what I'm reading: the last word by taylor adams.

Shanna

Sep 1

After a personal tragedy, Emma Carpenter has settled down in an isolated town on the Washington coast. It's just her, her dog, an elderly neighbor that she communicates with by writing notes on a whiteboard, and her books. After reading a terrible horror novel, Emma makes a rash decision to leave a one-star review. But then she starts to notice weird noises and happenings around the house, not to mention the shadowy figure she keeps seeing at night in her room. Is it just her imagination or has the author of the book come to seek revenge for the bad review?

I honestly had forgotten that I put this book on hold at the library until I went to check it out. I couldn't even remember what it was about or where I had heard about it. I debated reading it since I feel like I've read a lot of thrillers and psychological thrillers lately but I decided to go for it. I thought this book was good but nothing really stood out for me.

I did have to laugh when Emma said one of the reasons she gave the book one-star was because it was written in the past tense. Of course, I immediately looked to see what tense this book was written in and it's written in first person present tense, which I personally dislike. Hopefully, the author doesn't come after me for that opinion.

This book has a lot of action and twists. I did guess a couple of the plot points but I thought they were well-foreshadowed by the author. I thought the book was good but I didn't find it to be especially gripping or engaging. I didn't get much of a sense of urgency and I was never on the edge of my seat dying to find out what would happen next. Also, I'm not sure if it's the writing style or the pacing but I almost felt like I was waiting for something funny to happen. A lot of stuff goes on in the book but I actually thought the best part was near the end as that's when I really sat up and paid attention.

This book has a ton of great reviews so perhaps I am in the minority with my lackluster review here.

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