Reviews

The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin

kirstenrose22's review against another edition

5.0

I loved this. I found the characters incredibly rich and compelling. I couldn’t put it down. I think my only quibble was the futuristic frame narrative, which just felt weird and jarring. But otherwise, I simply loved this.

sdelcharco's review against another edition

3.0

It was good. It just wasn’t great.

eablick's review against another edition

4.0

Any extremely heartwarming story of loss and the effects it can have on family. Having lost some very crucial family members in the past, I was very invested in this story. I appreciated the wrap-up of the characters lives. We don’t typically get this often, but oh, how I enjoyed it. So glad I won this book. I would have purchased it.

twellz's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars. I enjoyed the Last Romantics, but felt that the author spent a lot of time focusing on events that had no impact on the eventual story. The title is also confusing to me...it’s not a very romantic book at all.

The main character, Fiona, takes you back through memories almost 100 years ago (so the story is set in the future)! She starts off with family dysfunction “the Pause” & it really grabbed my attention...but somehow the story gets lost & wrapped up with her brother, Joe. If you have a big family you might relate because Joe’s sort of the “favored” son with three doting sisters & his mother thinks he can do no wrong.

However, I’m ashamed to say I finished this book a few days ago and have already kind of forgotten what it was about. I figure that should say it all. Not sure I’ll lean on the Jenna Bush recommendations? This wasn’t a book I’d pick for book club.

nooks_en_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

loribuhring's review against another edition

4.0

Overall, I thought it was a good read. However, I did have some issues with certain things.

•For starters…. 2079?! Am I supposed to believe that Fiona, who was born in the 1970s is still alive in 2079? It’s not impossible, obviously. But practical? Meh. She’s also in this auditorium talking about her work and a girl asks about where the name Luna came from and then all of a sudden the power goes out. And then there are some military men asking people to leave and then it turns out to be a test. A test for what? And then there was the whole comment by Henry about the second amendment. So by 2079, they did away with the second amendment and are doing some sort of emergency tests? I wish there was more background on this portion. Other reviewers talked about a dystopian society and I can see that as a vibe throughout the book, but I felt it should’ve explained it a little better. Personal opinion: it should’ve been dated like 2040 instead of 2079 (more believable). All of that just felt unnecessary to the story.

•The characters overall were fine. They’re all very different and from my personal experience, being the baby of four… and yes it’s three girls and one boy (haha) it’s so obvious that they all have to be way different from each other. I was thinking that there was going to be a different issue with Joe. Obviously the issue of drugs and alcohol and being an addict is a tough one, but I really thought there was going to be something else with him.

•Others said the ending was rushed. I felt that too.

•There was also so much death and regret, I started thinking about my own mortality. Maybe that’s a good thing and I’ll feel different about it later, but once I finished this book, I was really sad.

muirk128's review against another edition

4.0

I feel like I'm finding myself loving these deeply entrenched family sagas. This one did have some interesting time elements that I'm not entirely sure worked for me but I think I understood more of what Conklin was aiming for by the end.

ahaines18's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

mydogjuneau's review against another edition

sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Started out interesting, but the second half less so.

alexareynolds's review against another edition

3.0

A family navigates grief after two great losses. A bit of a frustrating read due to the lack luster reunion after so much anticipation, and a characters perplexing decision at the end.