed that she had done it, but if it wasn't her then who and why? Nothing added up and everyone seemed to be on Erin's side, to prove her innocent but they were no nearer to who had committed the murders.
I could say so much more about this book but wont, you have to read it yourself and see if you can work it out! I can usually work out who had done it but not this time, great writing, great plot, great story, its a must read.
Brilliant start to this series I cant wait for more! a really compelling read, you just cant put it down!
For Charlotte and Will this was a really hard case to crack as Erin was the primary suspect but neither of them believed that she had done it, but if it wasn't her then who and why? Nothing added up and everyone seemed to be on Erin's side, to prove her innocent but they were no nearer to who had committed the murders.
I could say so much more about this book but wont, you have to read it yourself and see if you can work it out! I can usually work out who had done it but not this time, great writing, great plot, great story, its a must read.
Brilliant start to this series I cant wait for more! a really compelling read, you just cant put it down!
kscha2's review
4.0
The most confusing thing about this book is that it apparently has two titles, "What She Did" and "Last Breath" I don't know why this is and it caused some confusion but once I realized they were the same I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This is a fun whodunit mystery which definitely want to read the next one in the series!
haz19's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
I read this under the title 'what she did', and I'm not sure how or why the title changed to last breath, but noting it down in case there's been some error or glitch that the isbn has brought me to this edition of the book.
Decent plot outline, but overall just a bit of a bland, boring kinda book. Not as gripping as I'd have liked, and I never really felt tense or on the edge of my seat. Characters are all a bit one sided, no major depth or development to them, despite a lot of them having backgrounds explained, it always fell kinda flat and explained very plainly.
Decent plot outline, but overall just a bit of a bland, boring kinda book. Not as gripping as I'd have liked, and I never really felt tense or on the edge of my seat. Characters are all a bit one sided, no major depth or development to them, despite a lot of them having backgrounds explained, it always fell kinda flat and explained very plainly.
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