Reviews - Sammy Espinoza's Last Review: A Novel

280 reviews for:

Sammy Espinoza's Last Review: A Novel

Tehlor Kay Mejia

3.89 AVERAGE

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

This fits more into coming-of-age fiction with a romantic subplot rather than a capital R romance. I love either! I just want to help level others’ expectations.

This book is told in first-person, present-tense POV of Sammy Espinoza, who was almost let go from her music writing job and was just publicly dumped by her musician ex-girlfriend. She is returning to the one place she ever felt she could call “home,” a small town in the Pacific North West, Ridley Falls. With her mom constantly traveling the world and following her next love interest, Sammy has learned to expect abandonment from everyone who claims to care about her.

She had stayed in Ridley Falls for one year with her friend Willa and Willa’s parents, and heard that a former one-night-stand (from 11 years ago), Max Ryan is returning to Ridley Falls to record his first ever solo album at his home studio. Sammy hopes to write a review on him that will save her job, but things get complicated when she starts developing feelings for him again. You could call this a bit of a second-chance romance, but I think it focuses a lot more on Sammy’s growth, as far as the way she views love and connections, especially with her neglectful mom, her friends Willa and Brook, and her estranged grandmother Paloma (who lives in Ridley Falls too👀)

There is a lot of miscommunication and “ghosting” in this (not just romantic ghosting!) so be prepared! I think it all felt quite authentic though, and I really appreciated the representation of:

single parent/child dynamic
teen parent/child dynamic
losing a parent before you were even born!
alcoholism/addiction/sobriety
found family
sensitive, messy bisexuals
29-year-olds at a crossroads in life & having their own midlife crises

steam rating: 2/5

cw: child abuse, death/death of a parent, grief, sexual context, abandonment, toxic mother-daughter relationship, gaslighting, addiction, alcoholism

Content Warnings

reaofsunshine's review against another edition

3.0

So, I loved the found family elements and the storyline about the grandma and a lot of supporting characters were great.
But to be so honest…I wasn’t really rooting for the guy and Sammy to get together. I was so much more emotionally invested in making enchiladas with the long lost grandma.

maireadingnook's review against another edition

5.0

I went into this book practically blind, save for the recommendation of Tiffani from Random House Publishing and I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this.

Real, relatable, fleshed out MCs. Believable conflicts. Great cast of side characters that not only added depth, but were integral parts of the story. I also need to mention that I particularly enjoyed the writing style; I was hooked the whole way.

It's got:
- Second chance romance
- Queer FMC
- MCs at a crossroad in life
- Difficult family dynamics and history
- Found family
- Music love

I laughed, swooned, and even teared up. Highly recommend!

c69gbymsmdfw's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

m_zterf's review against another edition

3.75

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

cheriemariana's review against another edition

4.0

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

kendra_reads's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

nicholewithan_h's review against another edition

3.25

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

whatchareadingheather's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I think this book did a fantastic job at hitting a range of emotions that you might not have been expecting in a book categorized as a contemporary romance. I definitely found myself heavily relating to Sammy's personal connections and life experiences, and I think anyone who may struggle with feeling like they have no one in their corner would appreciate this book. I don't think this book particularly needed spicy scenes considering the deeper topics being discussed, but also, spice is a part of life and I appreciate the author being realistic about that aspect.

Content Warnings

kateb1's review against another edition

2.0

emotional hopeful inspiring relaxing

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