Hello everyone!
I am back with another book review, The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda. Thanks so much to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.
This book follows Avery Greer, a young woman who forges an unlikely friendship with Sadie Loman, daughter of the prestigious family who owns most of the property in Littleport, Maine, a sleepy, picturesque tourist destination. While locals and tourists don't often become friends, after the death of Avery's parents, and later, her grandmother, the Loman's take Avery under their wing, at Sadie's insistence. On the night of one of the last parties of the summer, Sadie is found dead, her death ruled a suicide. The following year, the local detective starts asking Avery more questions, and Sadie's brother, Parker, returns, further complicating things. Avery knows someone knows more than they are letting on, but can she figure out who would want Sadie dead without implicating herself?
Firstly, I really enjoyed Avery's character and the way Miranda wrote her side of things. The whole story is told from her perspective, in two timelines, Summer 2017 (when Sadie died) and Summer 2018 (the current timeline). Avery is working for the Loman family, managing the rental properties and I really loved this career path for her and the way Miranda described it. I'm not sure I've ever read another book where a character has this job and it really helped add to the nostalgia/perfection feeling about Littleport.
In terms of the mystery, I truly had no idea "whodunit." I had a few suspects in mind but was never able to figure out how or why they could have killed Sadie. I was ready to blame everyone from Avery to Sadie's mother - but never had enough information to fully figure it out. Miranda is very smart about the way she sets up her mysteries and makes it difficult to figure it out until she wants you to - which I really appreciate in a thriller.
There were a few details that seemed a little foggy to me and I wish they had been a bit clearer to help the story. I'm not sure what happened with Parker and his girlfriend, there were some illusions, but not clear details. And perhaps most annoyingly, I had no idea how old Sadie or Avery were supposed to be when this was all happening. Some of their friends around the same age were finishing up degrees but who knows how old they were. This normally wouldn't be a huge deal to me but I couldn't get a firm grasp on what was the petty behaviour of a teenager and what was the petty behaviour of an adult.
I think what really saved this book were the setting and the big reveal at the end. There was a chunk in the middle where things didn't necessarily slow down, they just seemed a little less ~ important~? I know they were still valuable to the story as a whole, but there were some moments that I was waiting for things to get going again. There was also some mention of Avery being some sort of town outcast - but as far as I could tell, that was never really delved into. I'm not sure if I missed it or if it wasn't as obvious.
Overall, this was a good book with a strong setting and solid twist.
This book follows Avery Greer, a young woman who forges an unlikely friendship with Sadie Loman, daughter of the prestigious family who owns most of the property in Littleport, Maine, a sleepy, picturesque tourist destination. While locals and tourists don't often become friends, after the death of Avery's parents, and later, her grandmother, the Loman's take Avery under their wing, at Sadie's insistence. On the night of one of the last parties of the summer, Sadie is found dead, her death ruled a suicide. The following year, the local detective starts asking Avery more questions, and Sadie's brother, Parker, returns, further complicating things. Avery knows someone knows more than they are letting on, but can she figure out who would want Sadie dead without implicating herself?
Firstly, I really enjoyed Avery's character and the way Miranda wrote her side of things. The whole story is told from her perspective, in two timelines, Summer 2017 (when Sadie died) and Summer 2018 (the current timeline). Avery is working for the Loman family, managing the rental properties and I really loved this career path for her and the way Miranda described it. I'm not sure I've ever read another book where a character has this job and it really helped add to the nostalgia/perfection feeling about Littleport.
In terms of the mystery, I truly had no idea "whodunit." I had a few suspects in mind but was never able to figure out how or why they could have killed Sadie. I was ready to blame everyone from Avery to Sadie's mother - but never had enough information to fully figure it out. Miranda is very smart about the way she sets up her mysteries and makes it difficult to figure it out until she wants you to - which I really appreciate in a thriller.
There were a few details that seemed a little foggy to me and I wish they had been a bit clearer to help the story. I'm not sure what happened with Parker and his girlfriend, there were some illusions, but not clear details. And perhaps most annoyingly, I had no idea how old Sadie or Avery were supposed to be when this was all happening. Some of their friends around the same age were finishing up degrees but who knows how old they were. This normally wouldn't be a huge deal to me but I couldn't get a firm grasp on what was the petty behaviour of a teenager and what was the petty behaviour of an adult.
I think what really saved this book were the setting and the big reveal at the end. There was a chunk in the middle where things didn't necessarily slow down, they just seemed a little less ~ important~? I know they were still valuable to the story as a whole, but there were some moments that I was waiting for things to get going again. There was also some mention of Avery being some sort of town outcast - but as far as I could tell, that was never really delved into. I'm not sure if I missed it or if it wasn't as obvious.
Overall, this was a good book with a strong setting and solid twist.