Review by astoriareader - The Last Word

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The Last Word by Taylor Adams

3.0

dark tense medium-paced

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

SYNOPSIS:

Emma and her golden retriever, Laika, live in a remote, isolated home on the Washington Coast. She is house-sitting for a lady named Jules. Her only human contact is via text with Jules & via dry-erase board messages in the window to the neighbor, Deek.
She chose this lifestyle, as she grapples with some trauma from her past.
To keep her mind off her past, she spends her time reading cheap e-books.
One day, she reads a poorly-written slasher novel by H.G. Kane. She leaves a one-star review ⭐️— and, the author responds begging her to remove it.
After refusing to take down the review, some disturbing things start happening. Could it be the author himself? What’s happening?

THE FATE OF THE DOG (SPOILER)

🐶The dog doesn’t die
⚠️However, still a trigger warning for dog lovers: there is intent/attempts to hurt the dog. These parts are in the first half of the book. There’s two that I recall, and both involve the dog eating items. One item causes a minor cut on her gums. Another is poison, but Emma makes her throw up & she’s okay.

MY THOUGHTS: WHAT WAS GOOD

I loved the premise of the book. I thought it was a fresh idea.
This is my 2nd read by Adams. I previously read Last Exit. Similar to Last Exit, this is action-packed & gruesome.
I loved Emma & Laika. I found it very easy to relate to the duo.
The structure of the book is unique. Once it picks up, the book starts to offer parallel perspectives. Emma tells the real version of what happened, and immediately after, Adams offers the publicized version from a psychopath writer.
I loved seeing Emma’s conversations with her dogs. Sweet and unique.
The first 75% of the book is great & riveting. I loved the concept of Emma and Laika kicking ass. IMO the book should have ended there. If it had, this would be a 4-star review. But, the last 25% of the book brought it down an entire star.

MY THOUGHTS: WHAT WAS BAD

The last 25%, including the ending, was bad. It falls completely flat, and it isn’t satisfying.
Adams tries to do way too many twists.
There is A LOT you gave to suspend belief about in the book.
H.G. Kane is not a believable character. He’s wielding samurai swords at some parts?! lol
The book is scientifically flawed. A drug mentioned in the book is delivered through IV, so this part doesn’t make sense.
This turned into more of gore/slasher genre at some point in the book.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️3 stars. Unique premise. Starts off great. Last 25% wasn’t good.

Content Warnings