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3.25 AVERAGE
3.25 AVERAGE
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
🦇 One Last Word Book Review 🦇
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
❓ #QOTD What would you want your last words to be? ❓
🦇 Sara Chae is the founder of One Last Word, an app that sends messages to people in your life after you die. When another Sara Chae dies, her obituary triggers the prototype app to send messages Sara drunkenly uploaded; messages to tiger parents, former best friend, and unrequited high school crush Harry—who just so happens to be the mentor for the venture capital program Sara applies to. Can she win funding for her app and learn how to speak up for herself, or has the app already had the last word?
💜 Sara Chae is a messy yet strong self-aware female in STEM; the type of character we need a little more of. Our FMC is relatable and realistic as she learns how to believe in herself, speak up for herself, and mend the important relationships in her life. Her characterization is consistent, but it's her self-actualization that really makes the story refreshing. In too many books, readers are left exhausted as MCs run themselves in circles, unaware of their mistakes. Sara recognizes where she needs to grow and makes the effort. You can't help but root for her until the very end.
💙 While I loved the story's premise, the execution didn't entirely work for me. Unfortunately, there's a lot more tell than show, which causes the pacing to lag. A few of the situations (such as Sara and Henry attending a gala that's a little too much like Henry's failed wedding) seemed clunky, awkward, and unrealistic. There are a few awkward transition between the dialogue and exposition, too, which full you out of the story.
🦇 Recommended for fans of Shark Tank or Ali Hazelwood.
✨ The Vibes ✨
📱 Self-Discovery
📱 STEM Heroine
📱 Contemporary Women's Fiction
📱 Fake Dating
📱 Friends to Lovers / Second Chance Romance
📱 Closed Door Romance
📱 Miscommunication
🦇 Major thanks to the author @suzannepark and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #OneLastWord
💬 Quotes
❝ Was it that they still hadn’t even acknowledged any wrongdoing or never asked me why I felt this way or wondered why I carried all this with me till my alleged death at age thirty-four? No dialogue. No discourse. For the first time, I’d offered my true feelings toward them, using carefully worded constructive feedback, and they couldn’t handle it. ❞
❝ Yes, I knew you’d have to deal with some awkward aftermath. But it was better than seeing you live your life enveloped in Bubble Wrap. It’s worse than living in regret . . . you didn’t really live at all. ❞
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
❓ #QOTD What would you want your last words to be? ❓
🦇 Sara Chae is the founder of One Last Word, an app that sends messages to people in your life after you die. When another Sara Chae dies, her obituary triggers the prototype app to send messages Sara drunkenly uploaded; messages to tiger parents, former best friend, and unrequited high school crush Harry—who just so happens to be the mentor for the venture capital program Sara applies to. Can she win funding for her app and learn how to speak up for herself, or has the app already had the last word?
💜 Sara Chae is a messy yet strong self-aware female in STEM; the type of character we need a little more of. Our FMC is relatable and realistic as she learns how to believe in herself, speak up for herself, and mend the important relationships in her life. Her characterization is consistent, but it's her self-actualization that really makes the story refreshing. In too many books, readers are left exhausted as MCs run themselves in circles, unaware of their mistakes. Sara recognizes where she needs to grow and makes the effort. You can't help but root for her until the very end.
💙 While I loved the story's premise, the execution didn't entirely work for me. Unfortunately, there's a lot more tell than show, which causes the pacing to lag. A few of the situations (such as Sara and Henry attending a gala that's a little too much like Henry's failed wedding) seemed clunky, awkward, and unrealistic. There are a few awkward transition between the dialogue and exposition, too, which full you out of the story.
🦇 Recommended for fans of Shark Tank or Ali Hazelwood.
✨ The Vibes ✨
📱 Self-Discovery
📱 STEM Heroine
📱 Contemporary Women's Fiction
📱 Fake Dating
📱 Friends to Lovers / Second Chance Romance
📱 Closed Door Romance
📱 Miscommunication
🦇 Major thanks to the author @suzannepark and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #OneLastWord
💬 Quotes
❝ Was it that they still hadn’t even acknowledged any wrongdoing or never asked me why I felt this way or wondered why I carried all this with me till my alleged death at age thirty-four? No dialogue. No discourse. For the first time, I’d offered my true feelings toward them, using carefully worded constructive feedback, and they couldn’t handle it. ❞
❝ Yes, I knew you’d have to deal with some awkward aftermath. But it was better than seeing you live your life enveloped in Bubble Wrap. It’s worse than living in regret . . . you didn’t really live at all. ❞
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
hopeful
medium-paced
Acclaimed author Suzanne Park returns with a charming and compelling novel about an aspiring tech entrepreneur who goes on a rollercoaster journey of self-discovery after her app, which sends messages to loved ones after you pass, accidentally sends her final words to all the important people in her life—including the venture capital mentor she’s crushing on.
When Sara Chae hits her latest roadblock at work when pitching her app, it's the straw that breaks the camel's back and she ends up resigning on the spot. Being mid-thirties, now unemployed, single, and moving into her younger sister's walk-in closet to make ends meet is NOT what she imagined for herself, and is definitely not what her parents would be proud of.
As Sara enters into a VC mentorship program for her app, One Last Word, she's surprised to find out that some of her "test" messages are released and sent to their recipients - including her old bosses, her parents, her high school crush, and an ex-best friend. Turns out, high school crush is the mentor she's assigned to at the venture capitalist!
There were definitely things I liked and related to with this read. Sara is a workaholic, trying to find a balance between work life, friends, romance, and family. Having these messages accidentally sent out forced her to have some hard conversations with her parents, helped her speak her mind towards the sexism and racism she sees in her tech work world, and forced her to confront some of her past behaviors in regards to her friendships.
There were some parts that didn't work as well though. For starters, the pacing felt a little disjointed. Sara's mentorship was to span three months and it felt like we had a big beginning and all of a sudden we were at the end with very little impact of the in-between. The romance with Harry also felt a little off? I was happy to see that Sara was having harder conversations before anything serious, but their dialogue felt simple and forced and I didn't feel a romantic connection given what we saw of their interactions.
Overall, Sara is a FMC that you really root for and you love to see the growth she has in all aspects!
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book! Here is my honest review:
I used to be a huge fan of romcoms and this book reminded me why.
I was drawn to this book's premise since the app's idea, "One Last Word", was so interesting to me, and I ended up really enjoying every aspect of the story. I appreciated our flawed protagonist, Sara, and related so much to her relationship with her Korean parents. I loved the rekindling of her friendship with the dreamboat, Harry Shim, who is equally flawed and extremely charming. I don't know much about the world of technology and apps so this was a fun way to peek in as we follow Sara's journey to make her idea a reality.
Many parts of this reminded me of one of my favorites, "To All the Boys I Loved Before" with messages being sent out accidentally and the fake dating aspect but this definitely stood its own! I love seeing Asian-American representation, especially in romance, I really enjoyed the Shark Tank-esque show idea, and overall, I loved seeing healthy relationships develop between the protagonist and everyone important around her. I had a good time with this one.
I used to be a huge fan of romcoms and this book reminded me why.
I was drawn to this book's premise since the app's idea, "One Last Word", was so interesting to me, and I ended up really enjoying every aspect of the story. I appreciated our flawed protagonist, Sara, and related so much to her relationship with her Korean parents. I loved the rekindling of her friendship with the dreamboat, Harry Shim, who is equally flawed and extremely charming. I don't know much about the world of technology and apps so this was a fun way to peek in as we follow Sara's journey to make her idea a reality.
Many parts of this reminded me of one of my favorites, "To All the Boys I Loved Before" with messages being sent out accidentally and the fake dating aspect but this definitely stood its own! I love seeing Asian-American representation, especially in romance, I really enjoyed the Shark Tank-esque show idea, and overall, I loved seeing healthy relationships develop between the protagonist and everyone important around her. I had a good time with this one.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sara Chae's idea for an app that will let users get closure with others by sending messages upon their deaths is something her bosses want to pass on -- so she quits her job and focuses on developing the app herself and applying for a chance to pitch it to area venture capitalists. But after a drunken night of writing messages with her sister Jia, as well as a glitch in the system that sent out her messages when another Sara Chae dies, Sara has other problems to deal with: upset parents as well as the return of her high school crush, Harry Shim. And when Harry turns out to be Sara's co-mentor for app development, their mutual attraction has to be placed on hold... temporarily.
The premise behind this romance is an interesting one -- an app that gives Sara a chance to start standing up for herself but also opens the way for a rekindling of a valued friendship as well as a crush. Sara's frustration is palpable from the beginning, as she starts standing up to the racism and sexism running rampant in the tech industry, and she uses that empowerment to speak up for herself with her parents, too. While she has her flaws, her determination makes the reader want to cheer her on. Harry seems like a wonderful guy, supportive of Sara, but there were a couple of things about his character arc that were red flags for me, so I didn't enjoy this romance as much as I have Park's other books. Not her strongest outing -- 3 stars.
Thank you, HarperCollins and NetGalley, for providing an eARC of this book. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.
The premise behind this romance is an interesting one -- an app that gives Sara a chance to start standing up for herself but also opens the way for a rekindling of a valued friendship as well as a crush. Sara's frustration is palpable from the beginning, as she starts standing up to the racism and sexism running rampant in the tech industry, and she uses that empowerment to speak up for herself with her parents, too. While she has her flaws, her determination makes the reader want to cheer her on. Harry seems like a wonderful guy, supportive of Sara, but there were a couple of things about his character arc that were red flags for me, so I didn't enjoy this romance as much as I have Park's other books. Not her strongest outing -- 3 stars.
Thank you, HarperCollins and NetGalley, for providing an eARC of this book. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.