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juliaegreene's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
3.5
not really sure how to rate this even though i finished it almost a week ago. this book is really sammy's, and honestly, she's a fucking disaster. she's about to lose her job and is hoping to find a reclusive rock star to review an album that may or may not exist (she also got ghosted by him 11 years ago), her relationship with her mom is on the rocks, she doesn't know her late father's family or culture at all, and she's going back to the town she lived in for a year when she was 9 to figure it all out. she is 29 years old. but despite that, this is a coming of age story. it's about figuring yourself out, family (whether it's blood or found), falling in love and finding a path. the real star of this book is sammy and paloma's relationship. the writing is engaging and the cast of characters is well-rounded. sammy and max's relationship was not my favorite, especially with how they just kept hurting each other in the exact way the other had asked them not to. my biggest frustration was how messy it all gets. as sammy continued to lie to the people she cares about and herself, avoids her problems and pushes people away, it got harder to support her. (i listened to this on audio and there was a lot of yelling at her in the car.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Death
Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent
flyingryndeer's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-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
5.0
I cried over this book in multiple places and have lost sleep over it now, including the time to write this review, but its worth every second. To call this book a romance as if that is all it is would be a crime, but the romance is an essential part of this. At its core, this is about family- chosen, blood, and otherwise. About all the things it can do to fuck you up and to help you heal. About what- and who- make a home. And it's a book about love, in all its forms. One of the best books I've read in a long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, and Drug abuse
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? It's 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:
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
Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual content, Child abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
jillkaarlela's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.75
Taylor Swift songs: “Wildest Dreams”, “afterglow”
Age rating: 15+ (2 brief steamy scenes, 0.5/5🌶️)
if you are a fan of Ashley Poston (“The Dead Romantics” and “the Seven Year Slip”) you will LOVE this!! I know I did! Just without the paranormal aspect. This was a story about finding identity, family, dealing with past trauma, and finding love in the midst of that. I loved watching Sammy’s chaotic, messy, very human journey throughout this story. I truly connected to Sammy, even though I have not experienced the same circumstances. I also truly loved all of the side characters!! All of the relationships, especially with Sammy and her found family were so beautiful and loving. I will not lie, this might lead me to read a lot more celebrity romances and enter a delulu era, but I’m not mad about it. This book really felt like a warm hug, while still being very entertaining. I will be reading any other romances this author writes. I listened to the audiobook but I WILL be picking up a physical copy!
Plus, I love the representation in this book! We love a Pansexual Latina FMC! And I loved Willa and Brooke’s relationship/marriage! It was so healthy and loving and supportive!! We love seeing queer joy represented!!
Also side note: the audiobook narrator was fantastic!
Tropes:
Second-chance-romance
Celebrity mmc (singer)
Found family
Small town
Pansexual Latina fmc
TW: recovering alcoholic, abandonment issues, parental trauma
Age rating: 15+ (2 brief steamy scenes, 0.5/5🌶️)
if you are a fan of Ashley Poston (“The Dead Romantics” and “the Seven Year Slip”) you will LOVE this!! I know I did! Just without the paranormal aspect. This was a story about finding identity, family, dealing with past trauma, and finding love in the midst of that. I loved watching Sammy’s chaotic, messy, very human journey throughout this story. I truly connected to Sammy, even though I have not experienced the same circumstances. I also truly loved all of the side characters!! All of the relationships, especially with Sammy and her found family were so beautiful and loving. I will not lie, this might lead me to read a lot more celebrity romances and enter a delulu era, but I’m not mad about it. This book really felt like a warm hug, while still being very entertaining. I will be reading any other romances this author writes. I listened to the audiobook but I WILL be picking up a physical copy!
Plus, I love the representation in this book! We love a Pansexual Latina FMC! And I loved Willa and Brooke’s relationship/marriage! It was so healthy and loving and supportive!! We love seeing queer joy represented!!
Also side note: the audiobook narrator was fantastic!
Tropes:
Second-chance-romance
Celebrity mmc (singer)
Found family
Small town
Pansexual Latina fmc
TW: recovering alcoholic, abandonment issues, parental trauma
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Cursing, and Abandonment
applejacksbooks's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher for review.
I really need to stop requesting Lit Fic books. they always make me so...sad. That being said, I think this one is worth the read. You get a woman on the verge of losing her job get one last chance to redeem herself by basically finding the one guy who she spent one amazing night with, then got ghosted by 10 years prior and writing an article about why he fell off the face of the planet. Along the way Sammy finds herself through meeting the grandmother she never met/was led to believe didn't want her, figures out what she wants from life, and honestly does more healing without a therapist than with.
So overall, I think this book does what it sets out to. we get the second chance romance (kind of), the main character reconnecting with her chosen family and some blood relatives too, and the chance for Sammy to really lay into her deadbeat mother. Here's my issue though, nothing really kept this on my mind enough for me to absolutely fall head over heels for the story, leaving me just feeling very "meh" about it. Like if this kind of healing journey is your thing, you'll definitely enjoy it, but for me it's very YA almost (and I know this is the author's adult debut, but she does come from YA). I do wish in the end, Sammy's chosen family was one member larger, but it's paramount that the thing happens so the ending can happen and I get why, but like I cried when that thing happened.
I really need to stop requesting Lit Fic books. they always make me so...sad. That being said, I think this one is worth the read. You get a woman on the verge of losing her job get one last chance to redeem herself by basically finding the one guy who she spent one amazing night with, then got ghosted by 10 years prior and writing an article about why he fell off the face of the planet. Along the way Sammy finds herself through meeting the grandmother she never met/was led to believe didn't want her, figures out what she wants from life, and honestly does more healing without a therapist than with.
So overall, I think this book does what it sets out to. we get the second chance romance (kind of), the main character reconnecting with her chosen family and some blood relatives too, and the chance for Sammy to really lay into her deadbeat mother. Here's my issue though, nothing really kept this on my mind enough for me to absolutely fall head over heels for the story, leaving me just feeling very "meh" about it. Like if this kind of healing journey is your thing, you'll definitely enjoy it, but for me it's very YA almost (and I know this is the author's adult debut, but she does come from YA). I do wish in the end, Sammy's chosen family was one member larger, but it's paramount that the thing happens so the ending can happen and I get why, but like I cried when that thing happened.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
what_karla_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, Abandonment, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
caseythereader's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
4.5
Thanks to Penguin Press for the free copy of this book.
- SAMMY ESPINOZA'S LAST REVIEW is for all the former emo girls out there.
- There is so much going on in this book - second chances, friend fights, flighty mom, long lost family and more - and it all works. It all serves to make Sammy and everyone in Ridley Falls feel like real, whole humans even with a complicated romcom plot.
- It's a thoughtful, loving exploration of how emotional traumas linger and affect your actions years later, even when you know what's happening and why. I just love a romance novel that's both swoony and rooted in reality.
- SAMMY ESPINOZA'S LAST REVIEW is for all the former emo girls out there.
- There is so much going on in this book - second chances, friend fights, flighty mom, long lost family and more - and it all works. It all serves to make Sammy and everyone in Ridley Falls feel like real, whole humans even with a complicated romcom plot.
- It's a thoughtful, loving exploration of how emotional traumas linger and affect your actions years later, even when you know what's happening and why. I just love a romance novel that's both swoony and rooted in reality.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Death, Grief, Cursing, and Medical content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Car accident, and Sexual content
Minor: Racism
moonjelifish's review against another edition
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
4.5
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: Abandonment and Grief
Moderate: Medical trauma, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
Minor: Abortion, Body shaming, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
skudiklier's review against another edition
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
4.0
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: Abandonment, Sexual content, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Racism
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