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Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️'s Reviews > The Last Thing He Told Me
The Last Thing He Told Me
by
4.5 Stars Upgraded to 5 Stars...
...because even though I said below that I hated the ending...the ending also made this book really stick with me. I still think about it months and months later. So five big ones.
Original Review
I haven't been in a reviewing mood lately at ALL, but I wanted to get something down here before I completely forgot...
I really enjoyed this one. I enjoyed Dave's writing and I liked how things were slowly revealed to us. I don't want to say too much as I obviously don't want to include spoilers, but I did enjoy how the relationship between Bailey and Hannah transformed over time, especially as revealed at the ending.
Which brings me to just that: the ending...
I didn't love it. At ALL. But I also wonder if I would have enjoyed the book as much without it. In fact, much of the book's power for me resided in the final "epilogue" scene, which wouldn't have been possible without the ending it had. So...definitely a conundrum. Very bittersweet, I guess.
Anyway, I'll read more from this author.
by
Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️'s review
bookshelves: book-of-the-month, 5-stars, mainstream-fiction, 0-top-reads-of-2021, family-drama, 0-borrowed, mystery-thriller-horror
Jul 31, 2021
bookshelves: book-of-the-month, 5-stars, mainstream-fiction, 0-top-reads-of-2021, family-drama, 0-borrowed, mystery-thriller-horror
...because even though I said below that I hated the ending...the ending also made this book really stick with me. I still think about it months and months later. So five big ones.
Original Review
I haven't been in a reviewing mood lately at ALL, but I wanted to get something down here before I completely forgot...
I really enjoyed this one. I enjoyed Dave's writing and I liked how things were slowly revealed to us. I don't want to say too much as I obviously don't want to include spoilers, but I did enjoy how the relationship between Bailey and Hannah transformed over time, especially as revealed at the ending.
Which brings me to just that: the ending...
I didn't love it. At ALL. But I also wonder if I would have enjoyed the book as much without it. In fact, much of the book's power for me resided in the final "epilogue" scene, which wouldn't have been possible without the ending it had. So...definitely a conundrum. Very bittersweet, I guess.
Anyway, I'll read more from this author.
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Reading Progress
July 28, 2021
–
Started Reading
July 28, 2021
– Shelved
July 28, 2021
– Shelved as:
book-of-the-month
July 31, 2021
–
Finished Reading
August 1, 2021
– Shelved as:
5-stars
August 1, 2021
– Shelved as:
mainstream-fiction
August 1, 2021
– Shelved as:
0-top-reads-of-2021
August 9, 2021
– Shelved as:
family-drama
August 18, 2021
– Shelved as:
0-borrowed
January 10, 2022
– Shelved as:
mystery-thriller-horror
Comments Showing 1-32 of 32 (32 new)
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message 1:
by
Meggie
(new)
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rated it 4 stars
Aug 01, 2021 01:28PM
I agree- Bailey & Hannah’s relationship was really well done. I really felt for Bailey. I devoured this book, which I usually do with thrillers, but still! It was a good time
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Great review Val I’m going to check it out 🔥
Meggie wrote: "I agree- Bailey & Hannah’s relationship was really well done. I really felt for Bailey. I devoured this book, which I usually do with thrillers, but still! It was a good time"Agree all around, Meggie :)
Inbal wrote: "Great review Val I’m going to check it out 🔥"Thank you, and I hope you enjoy it.
Great review Val! I have this on my reading list might move it up to read it next😊. ❤️💋
The book wouldn’t be what it is without the epilogue. But my biggest question is would you (asking myself) make the same decisions?
Carla Bulian wrote: "Great review Val!"Thanks Carla!
▪️ᖇITᗩ▪️ wrote: "Great review Val! I have this on my reading list might move it up to read it next😊. ❤️💋"Hope you enjoy.
message 11:
by
Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️
(last edited Aug 03, 2021 12:13PM)
(new)
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rated it 5 stars
Claire wrote: "The book wouldn’t be what it is without the epilogue. But my biggest question is would you (asking myself) make the same decisions?"Yep, the epilogue made it. And, as for your question...(view spoiler)
What about you, Claire?
Jessica's wrote: "Great quick review :)"Thanks Jessica!
I have this one on my shelf waiting to be read. Now I want to know the ending… lol!
Nancy wrote: "I have this one on my shelf waiting to be read. Now I want to know the ending… lol!"I hope you enjoy it :)
Great review! Thanks, Val! 4.5 stars that good. I guess I’ll give it a whirl
Sarala R. Waller wrote: "Great review! Thanks, Val! 4.5 stars that good. I guess I’ll give it a whirl"Hope you enjoy it!
You put the hard to describe ending and epilogue into perfect words. Enjoyed your review
debra wrote: "You put the hard to describe ending and epilogue into perfect words. Enjoyed your review"Thank you, debra. I appreciate that.
This isn’t the type I normally would pick up but as usual your reviews have convinced me to try something new & add it to my TBR, thank you Val!
Halima wrote: "This isn’t the type I normally would pick up but as usual your reviews have convinced me to try something new & add it to my TBR, thank you Val!"Hope you enjoy it!
I liked this much more than I thought I would. Even the ending because it wasn't predictable. Terrific review Val!
JanB wrote: "I liked this much more than I thought I would. Even the ending because it wasn't predictable. Terrific review Val!"
I agree, Jan. And thank you :)
I really wish we could have had one more chapter to dive a little deeper into relationships with some flash forwards but I'm greedy i guess 🤗The epilogue was 💔 in the best way tho!
Aoife - Bookish_Babbling wrote: "I really wish we could have had one more chapter to dive a little deeper into relationships with some flash forwards but I'm greedy i guess 🤗The epilogue was 💔 in the best way tho!"
Yes, it was very bittersweet!
Omg I don’t think I’ll recover from that epilogue ! Just WHYYYYYY! When you love and hate something so much.
Melissa wrote: "Omg I don’t think I’ll recover from that epilogue ! Just WHYYYYYY! When you love and hate something so much."Yes! So bittersweet.
I'm going to have to move this one up the list!
Elsa wrote: "I'm going to have to move this one up the list!"Enjoy :)
I agree about the ending. I was really into this book the whole time but wasn’t a fan of the end. However, given the circumstances I don’t see how it could go any other way besides the other choice they had. I also would like to know if Bailey ended up meeting the others.
Rachel wrote: "I agree about the ending. I was really into this book the whole time but wasn’t a fan of the end. However, given the circumstances I don’t see how it could go any other way besides the other choice..."Yeah, it's definitely a catch 22. I didn't "love" the ending, but it's also what made the book so much more poignant and memorable.
I realize you wrote this a few years ago but if you see this comment I'd be genuinely interested in knowing why you disliked the ending. I've seen that reaction a lot but your take is more nuanced than most so I'm curious, especially as I had the exact opposite reaction (my review was four stars but the ending pushed it to five). Great review, thanks!
bluerose wrote: "I realize you wrote this a few years ago but if you see this comment I'd be genuinely interested in knowing why you disliked the ending. I've seen that reaction a lot but your take is more nuanced ..."(view spoiler)
