The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! š
bringmybooks's review
- 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
4.25
BĢ·RĢ·IĢ·NĢ·GĢ· āØ šš¢š„š„š¢šŖ āØ BĢ·YĢ·PĢ·AĢ·SĢ·SĢ·
1. The Only Survivors (2023)
2. The Perfect Stranger (2017)
3. All the Missing Girls (2016)
4. The Last House Guest (2019)
5. The Last to Vanish (2022)
6. Such a Quiet Place (2021)
Well, there you have it. 6 Megan Miranda books in 6 days. OOF.
(Even as I have them organized as I do, I would recommend any one of these if someone asked - but if you had interest in the plots of the ones towards the bottom, I would just advise you read those first so that they can just get better and better as you go!)
The Last House Guest just so happened to be my Last Megan Miranda book (for the time being) and I think it was a really nice one to go out on. I liked the way it kept going back and forth with the competing timelines, and I was genuinely shocked a number of times.Ā
I love how the author manages to sneak in so many inconsequential details about things that are actually SUPER consequential and when those things come back around you find yourself going, "How did I not see that coming???" when in fact even if you had been looking she went about it in a way that made it easy to miss.
I believed in these characters, and in the story that she told. I believed in the motivations, I believed in the practicality of it, I believed in the plausibility of it. There were a couple of character relationships I would have liked to see a bit more backstory / depth / conclusion on, but when you look at the way the novel is set up I truly believe she closed out all the paths that were relevant to the main character in relation to her story & arc at this time, and ultimately I'm just gonna let it slide!Ā
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Blood
minimicropup's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Narration: š
Narrator voice was good. Not monotonous and able to pick up on different characters w/o being overdone.Ā
Atmosphere: š¤
Pretty well described, but flat. You could imagine any place with water, a cliff, and some trees. The town is repetitively described as an entity to the point of being assigned human traits. Hard to locate myself and if I let my imagination run wild itād be smashed randomly. Lots of me going āwait, they ran past A to get to Bā¦ isnāt B on the other side of the town in the opposite direction?ā
POV: š„“
-MC is a young adult with some trauma and grief in their recent past and a bit obsessive/naively intrusive with their friendās family. Theyāre making questionable decisions due to the trauma and lack of experience
-The MCs experiences are recounted late summer at a party, and then a year later. Same characters (er, minus one) and setting so it gets SO confusing as the timelines jump around AND it isnāt chronological within each year. I was lost for which year we were in if I missed the chapter heading or took a break. Easily could have written most of this chronologically in 2 parts (year 1 and 2).Ā
Reading Journey: šµāš«
Scenic road trip to a cottage weekend, turns into āomg wtf why are you taking us this routeā arguments, turns into getting there late with everyone cranky and tired.Ā
Growls and Howls: šŗ
Overall it was a good plot but the writing style and āvillainādestroyed it. There were a lot of annoying world salads ā¦kinda like āshe took in the ocean breeze as a reminder of the town and itās salty hold on those who crossed itās path, like Sadie and so many of the memories she left behindā. The ādivideā between townies and tourists was overly done trying to put the friendship between Avery and Sadie on Romeo and Juliet levels.
Showānātell: š„“
Mostly show, but weirdly. Like bringing a crayon on bring-your-pet-to-school day (is that still a thing?)
Good match if you like:
-late summer vibes
-party mysteries
-naive characters lacking self awareness (I love MCs like this)
-rich people behaving badly
-corruptionĀ
-villain monologue (for me, this instantly transforms an entire novel into a poorly animated childrenās cartoon)
Vibes: āŗļøš¤Øš«¤
Format: Audible and Library E-book via Libby
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol
katiejohns's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Death, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury
katrinarose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Car accident, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Medical content, Mental illness, Blood, Self harm, Violence, and Classism
Minor: Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
kerrygetsliterary's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Classism, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Grief, and Suicide