A review by herelieshenry
The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda

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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