[Review] The Last House Guest - Megan Miranda

Summary: Littleport, Maine, has always felt like two separate towns: an ideal vacation enclave for the wealthy, whose summer homes line the coastline; and a simple harbor community for the year-round residents whose livelihoods rely on service to the visitors.

Typically, fierce friendships never develop between a local and a summer girl—but that’s just what happens with visitor Sadie Loman and Littleport resident Avery Greer. Each summer for almost a decade, the girls are inseparable—until Sadie is found dead. While the police rule the death a suicide, Avery can’t help but feel there are those in the community, including a local detective and Sadie’s brother, Parker, who blame her. Someone knows more than they’re saying, and Avery is intent on clearing her name, before the facts get twisted against her. (Pub Date: Jun 18, 2019)

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

I finally have the honor to review another book by Megan Miranda. And I'm not disappointed.

3.5.

Avery's friend Avery, her big ally in the world of the powerful Grants, is found dead on the beach. And it all happened during the party she organized. A year after, the same actors are back on the island for a memorial and Avery starts finding clues to solve the mystery.

This is a little of All the Missing Girls, a little of The Perfect Stranger and a little its own. If you liked these stories, I'm sure you'll love this one. In my opinion, it rates between those two.

The story also has a youthfulness to the characters that I think is trademark to Miranda. It's surely not YA, but they're still young and prone to mistakes. I think it makes it attracting to an equally younger audience.

Another of her trademarks is the non-linear narrative. It doesn't go the lengths of All The Missing Girls, where she told the story backwards but we again have two different timelines—the events leading to the party and the present day. And as I'm not a fan of flashbacks, this is not normal for me to state but I loved how this was done. Miranda has a special way to work timelines and intertwine events.

It's also a mystery; we don't know what happened to Sadie, only that she has died that night of the party. I'll be honest, it kept me curious to the end. I did suspect the culprit, I can't say it was that surprising, but I was never sure until very close to the big reveal. But when it comes to plot twists, there were many and none that I think was memorable. Still, I read it at the speed of light, the story was gripping enough.

Downpoints? As mentioned, the twists could have been stronger. Avery is also a bit too naive considering how much she's been through. This is not a book for romances either, although it makes an attempt. I feel it also lacked some closure feelings-wise. It's hard to explain this point, but I'm not sure Avery developed for real, I feel a part of her issues weren't completely dealt with, even though the main plot was completely solved.

If you like youthful thrillers, this could be a good pick for you. And as I said, if you ever read anything by Miranda, don't miss this release.

Rating: 4 out of 5.