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A review by minimicropup
The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
One of the only things I liked about this book was that I found the Lit Society Podcast bc of it.
Narration: đ
Narrator voice was good. Not monotonous and able to pick up on different characters w/o being overdone.
Atmosphere: đ€
Pretty well described, but flat. You could imagine any place with water, a cliff, and some trees. The town is repetitively described as an entity to the point of being assigned human traits. Hard to locate myself and if I let my imagination run wild itâd be smashed randomly. Lots of me going âwait, they ran past A to get to B⊠isnât B on the other side of the town in the opposite direction?â
POV: đ„Ž
-MC is a young adult with some trauma and grief in their recent past and a bit obsessive/naively intrusive with their friendâs family. Theyâre making questionable decisions due to the trauma and lack of experience
-The MCs experiences are recounted late summer at a party, and then a year later. Same characters (er, minus one) and setting so it gets SO confusing as the timelines jump around AND it isnât chronological within each year. I was lost for which year we were in if I missed the chapter heading or took a break. Easily could have written most of this chronologically in 2 parts (year 1 and 2).
Reading Journey: đ”âđ«
Scenic road trip to a cottage weekend, turns into âomg wtf why are you taking us this routeâ arguments, turns into getting there late with everyone cranky and tired.
Growls and Howls: đș
Overall it was a good plot but the writing style and âvillainâdestroyed it. There were a lot of annoying world salads âŠkinda like âshe took in the ocean breeze as a reminder of the town and itâs salty hold on those who crossed itâs path, like Sadie and so many of the memories she left behindâ. The âdivideâ between townies and tourists was overly done trying to put the friendship between Avery and Sadie on Romeo and Juliet levels.
Showânâtell: đ„Ž
Mostly show, but weirdly. Like bringing a crayon on bring-your-pet-to-school day (is that still a thing?)
Good match if you like:
-late summer vibes
-party mysteries
-naive characters lacking self awareness (I love MCs like this)
-rich people behaving badly
-corruption
-villain monologue (for me, this instantly transforms an entire novel into a poorly animated childrenâs cartoon)
Vibes: âșïžđ€šđ«€
Format: Audible and Library E-book via Libby
Narration: đ
Narrator voice was good. Not monotonous and able to pick up on different characters w/o being overdone.
Atmosphere: đ€
Pretty well described, but flat. You could imagine any place with water, a cliff, and some trees. The town is repetitively described as an entity to the point of being assigned human traits. Hard to locate myself and if I let my imagination run wild itâd be smashed randomly. Lots of me going âwait, they ran past A to get to B⊠isnât B on the other side of the town in the opposite direction?â
POV: đ„Ž
-MC is a young adult with some trauma and grief in their recent past and a bit obsessive/naively intrusive with their friendâs family. Theyâre making questionable decisions due to the trauma and lack of experience
-The MCs experiences are recounted late summer at a party, and then a year later. Same characters (er, minus one) and setting so it gets SO confusing as the timelines jump around AND it isnât chronological within each year. I was lost for which year we were in if I missed the chapter heading or took a break. Easily could have written most of this chronologically in 2 parts (year 1 and 2).
Reading Journey: đ”âđ«
Scenic road trip to a cottage weekend, turns into âomg wtf why are you taking us this routeâ arguments, turns into getting there late with everyone cranky and tired.
Growls and Howls: đș
Overall it was a good plot but the writing style and âvillainâdestroyed it. There were a lot of annoying world salads âŠkinda like âshe took in the ocean breeze as a reminder of the town and itâs salty hold on those who crossed itâs path, like Sadie and so many of the memories she left behindâ. The âdivideâ between townies and tourists was overly done trying to put the friendship between Avery and Sadie on Romeo and Juliet levels.
Showânâtell: đ„Ž
Mostly show, but weirdly. Like bringing a crayon on bring-your-pet-to-school day (is that still a thing?)
Good match if you like:
-late summer vibes
-party mysteries
-naive characters lacking self awareness (I love MCs like this)
-rich people behaving badly
-corruption
-villain monologue (for me, this instantly transforms an entire novel into a poorly animated childrenâs cartoon)
Vibes: âșïžđ€šđ«€
Format: Audible and Library E-book via Libby
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol