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kovost 's review for:
Last Seen Leaving
by Caleb Roehrig
So as of about seventeen hours later, I don't know how to review this book without just chucking out spoilers left and right because this was one of those books. Like. I can't talk about anything really without giving something away because there were three big storylines* going on: Flynn and his issues, the mystery of January missing, and then what lead to January going missing. Talking about any of these is really, really difficult because there was a lot to it all. So I'm going to tag everything below this as one giant spoiler, even though I did try to be vague and short about it. If you still want to read on, even with the risk of something getting spoiled because you can pretty much assume things and probably be spot on, then carry on. Just don't say I didn't warn you.
• Flynn and his issues: Flynn struggles with a lot of guilt and self-loathing throughout almost the whole book because of Things that happened leading up to January's disappearance. He's not in denial, per say, but he can't accept himself either so he takes on a lot as he tries to figure out what happened to his girlfriend and keeps finding pieces of her that he didn't even know had existed. In the grand scheme of things, Flynn was a good narrator. He was amusing, did and reacted to things in a reasonable and relatable way considering his circumstances, and pretty much needed a hug the entire time. His biggest downfall, though: his very extravagant voice. When there was dialogue, it was fine but Flynn is fifteen and in his monologue, he was using words that not even an adult would use normally. His sentences would be so extravagant that I'd have to reread them. If this book had been written in third person, I wouldn't have even thought twice about it because then that's different, but his voice was too elaborate. There's just no way. Really, Flynn's separate storyline could have been a whole other book. I didn't mind it because it did intertwine with everything else, but it was a whole line of drama.
• The mystery of January missing: As her boyfriend (which I much prefer the term 'best friend' instead), Flynn gets so overwhelmed with his emotions and trying to figure out what happened to January that he, of course, ends up trying to put the pieces of everything together himself. So a lot of things come into light that Flynn didn't know because a couple weeks prior to her disappearance, January was getting distant and strange, but Flynn is so caught up in his own shit that he doesn't even realize it until it's too late. So a lot of this stems Flynn's guilt and self-loathing.
• What lead to January going missing: This is a very, very complicated and gruesome storyline. I can't tell you what it is without spoiling the entire plotline, which will inevitably take away a good portion of the mystery for you if you choose to read this book, but because it made me severely uncomfortable and it was a very sudden thing, I'm choosing to warn you and if you hate spoilers, don't read it:
All in all though, this was a good mystery, it really was. The author did that typical "put suspicious here and then turn an entire 180 and SURPRISE" and I'm pretty used to that, so I wasn't surprised but I can safely say I didn't predict it ending the way that it did. Honestly, the rating ended up with three stars instead of four because of the whole 'intricate monologue' and certain character developments. I would still recommend this to anyone that wanted to pass the time with a mystery book though, because it did keep me pretty entertained for a few hours.
Spoiler
* STORYLINES• Flynn and his issues: Flynn struggles with a lot of guilt and self-loathing throughout almost the whole book because of Things that happened leading up to January's disappearance. He's not in denial, per say, but he can't accept himself either so he takes on a lot as he tries to figure out what happened to his girlfriend and keeps finding pieces of her that he didn't even know had existed. In the grand scheme of things, Flynn was a good narrator. He was amusing, did and reacted to things in a reasonable and relatable way considering his circumstances, and pretty much needed a hug the entire time. His biggest downfall, though: his very extravagant voice. When there was dialogue, it was fine but Flynn is fifteen and in his monologue, he was using words that not even an adult would use normally. His sentences would be so extravagant that I'd have to reread them. If this book had been written in third person, I wouldn't have even thought twice about it because then that's different, but his voice was too elaborate. There's just no way.
Spoiler
Also, I think the romance between him and Kaz happened very quickly. It started happening in the middle of everything and it was almost out of place. I thought, in the end, the romance was cute, but I thought how it came to be was like a whole different book of its own.• The mystery of January missing: As her boyfriend (which I much prefer the term 'best friend' instead), Flynn gets so overwhelmed with his emotions and trying to figure out what happened to January that he, of course, ends up trying to put the pieces of everything together himself. So a lot of things come into light that Flynn didn't know because a couple weeks prior to her disappearance, January was getting distant and strange, but Flynn is so caught up in his own shit that he doesn't even realize it until it's too late. So a lot of this stems Flynn's guilt and self-loathing.
• What lead to January going missing: This is a very, very complicated and gruesome storyline. I can't tell you what it is without spoiling the entire plotline, which will inevitably take away a good portion of the mystery for you if you choose to read this book, but because it made me severely uncomfortable and it was a very sudden thing, I'm choosing to warn you and if you hate spoilers, don't read it:
Spoiler
January was raped. She was drugged and raped, and a good 90% of the book shows how she coped with the trauma but you don't find out until the end and it's a very sudden drop. If you're anything like me, this made you uncomfortable the second it happened. Leading up to this, there are derogatory slurs thrown around, very sleazy and creepy as fuck language used in both a flashback and a moment between Flynn and January's step-brother, Anson. These things can be potentially harmful to someone so PLEASE be careful picking up this book.All in all though, this was a good mystery, it really was. The author did that typical "put suspicious here and then turn an entire 180 and SURPRISE" and I'm pretty used to that, so I wasn't surprised but I can safely say I didn't predict it ending the way that it did. Honestly, the rating ended up with three stars instead of four because of the whole 'intricate monologue' and certain character developments. I would still recommend this to anyone that wanted to pass the time with a mystery book though, because it did keep me pretty entertained for a few hours.