A review by mariavdl
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

1.25

 It really should be forbidden to tell so many lies on the back of the book: “Breakneck pacing, dizzying plot twist… a riveting mystery, certain to shock you with fits final, heartbreaking turn.” It was the exact opposite. 

I wanted to like this, but the writing style was SO repetitive for no reason (see below.) It is simply sloppy, amateur writing, and a very dull plot. At no point was I on the edge of my seat to find out what happened next. And what’s with the ridiculous chapter names? “You Have to Do Some Things on Your Own”? “Bailey’s No Good Very Bad Day”? What is this, a children’s show? Incredibly out of place for the “mystery” it’s otherwise trying (and failing) to be. I was hoping the ending would bring it up to two stars, but it really just had me feeling: ….that’s it? 

 

“My grandfather was a wood-turner - an excellent one, at that, - and his work was at the center of my life for as far back as I can remember. He was at the center of my life as far back as I can remember, having raised me mostly on his own.” 

“Then he walked over to me. He walked over to me until somehow we were standing close…” 

“It was more that his smile – this generous, childlike smile – made him seem kind. It made him seem kind in a way I wasn’t used to…” 

“’It feels familiar.’ She starts looking around. ‘Let me get my bearings,’ she says. ‘Let me figure out why this place looks familiar to me. Isn’t that the point of all this? That something here is supposed to look familiar?’” [Jesus, alright, you remember the place, we get the point already, move on with the plot…] 

“She looks down at it, in her hands, as though she can’t believe she is doing this. She sighs so we know she can’t believe she’s doing this.” 

[spoiler] “It’s one thing when a private investigator intuits that your husband’s name is different, that the details of his life are different. But if this pans out- if Owen took this class with this Professor Cookman- it’s our first piece of proof, real proof, that Owen lied about the story of his life. It’s the first proof that my instinct was right, that his story, Owen’s real story, somehow may begin and end in Austin. It feels like a victory that we are moving closer to the truth. But when the truth is taking you somewhere you don’t want to go, you also aren’t sure. You aren’t sure you want that win.” [?? really sloppy…]

“Lanterns line the bar top, backlighting those bottles, backlighting the dark wine bottles above them.” 

[spoiler]“And he put you in it. He put you in it as a guardian for Bailey, along with me. He wanted her to have you if anything ever happened to him. He wanted her to have me and he wanted her to have you.” [again, we get it…]

“Grady shoots me a look, like I’m out of bounds to comfort her. Like I’m simply out of bounds. This is how he sees things now. His plan for Owen and Bailey is on one side of a line and I’m on the other. This is the only way he sees me now…” 

“I watch her face as she tries to process that – this terrible, impossible thing. The terrible, impossible thing he never wanted to say to her. The terrible, impossible thing I’ve been suspecting myself. The terrible, impossible thing I’ve known.” [That’s it, I give up..]