lea_liest's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Suicide, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Murder, and Rape
Minor: Homophobia
larissachiara's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
mlatrece's review against another edition
5.0
I love this book, I could not put it down for nothing (not even to check a text). It's almost like the teenage versions of Gillian Flynn's mysteries. Last Seen Leaving had me on the edge the entire time; nothing in this book is predictable which is great when dealing with mysteries borderline thriller plot. What you think it going happens; doesn't happen. Narration was just outstanding in my perspective of how Roehrig's mixed in the flashbacks of January's and Flynn's secret. This book isn't released until October 2016 but it's a definite buy. I plan of purchasing a hardback for myself.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
kle105's review against another edition
4.0
Even though this was predictable in the "secret" that Flynn was holding on to when his girlfriend January disappeared I did find myself pulled into the story. While Flynn is trying to discover what happened to her, he finds himself looking at her newly rich father-in-law. It would destroy his political aspirations so did he get rid of her for being wild and unpredictable.
Flynn finds so many secrets from her co-workers and schoolmates, and all of them are contradictory. Flynn learns he didn't really know January at all, so how can he find her killer. While I find at times I could guess where the story was going, I think how the secrets were revealed were excellent and other story points were handled well. It kept me engaged and wanting to keep reading.
I received a free copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Flynn finds so many secrets from her co-workers and schoolmates, and all of them are contradictory. Flynn learns he didn't really know January at all, so how can he find her killer. While I find at times I could guess where the story was going, I think how the secrets were revealed were excellent and other story points were handled well. It kept me engaged and wanting to keep reading.
I received a free copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
donationwayne's review against another edition
3.0
I’d give this a 3.5 probably !! I enjoyed saw a review that said they wished they could rate based on the coming of age and mystery portion and I heavily agree. It left some to be desired but I enjoyed reading it for the most part. As a closeted individual coming outs are always super interesting to me. The book kept me going but I didn’t feel enough closure with the ending.
caitlynfrees's review against another edition
5.0
wow. this book kept me hooked the whole time and was built so well. in most mysteries the idea of a friend trying to solve the murder is so cliche that it ruins the book, but the ideas behind Flynn looking into what happened to January was built SO well. This is one of the first mysteries, if not the first, that I have read where the ending actually makes sense and goes so well with the buildup of the story. even the epilogue was a great addition to the book
bethjkdixon's review against another edition
5.0
"I have this awful feeling that...that we’re never going to see January again. That she’s just...gone."
Last Seen Leaving was a story that kept me guessing right until the very end. This book was perfectly paced; every time I thought I had a theory that explained what happened to January, and what would happen to Flynn, the next page completely threw that theory out of the window. After finishing this I need to add more mystery books to my to-read list because I'm hooked on the genre.
Full review available on my blog Reading Every Night.
pagesplotsandpints's review against another edition
4.0
Initial Impressions 9/14/17: This was another solid young adult mystery/thriller for me! As with most YA mysteries, I did have a little bit of disbelief that the police didn't get as involved as they should have but that's been one of my hang-ups in YA mysteries. The police are often shutting kids down (which, fair, they don't need to nor can they divulge information about cases to teenagers, no matter how involved they might have been) but too often things are left at a shut-down and then there's no showing that the police were even investigating at all. Anyway, like usual, we'll suspend that disbelief for the sake of it being a YA mystery.
Let's also suspend the disbelief of Flynn's language because like many John Green books, I don't know anyone who speaks like that, teenager or adult. I'm not saying you have to be a word nerd in order to use "big words" but some of those words aren't even in my vocabulary much less in a teen's, so it was noticeable to me.
January also kind of reminded me of Alaska in LOOKING FOR ALASKA in the sense that I think I was supposed to like her but ... I really didn't. Was I supposed to like January? I can't tell. She was kind of all over the place and obviously Flynn cares for her but there was also a lot of "January is so special" and some clear manipulation here that I ended up being suspicious of her instead of hoping this was all a big misunderstanding. I think it was also the narration and the was her tone was portrayed because it was a very haughty voice and I wasn't a fan of her character because of it.
LAST SEEN LEAVING has been compared to GONE GIRL, which is always a huge comparison in my opinion because those are some big shoes to fill, but I also definitely see where that's coming from. I hate when comparisons are made because then it MAKES me draw conclusions similar to the plot of the book it was compared to which can be spoilers, so boo on that affecting my reading experience, but that's also part of what drew me in so beggars can't be choosers! Anyway -- I totally see the GONE GIRL comparison except that feel left me thinking it was going to be more sinister than it was. Don't get me wrong, some very Not Okay things happen in this book and it gets troubling and complicated, but that thought misled me juuuust a bit.
Okay, enough with the complaining. I actually did enjoy this book so let's talk about the nice things! I really liked Flynn's character. It wasn't to the point of gushing but I felt like he was pretty realistic, heroics aside, and I appreciated how he handled all of life's complications, including a life-changing admission of his own. I really liked how he handled everything, from personal relationships to self-revelations to friendships to murder investigations -- it may not have always been in the BEST way, but he always seemed realistic and I thought he did a pretty good job of staying true to himself. The secondary characters outside of Flynn didn't have as much depth as I would have liked but I also felt them to be pretty realistic as well. I loved his parents and how involved they were in the book. It wasn't a TON of page time but they were always there to support him no matter what was going on and it's just always so nice to see that. I wished we had gotten to know Flynn's friends a bit more and I know some people were upset with how Micah ended up treating him but again, I also don't think it's unrealistic. It may have not been the best way to support your friend but what teenager handles everything perfectly?
The mystery was definitely interesting and I was left guessing until the very end! I'm glad I was still surprised at how everything went down but there were a few twists and for some reason the way that they were all laid out, I was still expecting one more (as if that wasn't all enough for me lol). I was aaaalmost satisfied with the ending but there was just something there that I was missing. Maybe I've been reading too many adult thrillers where EVERYONE is so messed up that I'm expecting characters to be even worse than they are. I was very surprised and it was something I never would have guessed, at least how the reveal happened, so that was really cool.
This book has a lot happening and a lot going for it and I was definitely interested from start to finish! There were many complex friendships and relationships, an interesting mystery, and a diverse cast of characters. I think it was a very solid read, even though I had a few hang-ups as mentioned above, but I know they're more minor things that didn't really take away from my overall feeling about the book.
Let's also suspend the disbelief of Flynn's language because like many John Green books, I don't know anyone who speaks like that, teenager or adult. I'm not saying you have to be a word nerd in order to use "big words" but some of those words aren't even in my vocabulary much less in a teen's, so it was noticeable to me.
January also kind of reminded me of Alaska in LOOKING FOR ALASKA in the sense that I think I was supposed to like her but ... I really didn't. Was I supposed to like January? I can't tell. She was kind of all over the place and obviously Flynn cares for her but there was also a lot of "January is so special" and some clear manipulation here that I ended up being suspicious of her instead of hoping this was all a big misunderstanding. I think it was also the narration and the was her tone was portrayed because it was a very haughty voice and I wasn't a fan of her character because of it.
LAST SEEN LEAVING has been compared to GONE GIRL, which is always a huge comparison in my opinion because those are some big shoes to fill, but I also definitely see where that's coming from. I hate when comparisons are made because then it MAKES me draw conclusions similar to the plot of the book it was compared to which can be spoilers, so boo on that affecting my reading experience, but that's also part of what drew me in so beggars can't be choosers! Anyway -- I totally see the GONE GIRL comparison except that feel left me thinking it was going to be more sinister than it was. Don't get me wrong, some very Not Okay things happen in this book and it gets troubling and complicated, but that thought misled me juuuust a bit.
Okay, enough with the complaining. I actually did enjoy this book so let's talk about the nice things! I really liked Flynn's character. It wasn't to the point of gushing but I felt like he was pretty realistic, heroics aside, and I appreciated how he handled all of life's complications, including a life-changing admission of his own. I really liked how he handled everything, from personal relationships to self-revelations to friendships to murder investigations -- it may not have always been in the BEST way, but he always seemed realistic and I thought he did a pretty good job of staying true to himself. The secondary characters outside of Flynn didn't have as much depth as I would have liked but I also felt them to be pretty realistic as well. I loved his parents and how involved they were in the book. It wasn't a TON of page time but they were always there to support him no matter what was going on and it's just always so nice to see that. I wished we had gotten to know Flynn's friends a bit more and I know some people were upset with how Micah ended up treating him but again, I also don't think it's unrealistic. It may have not been the best way to support your friend but what teenager handles everything perfectly?
The mystery was definitely interesting and I was left guessing until the very end! I'm glad I was still surprised at how everything went down but there were a few twists and for some reason the way that they were all laid out, I was still expecting one more (as if that wasn't all enough for me lol). I was aaaalmost satisfied with the ending but there was just something there that I was missing. Maybe I've been reading too many adult thrillers where EVERYONE is so messed up that I'm expecting characters to be even worse than they are. I was very surprised and it was something I never would have guessed, at least how the reveal happened, so that was really cool.
This book has a lot happening and a lot going for it and I was definitely interested from start to finish! There were many complex friendships and relationships, an interesting mystery, and a diverse cast of characters. I think it was a very solid read, even though I had a few hang-ups as mentioned above, but I know they're more minor things that didn't really take away from my overall feeling about the book.