Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller
Release Date: November 7th, 2023
Pages: 400 (7 Hr. 50 Min.)
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Publisher’s Synopsis:
“When the answers to a present-day murder lie in the past, one teen girl must examine a tragic event to prevent more lives from being lost. No one expected it to rain that much. But the rain kept coming, the dam broke, and lives were lost. One was Lucy Michaels’s little brother. She was there and while she saved the lives of many young boy scouts, despite being a child herself, she couldn’t save him.
Now eight years later, Lucy is preparing to graduate from high school and compete in the air rifle competition at the Olympics when her stepbrother goes missing right before his most important football game. The search is focused on the same plot of land where her younger brother died, and she can’t help but draw parallels.
When the search for a missing person becomes a murder investigation, Lucy knows the secrets she holds about what her stepbrother was up to that day could help find the murderer. The clues quickly connect Lucy’s ex-boyfriend to the murders, but he couldn’t be guilty… could he?
Everyone involved has their own secrets and revealing hers to the wrong person could put her life—and her whole town—at risk. Last Girl Breathing is a page-turning hunt for the truth as Court Stevens once again creates nonstop suspense with characters who will break your heart.”
My Review:
I really like the main protagonist in this story. I felt a connection with her from the beginning and I could feel her emotions throughout the story.
I love the small-town, rural vibes and atmosphere. It makes for a great backdrop in thrillers.
There are many players in this story and nearly everyone has experienced grief and tragedy of some kind.
It was quite intense, especially for a young adult, which I really appreciated. Sometimes young adult mystery/thrillers feel childish, but this story felt very real and had a mature nature to it.
It was also very well crafted, with building tension and suspense. I did find some of the twists to be predictable, but possibly not so for someone who hasn’t read in this genre as much.
While I liked the writing style, some of the later parts didn’t feel as cohesive with the overall narrative as I would have liked. The transitions were a bit jarring and pulled me out of the story.
Overall, I thought is was a solid read. While it’s not something I think I’ll remember the details of in years to come, or thirty books later, there are some parts that will definitely stick with me.
The narration was really well done and kept me engaged throughout. It really added to the atmosphere and tension of the story and I felt the voices of the characters came across really well.
I’d definitely read from this author in the future.
Disclaimers:
Huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an early copy of this amazing story! I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Have you read this book? Planning to add it to your TBR?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
I love a good book discussion. 🙂
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