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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
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
Sammy Espinoza’s life could be better recently.
She got broken up with her musician girlfriend and wrote an article about her without thinking of the consequences, which puts her job as a music reviewer in jeopardy. As well, she just finds out that her grandpa on her dad’s side died a year before the story starts, which means that, since her dad died before she was born, she only has one living relative on her dad’s side.
Desperate to make a connection with the side of her family she’s never known, she plans on going back to her hometown to talk to her grandma. And, in perfect timing, she hears a rumor that former musician (and man she’s had a night with in the past) Max Ryan is creating a new solo album in her hometown. It makes perfect sense to return home, meet her grandma, and write about Max Ryan’s music all in the same trip!
I really enjoyed seeing Sammy unravel the different relationships in her life and the misconceptions she had of them! There’s a lot of misunderstandings (and downright lying) in Sammy’s life, and seeing her move past that and create new relationships felt so good to read!
There were a lot of funny moments I enjoyed throughout this book (such as Max Ryan whipping out a meme in the middle of karaoke), but I also found this book to be quite sad. Without spoiling the book for you, there was a big moment near the end that had me sobbing, but a large reason for that was because of how much I loved the characters and their relationships. It’s very easy to care for these characters and feel for them both when good things happen and bad, which I think is one of the strongest aspects of this book.
I definitely really enjoyed Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review, and I think a lot of people should keep a look out for when it releases!
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
Sammy Espinoza is a music critic who lost her reviewing honesty when she started dating a musician. When the diva breaks up with her, Sammy is set adrift and scrambling to reclaim her credibility. One night she hatches a drunken plan to return to her hometown and find the famous musician who once broke her heart. Sammy is positive this is the story that could save her career. But Ridley Falls holds more secrets than musicians and Sammy will have to face her past when she returns.
Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review struck me with how emotional and heartfelt it was. Sammy has a lot to face in Ridley Falls and I loved how it was handled. She’s been estranged from her family in the Falls and she finally gets the chance to reconnect. I liked Max Ryan, the musician love interest, but my favorite part was the found family that Sammy has built. I especially loved her best friend Willa and her wife Brook. They provided such a strong support system for Sammy. I disliked how long it took Sammy to tell Max the real reason she was initially trying to connect with him. I think it was handled as well as it could’ve been, but I felt frustrated with Sammy as she stalled!
Overall this was a funny and enjoyable romance. Readers who love second-chance romance, queer found family, and reconnecting with estranged family will love this. Readers who enjoyed Funny You Should Ask (Elissa Sussman), Happy Place (Emily Henry), and The Roughest Draft (Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka) should check this book out!
Thank you so much to Tehlor Kay Mejia, Random House Publishing- Ballantine, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review struck me with how emotional and heartfelt it was. Sammy has a lot to face in Ridley Falls and I loved how it was handled. She’s been estranged from her family in the Falls and she finally gets the chance to reconnect. I liked Max Ryan, the musician love interest, but my favorite part was the found family that Sammy has built. I especially loved her best friend Willa and her wife Brook. They provided such a strong support system for Sammy. I disliked how long it took Sammy to tell Max the real reason she was initially trying to connect with him. I think it was handled as well as it could’ve been, but I felt frustrated with Sammy as she stalled!
Overall this was a funny and enjoyable romance. Readers who love second-chance romance, queer found family, and reconnecting with estranged family will love this. Readers who enjoyed Funny You Should Ask (Elissa Sussman), Happy Place (Emily Henry), and The Roughest Draft (Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka) should check this book out!
Thank you so much to Tehlor Kay Mejia, Random House Publishing- Ballantine, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thankful that I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley!
The book starts with Sammy Espinoza having a rough time in her life. Her recent girlfriend dumps her, her mom isn't really in the picture, and she feels like this is her last chance to redeem herself at work. So she eventually goes back to her hometown where she meets someone she has to interview but then then it happens to be someone Sammy already knew from her past. Throughout the story, Sammy is healing from a lot of trauma and I like how this story comes to terms with some childhood issues with her mother. However, I didn't really connect with Max or Sammy.
The book starts with Sammy Espinoza having a rough time in her life. Her recent girlfriend dumps her, her mom isn't really in the picture, and she feels like this is her last chance to redeem herself at work. So she eventually goes back to her hometown where she meets someone she has to interview but then then it happens to be someone Sammy already knew from her past. Throughout the story, Sammy is healing from a lot of trauma and I like how this story comes to terms with some childhood issues with her mother. However, I didn't really connect with Max or Sammy.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review is a second chance romance within the story of family, friendship, and the way a person can be shaped by abandonment and the simultaneous absence and presence of the people who we think we should love and those whom we allow to love us. Sammy Espinoza is returning to the small town of Ridley Falls, where she spent the largest part of her tumultuous and transient childhood. Here, she runs into Max Ryan, her teenage crush/former rockstar who ghosted her but now has no memory of having met her— he is also the very person Sammy is pinning her hopes onto for saving her career as a music critic. Additionally, Ridley Falls is the place that Sammy has spent most of her adult life avoiding despite it being home to most of the handful of people she loves, for it is also the place of the family who abandoned her before she was born.
Sammy is messy. And honestly, that’s relatable. She’s made mistakes and keeps making mistakes, but her journey of self-discovery helps her understand the traumatic roots of why she’s kept making those same mistakes. While her deception had me /stressed/ from the inevitable way it would blow up, I ultimately really felt for her. (Her simultaneous fear and expectation of abandonment, same.)
And Max. He holds my heart. The way his story unfolds, and his reactions felt real to me. Healing in not linear, and that shows in Max.
Sammy’s story is steeped in grief, love, loss, the family she inherited, the family she chose, and the family whose very absence shaped her life. I will be the first to admit that I don’t always remember everything I’ve read, but Sammy’s journey and relationship to multiple definitions of family struck me and has stuck with me long since I read the last page of her story.
Thank you Penguin Random House and Netgalley for the ARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Minor: Body shaming, Car accident, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
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
Honestly, for a lot of this book I was just really frustrated by the main character's decisions, and how long she let the lies go on. I knew it would all get resolved at the end, and I understood why she was doing it, but I just couldn't fall for the romance or enjoy the book until she came clean. I didn't see how what she was doing was forgivable, and I knew she'd be forgiven, so I was just frustrated.
In the end I do think it all made sense and the ending was satisfying, but I can't say I loved the book or anything because it didn't really feel that way until the very end. I did like a lot of the other plot lines, with her family and friends, and I think it all turned out better than expected for everyone involved. But--yeah, I can't wholeheartedly recommend a book that was so frustrating for so much of it. Maybe someone who empathizes more with the bad decisions wouldn't have an issue with it, but I found myself yelling at her more often than siding with her, even if I could see where she was coming from.
Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the chance to read and review this ARC.
In the end I do think it all made sense and the ending was satisfying, but I can't say I loved the book or anything because it didn't really feel that way until the very end. I did like a lot of the other plot lines, with her family and friends, and I think it all turned out better than expected for everyone involved. But--yeah, I can't wholeheartedly recommend a book that was so frustrating for so much of it. Maybe someone who empathizes more with the bad decisions wouldn't have an issue with it, but I found myself yelling at her more often than siding with her, even if I could see where she was coming from.
Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity, Racism, Pregnancy
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was able to read an ARC of this. Overall, I liked it, but I had a hard time rooting for Sammy. It’s one of those books where I was just thinking “talk to each other!!!” the whole time. The growth saves it, though.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
A bit of a dilemma here, but I really enjoyed this book, except I did not think the main couple should have ended up together. Which is a pretty huge issue for a romance book, so I can't justify giving it more than 3 stars.
I thought this book had an absolutely beautiful contemporary story about Sammy coming to terms with her childhood and her relationship with her mother, and reconnecting with her grandmother.
At the same time, there's the central romance, with two people who get a second chance at falling in love, but who still largely struggle with the same issues. They hurt each other because of that, and while I think it was a beautiful love story and it allowed them both to grow and change, I think they had a lot more healing to do and I felt like the romance should have ended when it did, and they shouldn't have gotten back together. I just wasn't sold on why they should be together.
I thought this book had an absolutely beautiful contemporary story about Sammy coming to terms with her childhood and her relationship with her mother, and reconnecting with her grandmother.
At the same time, there's the central romance, with two people who get a second chance at falling in love, but who still largely struggle with the same issues. They hurt each other because of that, and while I think it was a beautiful love story and it allowed them both to grow and change, I think they had a lot more healing to do and I felt like the romance should have ended when it did, and they shouldn't have gotten back together. I just wasn't sold on why they should be together.