Reviews

Last One to Die by Cynthia Murphy

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makynzienelson's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

mehsi's review

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5.0

What do you do when you go for a summer course and find out people are dying left and right… and they all look similarly to you?

In this book we meet Niamh, a girl who is very eager to have the summer of her life. Doing a drama course. Do volunteerstuff for the course. Make friends. Walk around elegant London. But things go sour from the start when the girl who gets her room (apparently the girl had a fear for heights) gets murdered and Niamh finds her. And from that moment there were some quiet moments, but for most it was just a rollercoaster. Because creepy things happen left and right and it seems that Niamh is cursed. I was totally invested in the story. Was Niamh the link? Was Niamh cursed? Was something else spooky going on? I just wanted to hug this girl so badly throughout the story. Because at school most people are avoiding her due to what is happening around her. And then there is the whole creepy person who is stalking her and other girls.

I loved reading about the museum and would have loved to visit it. It sounds like the kind of museum I would enjoy a ton!

The romance between Tommie and Niamh was pretty sweet, though since he was a suspect on my list I just couldn’t fully enjoy it. Haha. I am still happy we do get a dash of romance, because now there was a bit of light-heartedness. Not everything was dark.

I loved Ruth and Derek. Ruth is the librarian at Niamh’s school and she is an absolute star. Sweet, kind, and makes sure that Niamh has someone to talk to. Someone to care for her while she is in a strange country with scary things happening around her. And Derek was just wonderful. I love the guy, he was always there for the kids in his building, and made sure to protect Niamh whenever he could. Made sure that the police couldn’t go too far. It was fantastic.

I loved the little hints to the whys of the murders/attacks. With Jane, a girl from the past being in the midst of it all. What happened to Jane? And more! So interesting.

I am happy that the author told us how Niamh was pronounced. I am sorry, but I just don’t know any Irish people. And I live in Dutch-speaking country. XD I was already prepared to google it and see what was up, but I am happy I didn’t have to do that.

I had a list of people who it could be. My top 1 was Will, followed by Tommie, and then followed by Jess. Yes, I am sorry, I don’t trust anyone. Haha. I have learned my way from reading books all my life. Never trust the best friend. I really loved how the author wrote the characters and how everyone was just so sus. I mean, Tommie was just way too kind and I don’t know something was off (I mean, he never told her his entire name/where he lived). Will was just creepy and nope. Jess was just way too enthusiastic and things also happened around her. Who the actual whodunnit was, well nearer to the end I honed in on one person. Though I was prepared to still be shocked. Haha. Thankfully, that didn’t happen and the one I honed on was the one that did everything.

But that last part… I am sorry, so far the book was fantastic, awesome, WOW, but then you decided to add the little sister in the mix? While SHE FREAKING KNEW that things just weren’t going right? What is up with that? It just didn’t make sense, it was dumb. I am sorry. But I would have rather seen our trio fix things instead of this.

But the ending was still good. We find out why x is doing all this. Why they have done it for so long. And yes, I don’t approve, but I cannot help to feel a bit of the heartstrings being tugged. I also loved that we get a bit after all the scary bits. See how Niamh is doing and what is next for her. I also loved that surprise bit about Geoff and who his partner was. Oh my! Couple goals indeed. XD

All in all, with the exception of the magic appearance of the little sister in the end, I really enjoyed this book. It was creepy and spooky and unputdownable. I would recommend it and I look forward to the author’s next book, because this is my second book by her that I rate this high.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

pagesplotsandpints's review

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2.75

Read Completed 3/7/24 | 2.75 stars
Not a bad read but this just didn't really do it for me. I wanted more supernatural in the beginning and I didn't really love the ending. I also didn't really care about any of the characters at all and they all bothered me. It wasn't "overly young" being a YA book and could have just as easily been college or older, so that was nice. I knew it was YA going in, but it's nice to feel like it's not too young when I don't always jive with that age range anymore.