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rachel_loves_to_read 's review for:
Our Last Wild Days
by Anna Bailey
dark
mysterious
slow-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
The Labasques aren’t like other families.
Living in a shack out in the swamps, they scrape a living hunting down alligators just to get by. To the good people of Jacknife, Louisiana, they are trouble-makers, outcasts, the kind of people you wouldn’t want living on your doorstep.
So when Cutter Labasque is found face down in the muddy swamp, no one seems to care, not even her two rough-cut brothers. The only person who questions the official verdict of suicide is Cutter’s childhood friend, Loyal May, who has just returned home to care for her ageing mother.
Loyal left town at the age of 18, having betrayed everything she valued most. Now, there may be no way for her to find forgiveness, but there may be restitution…
My thoughts:
This is one of my anticipated reads for 2025 and it did not disappoint!
Set in the swamps of Southern Louisiana, this book had a real gothic voodoo feel. The town of Jacknife is home to a small close knit community. The Labasque family are portrayed as odd, trouble makers by the community, so when Cutter is found dead, although it saddens the community it is no great shock.
Loyal, a journalist, returns to Jacknife to care for her mother, she is saddened by the death of her childhood friend Cutter. She believes there is injustice in the police work into her death and begins to dig a little deeper, assisted by Sasha.
The story begins to unravel, and has a few twists and turns- just like the rivers and swamps described in the story. There is talk of swamp creatures and mysterious beings, which added to the atmospheric feel of the book.
The pace is quite slow, but is very in keeping to the setting of the story, and although it is slower paced the writing draws you in. The mystery of what is going on just keeps you wanting to read on to discover the truth.
A book that I’d recommend picking up, it’s released April 24th 2025. Thank you so much to the publishers Double Day/ Penguin Random House Uk for the advance copy of this book. Opinions expressed here are my own.
Living in a shack out in the swamps, they scrape a living hunting down alligators just to get by. To the good people of Jacknife, Louisiana, they are trouble-makers, outcasts, the kind of people you wouldn’t want living on your doorstep.
So when Cutter Labasque is found face down in the muddy swamp, no one seems to care, not even her two rough-cut brothers. The only person who questions the official verdict of suicide is Cutter’s childhood friend, Loyal May, who has just returned home to care for her ageing mother.
Loyal left town at the age of 18, having betrayed everything she valued most. Now, there may be no way for her to find forgiveness, but there may be restitution…
My thoughts:
This is one of my anticipated reads for 2025 and it did not disappoint!
Set in the swamps of Southern Louisiana, this book had a real gothic voodoo feel. The town of Jacknife is home to a small close knit community. The Labasque family are portrayed as odd, trouble makers by the community, so when Cutter is found dead, although it saddens the community it is no great shock.
Loyal, a journalist, returns to Jacknife to care for her mother, she is saddened by the death of her childhood friend Cutter. She believes there is injustice in the police work into her death and begins to dig a little deeper, assisted by Sasha.
The story begins to unravel, and has a few twists and turns- just like the rivers and swamps described in the story. There is talk of swamp creatures and mysterious beings, which added to the atmospheric feel of the book.
The pace is quite slow, but is very in keeping to the setting of the story, and although it is slower paced the writing draws you in. The mystery of what is going on just keeps you wanting to read on to discover the truth.
A book that I’d recommend picking up, it’s released April 24th 2025. Thank you so much to the publishers Double Day/ Penguin Random House Uk for the advance copy of this book. Opinions expressed here are my own.