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.
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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.
Read Less
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The Last Guest House had potential, but in my opinion, it failed to deliver. The single, first-person narrative felt too one-sided, simplistic and lacking in suspense and the alternating time frame did not work for me. The main character, Avery, engaged in far too much reminiscing for my liking and I failed to relate to or connect with her and the rest of the characters. The plot was slow going and boring, and despite the author's best efforts, I found it difficult to visualise the fictional American setting. I usually love thrillers, but this book was nowhere near gritty or compelling enough to hold my interest. It felt a little too young for my liking and it is perhaps more suited to young adults than older adults.
Abigail
Jun 26, 2019
A Beautiful Town, a Terrible Tragedy
Littleport, Maine is like two different towns. For most of the year it is a small town with beautiful views and very little action, but in the summer it becomes a holiday destination for the rich and reckless, full of partying and excess. Although the town-people and the summer-crowd don't tend to mix, Sadie Loman and Avery Greer have managed to cross the divide, and become the best of friends.
However, when Sadie is found dead, everything changes for Avery. With her job and her reputation in jeopardy, she must put together the pieces to figure out what happened to her friend - before its too late.
This book has such a wonderful setting, I just couldn't pass it up. Small town America is always one of my favourite setting-types; it always gives me that dull ache of childhood.
The story shifts back and forth between the present and the summer that Sadie died, giving you more and more information to sift through as you try to figure out the mystery along with Avery. With wonderfully crafted characters and believable drama, I love the pace and content of this story. The idea of a town with two distinct faces is incredibly enticing, and I was drawn right into the secrecy and intrigue of it all.
Avery's character is strong but flawed, as many modern literary heroines tend to be. She has a complicated past, and a deep seeded drive for ambition and accomplishment. Sadie on the other hand is a rich girl with a power complex, teetering through life on the knife's edge of recklessness and refinement. She may be strong-willed, but she is also weak in her own over-confidence. The two characters are a classic pair; one rich, one poor. One an outcast, one the popular socialite. One in need of care, one in need of adoration.
The only real flaw to this book was unfortunately a fairly big one, in my opinion. Avery is incredibly sharp, and she has most of the facts that she needs to figure out what happened - it's all there in her memory of that fateful night, if only she can put together the pieces. The problem is, the author doesn't follow those thought processes through properly, and what we are given feels very much like Avery making things up randomly and then those things turning out to be true. She makes some serious jumps, and we are expected to believe that she has just put two and two together - only we were never given the first "two". It frustrated me, because I think that Miranda had a very good idea going, she just didn't quite write it all out like she seems to think she did. It made the ending feel a little bit scrambled and random, even though I have a feeling it really was well charted in the author's mind.
Overall, I love the story and characters in this book. I want to visit Littleport, Maine and see the beautiful scenery Miranda describes so lovingly. Unfortunately, the oversimplified process takes The Last House Guest down from 4/5 to 3/5 for me. I really wanted to love this ending, but it felt too rushed and messy when it came down to it.
Recommended for fans of Pretty Little Liars.
Helen
Jun 25, 2019
Multilayered Thriller
Thank you Readers First for sending me The Last Guest House by Megan Miranda. I have enjoyed reading previous novels by her and this one certainly didn't disappoint.
Without giving too much away it's a tale of summer, a beach house, a party and the death of a rich heiress. The story unfolds, in a time shift fashion, as her friend investigates the events that took place leading to her apparent suicide. Through Avery's narrative the characters come to life and the reader discovers how their lives are entwined.
It is very atmospheric and there are lots of twists and secrets which keep the pages turning.
I particularly love the cover and the embossed raindrops on the front, definitely added to its ambience.
Great read, especially if able to do in one sitting.
