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bellerboo13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
coralmath's review against another edition
4.0
This book was crazy good. Easily the scariest book I’ve ever read in my life but I legit could not stop reading. It’s like a horror movie and kind of traumatized me but would recommend if you really like that stuff
bookish_whispers's review against another edition
4.0
The cover for Our Last Echoes is what originally caught my eye and then the tag line at the bottom. Then I saw it being compared to the TV show Twin Peaks and I was completely sold. Both these things being said I did go into this book not completely sure what I was getting myself into, and I think this time that was one of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much. After finishing this I would say this book is more LOST than Twin Peaks.
Our Last Echoes doesn't ease you into this story. It starts you in the middle before jumping back to the present day. Which does grab your attention from the word go, but also gave me a bit of whiplash. It took me a bit to get my footing with this book, and a part of me thinks that while Our Last Echoes is a standalone book, it connects to another book by Kate Alice Marshall, The Rules of Vanishing. Both of these books not only exist in the same world but by the end of the book connect. You don't have to read one before the other.
I will say the story does move rather quickly, and it's hard to find a place to stop for things like sleep and work. Every time you think you've found a spot to walk away from for a few minutes, something else happened. I also liked how we got back the story of what happened to Sophie's mother. Joy's story is told through a transcript of a video that was recorded at the time of the incident. What I liked about this, is you got to experience Joy's story just as much as Sophie's. It didn't become dry or glossed over. You were with Joy through it all, and it connected to Sophie's story and affected the outcome of the end of the book itself.
The plot for this book is one of my favorite scary tropes of Doppelgangers. I liked the way that Kate Alice Marshall morphed that trope with another of my favorites. Altogether I thought it morphed into a wonderful story that kept me turning the pages because I wanted to know what was happening on this island, how were keeping it a secret, and why were we not making a bigger deal of the fact it was spreading. As you read you start to ask more and more questions that slowly get answered than there are more questions.
I will admit I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this book. The last hundred pages are so were hard to put down as all the answers started to come together to one explosive ending.
And that ending, I loved it. With books like Our Last Echoes, I like when it leaves with more than just a few questions left unanswered right at the end. That you don't really know a handful of things. Kate Alice Marshall did set it up so there could be another book series to tie up a few things that were brought to light about another character, but things with our main character were tied up at the end.
My only real issue, and what kept this from a five-star was read, was that I didn't get connect with a single character in this book. They aren't terrible characters, there just wasn't one that I connected with on a personal level. Well, there was the crow Moriarty. I was really worried about him at the end, but as for the human characters. Yeah, I don't think I would have been too overly sad if the main three had died.
But, the crazy twisted story that Kate Alice Marshal tells sucked me right in. I spent the whole book just needing to know the hell was going on with this island! This means I have added The Rule of Vanishing to my TBR, and I'd read another book set in this universe.
Our Last Echoes doesn't ease you into this story. It starts you in the middle before jumping back to the present day. Which does grab your attention from the word go, but also gave me a bit of whiplash. It took me a bit to get my footing with this book, and a part of me thinks that while Our Last Echoes is a standalone book, it connects to another book by Kate Alice Marshall, The Rules of Vanishing. Both of these books not only exist in the same world but by the end of the book connect. You don't have to read one before the other.
I will say the story does move rather quickly, and it's hard to find a place to stop for things like sleep and work. Every time you think you've found a spot to walk away from for a few minutes, something else happened. I also liked how we got back the story of what happened to Sophie's mother. Joy's story is told through a transcript of a video that was recorded at the time of the incident. What I liked about this, is you got to experience Joy's story just as much as Sophie's. It didn't become dry or glossed over. You were with Joy through it all, and it connected to Sophie's story and affected the outcome of the end of the book itself.
The plot for this book is one of my favorite scary tropes of Doppelgangers. I liked the way that Kate Alice Marshall morphed that trope with another of my favorites. Altogether I thought it morphed into a wonderful story that kept me turning the pages because I wanted to know what was happening on this island, how were keeping it a secret, and why were we not making a bigger deal of the fact it was spreading. As you read you start to ask more and more questions that slowly get answered than there are more questions.
I will admit I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this book. The last hundred pages are so were hard to put down as all the answers started to come together to one explosive ending.
And that ending, I loved it. With books like Our Last Echoes, I like when it leaves with more than just a few questions left unanswered right at the end. That you don't really know a handful of things. Kate Alice Marshall did set it up so there could be another book series to tie up a few things that were brought to light about another character, but things with our main character were tied up at the end.
My only real issue, and what kept this from a five-star was read, was that I didn't get connect with a single character in this book. They aren't terrible characters, there just wasn't one that I connected with on a personal level. Well, there was the crow Moriarty. I was really worried about him at the end, but as for the human characters. Yeah, I don't think I would have been too overly sad if the main three had died.
But, the crazy twisted story that Kate Alice Marshal tells sucked me right in. I spent the whole book just needing to know the hell was going on with this island! This means I have added The Rule of Vanishing to my TBR, and I'd read another book set in this universe.
wdianasheppard's review against another edition
4.0
I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair review. Thank you!
Kate Marshall's "Our Last Echoes" is one of those books that feels haunted from the first page. "Our Last Echoes" is a "found footage" book, much likes "Rules for Vanishing" which took place in the same universe (but isn't required to understand this novel). The location is an unusual one - a remote area of Alaska home to rarel birds, a research center, and the bones of abandoned towns and military bases. Sophie's quest to find out what happened to her dead mother starts spooky and only gets more tense as the novel continues; I particularly enjoyed the support of her friends, Ashley and Liam - it was refreshing to have them witness supernatural events and believe her nearly immediately, rather than the trope of "no one believes her and she might be going crazy". There were a few twists that I guessed early on, but if you're in the mood for a creepy, moody little supernatural novel, you can't get much better than this. Marshall's writing is luminous, the setting unnerving, and if you're anything like me, you'll tear through this one.
Kate Marshall's "Our Last Echoes" is one of those books that feels haunted from the first page. "Our Last Echoes" is a "found footage" book, much likes "Rules for Vanishing" which took place in the same universe (but isn't required to understand this novel). The location is an unusual one - a remote area of Alaska home to rarel birds, a research center, and the bones of abandoned towns and military bases. Sophie's quest to find out what happened to her dead mother starts spooky and only gets more tense as the novel continues; I particularly enjoyed the support of her friends, Ashley and Liam - it was refreshing to have them witness supernatural events and believe her nearly immediately, rather than the trope of "no one believes her and she might be going crazy". There were a few twists that I guessed early on, but if you're in the mood for a creepy, moody little supernatural novel, you can't get much better than this. Marshall's writing is luminous, the setting unnerving, and if you're anything like me, you'll tear through this one.
holl3640's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
peanutjam's review against another edition
5.0
I cannot say how much I love Kate Alice Marshall. Rules For Vanishing is one of my favorite books of all time, so when I heard that Our Last Echos was her next book I immediately preordered it. And it is not disappoint.
The first part of the book was slow and I kept thinking "wtf is with these birds. They're not creepy" and then, well... I was wrong. I should have trusted Kate Alice Marshall more!
The atmosphere, the plot, the characters, were all fantastic. The pacing, while a bit slow in the beginning, really picked up as more and more creepy stuff happened and by the middle of the book it was basically a compulsion to finish it. I finished this book in nearly one sitting within 24 hours.
However, despite how much I loved this book and that I rated it 5 stars, I could have done without the insta-love romance. I don't think it added to the plot at all and I really preferred the little to no romance from her other two YA books. This wasn't enough to detract from the story for me though.
Kate Alice Marshall is utter royalty for horror and all of her books need to be movies. I really hope she puts out an adult book in the future. I'd love to see how she can stretch her wings (ha!) in that area.
Another similar book to this that was good (but not as good) was Teeth in the Mist and I highly recommend it if you liked this one
The first part of the book was slow and I kept thinking "wtf is with these birds. They're not creepy" and then, well... I was wrong. I should have trusted Kate Alice Marshall more!
The atmosphere, the plot, the characters, were all fantastic. The pacing, while a bit slow in the beginning, really picked up as more and more creepy stuff happened and by the middle of the book it was basically a compulsion to finish it. I finished this book in nearly one sitting within 24 hours.
However, despite how much I loved this book and that I rated it 5 stars, I could have done without the insta-love romance. I don't think it added to the plot at all and I really preferred the little to no romance from her other two YA books. This wasn't enough to detract from the story for me though.
Kate Alice Marshall is utter royalty for horror and all of her books need to be movies. I really hope she puts out an adult book in the future. I'd love to see how she can stretch her wings (ha!) in that area.
Another similar book to this that was good (but not as good) was Teeth in the Mist and I highly recommend it if you liked this one
courtlane's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
2.0