Member Reviews

Unfortunately this one fell a little flat to me. I found it to be a bit of a chore to try to get through and it was just meh. That being said the actual writing was nice and me not liking it was no fault of anyone's. It just wasn't for me. I still really appreciate the opportunity to read this book.

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The book begins when Fran books onto the infamous Soul Shrink's upcoming wellness retreat, his first retreat since he was imprisoned for murder. Fran is determined to discover the true fate of her sister Jenna who disappeared when in Gozo and on one of the Soul Shrinks retreats.

I am a huge fan of C.L.Taylor's books and love her writing style, Her Last Holiday is definitely one of my favourites. I was invested in the plot pretty much straight away and devoured it in only a few sittings. I loved how Taylor included so many tense and suspenseful moments that left me on the edge of my seat. There were also some great unpredictable twists where I found myself constantly changing my mind and guessing Jenna's fate.

Taylor writes from multiple characters points of view and also from past to present, including characters Jenna, Fran and Kate, Soul Shrinks wife. I felt that the multiple points of view definitely added to the mystery behind the events in Gozo.

I definitely recommend this book if you are wanting to read a really good and unpredictable thriller that keeps you guessing throughout.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unedited review.

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I enjoy C.L Taylor books and this one was ok, i wasn't fussed on any on the lead characters , i feel we never knew what really happened on Gozo alot more could have been said about the retreat .

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Wow oh wow!! Another absolute masterpiece from a truly wonderful author. I have been completely pulled in and both unable and unwilling to put this one down. 
The tension and suspense throughout this one have kept me completely hooked. I have been completely unable to predict where this was going and I definitely haven't been disappointed. 
I love the characters in this one. Some you like instantly and others make you suspicious from the first impression. I have read all of the books by CL Taylor and I can safely say that this is my favourite. 
I have devoured page after page of this book. I have craved more information and tried unsuccessfully to predict where this was going. 
I adore the cover of this one, not only does it arouse curiosity but it is also one that catches the eye of the reader. From the cover alone, I have been desperate to see where this was going. 
A definite five star read which I highly recommend.

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Two years ago Fran's sister Jenna disappeared on a wellness retreat in Gozo. That retreat went horrifically wrong and Tom Wade, the man behind the retreat, went to prison. But Tom's just been released after serving his sentence for the deaths of two people. Tom's never admitted what happened to Jenna, but Fran suspects Jenna is a third victim. When Tom schedules another retreat, Fran attends - determined to learn what happened to her sister.

Her Last Holiday is fast paced and suspenseful. I particularly enjoyed the interesting isolated locations in both timelines.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own.

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Unfortunately I really struggled with this book. It found it quite boring and struggled to like any of the characters. Not for me I’m afraid

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The general storyling of this book is that Fran visits a wellness retreat run by Tom & Kate, two years after her sister goes missing (presumed dead) after visiting one of theirs in Gozo. Each chapter alternates between character viewpoints which keeps it internesting. I couldn't put this down and enjoyed the twists and turns provided by this book.
A great read!
Thank you to CL Taylor, NetGalley & Avon Books for the advanced copy.

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Two years after Fran's sister Jenna has disappeared from a Soul Shrink wellness retreat in Gozo, she attends a retreat to find some answers from Tom the newly released man behind the retreats for herself.

This book kept me guessing throughout, it was brilliantly written and full of suspense. My heart was in my mouth and my jaw was on the floor at the ending, I loved it! Looking forward to reading more from this author.

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Her Last Holiday is a story about the aftermath of loss - how do you move on when you've lost someone you love? When your business and life have been destroyed? When you've been to prison for murder? How do you reclaim your life, get the answers you need, and find a way to move on to someplace that is better than the void fo grief?

If only there was a simple answer. Each perspective in this story has a different voice and a different journey in their quest to find a way to live, not just exist. This holds true for Tom Wads, the face/heart of SoulShrink, just as much as it does for Fran, the sister of the victim Tom ::wasn't:: in prison for murdering.

Can they find truth in a new retreat? Will they find a path forward, or will they drown with the past?

Dark, a bit twisted, and unique.

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This was such a unique premise, I have never been to a wellness retreat and thought it would be interesting to read about one. Well...if this is what a retreat is count me out!

I had a really hard time connecting to the characters, from the sheer number of them to the fact they were pretty much all horrible. Add in all the different name changes and double sided double talking I was completely confused. In the before chapters characters have different names than the after chapters. And two characters are using false identities, one of which is the name of another character...so you have two people being called the same name. It was head spinning!

I found so much of the book implausible and improbable and the back and forth in timelines with the different names really made this book hard to enjoy. The ending just seemed to go on and on and by that point I really didn't care any longer...I was just glad it was over and felt Jenna was lucky to be away from these people.

Don't take my word for it though as many people have given this book a high rating and it has an average of 3.8...not my friends though they have only given it a 3.2.

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Another clever book from C.L. Taylor that brings shocks and surprises.
When Jenna went to Gozo on a self-help retreat it turned out to be her last holiday. Her sister Fran starts to investigate exactly what happened to her sister during that time in an attempt to discover the truth. With lots of twists and turns this is a gripping story that does not disappoint.

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I always enjoy books written by this author so I was really pleased to be able to get an opportunity to read this.

I found it to be quite easy to follow, set in two timelines then and now which are told by three different women. There are lots of characters in the story but as you get through the first few chapters you soon get to know who is who and what part they all have to play. I liked the storyline and it flowed along nicely for me at a nice pace. There were a few twists and turns along the way, but they were not big enough to surprise me unfortunately. The ending was also a bit of a let down for me, I felt it was rushed a bit but overall the book was a good read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Another great read from C L Taylor. The use of a multi person narrative keeps you guessing until the end. The characters are believable - one in particular I loved to hate!
A great read.

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As a lover of CL Taylor’s book I couldn’t wait to get started on this

One of the main characters, Fran’s sister disappeared 2 years ago whilst attending a SoulShrink retreat. She is believed to have committed suicide, however her family do not believe this and are intent on finding out the truth. This leads to Adrian attending a new retreat set up by SoulShrink in the hope of gathering more information
We also meet Kate, the woman behind the man (Tom) of SoulShrink and we flash back to Jenna’s story
There are so many secrets being held by the attendees of this retreat and Fran tries to delve in them as she struggles to find out more about Jenna
I found this book to be interesting and compelling to read however I had guessed the ending quite early on, however I was surprised by one of the twists as that I wasn’t expecting.
I found the end of the story a little lacking, slightly disappointing and predictable compared to previous CL Taylor stories
That said I would recommend as it’s worth the read

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Well CL Taylor has done it again, another addictive and twisty thriller than kept me guessing right until the very end. Her books are always so clever with a cast of characters who are not always very likeable. The ending of this book is exciting and surprising. Loved it.

Jenna disappeared from a wellness retreat in Gozo 2 years ago. Nobody really knows what happened and her family are grieving. So when Tom Wade is released from prison and runs another retreat for Soul Shrink, Jenna’s Sister Fran decides that she is going to get answers. She goes along to this retreat and asks uncomfortable questions of those who were in Gozo. Will the same fate befall her r will she find out the truth?

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for my advanced copy of this book to read.

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I found this so hard to put down! As I got closer & closer to the end, the shocks kept coming and I didn't guess them at all. I enjoyed the three different POVs, with them being spread over present day & two years prior. I thought the characters were fascinating, even the unlikable ones, and enjoyed seeing them grow, especially Fran.

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Well written from the start and kept me gripped to the end. As like her previous books CL Taylor doesn't disappoint.

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I have always wanted to read C.L. Taylor's books and was so excited when I got the ARC of this book. However, despite the lively expectations I had about the author, the book sadly did not live up to my expectations.

Two years ago, Jenna went missing while being on a wellness retreat in Gozo. Jenna was not the only victim--two more victims were found dead on that retreat and Tom, who was in charge of the retreat was sent to prison. Two years later, Tom was released from the prison and Kate his wife restarts SoulShrink. Meanwhile, Jenna's family wants answers and Jenna's mother Geraldine enrolls Fran, an IT fifty something old teacher to the retreat.

Initially, I do like the plot of the story. Writing was good, and in some parts, I was actually hooked to the story. It was a fast paced thriller. The story was told from the event happened two years ago in Jenna's perspective and present in Fran and Kate's perspectives. I like the development of romance between Jenna and Tom. The ending was dramatic and unexpected though the epilogue to me was a bit confusing to me at first. There were literally some parts, I was bored with. Nonetheless it was really a good thriller! Worth four stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the ARC. This review is based on my honest opinion.

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Tom Wade and his wife Kate used to run wellness retreats under the name SoulShrink, for people unhappy with some aspect of their lives. Although with no training in psychology, Tom is the charismatic and gentle listener that people would come to hear while Kate managed the running of the retreats. However, after a retreat on the Maltese island of Gozo ended disastrously with the deaths of two participants and the presumed suicide of a third, Tom was sentenced to two years jail. After his release his cash strapped wife goads him into holding another retreat again, this time in Wales.

Fran Fitzgerald's sister Jenna disappeared during the retreat on Gozo and was thought to have committed suicide there. Now Fran's mother has pushed Fran into going to the retreat in Wales to find out what really happened in Gozo. Registering under a false name, she discovers three of the other participants were also at the Gozo retreat, but understandably no one wants to talk about it.

Told in two lines, that of the Gozo retreat and of the current retreat from the point of view of the three women involved, Jenna, Kate and Fran, I kept getting confused about who was narrating and which retreat we were at and who all the other characters were, since some of them changed their names during the Gozo retreat. Fran's time at the retreat in Wales really dragged and felt repetitious with the story becoming a really slow burn to get to the point where we find out what happened to Jenna.

Generally I don't mind suspending belief in the cause of a good story, but there was just too much in this novel that beggared belief. Firstly, that Tom would have been allowed to restart his business after two people died and a third disappeared at his last retreat. How could he even have insurance for the retreat (which Kate mentions they have) after what happened before? Secondly, why would anyone sign up for his retreats after what happened, including people who attended the Gozo retreat? Thirdly, why would Jenna and Kate's mother force Fran to go on the retreat after what happened to Jenna (and why would Fran go along with it)? And finally there is the ending which was just too contrived for me.

Although I usually enjoy C.L. Taylor's novels, this is not one of her best or one I'm likely to find memorable.

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I have read a few books from this author and always find the stories to be gripping. The tension rises and holds the reader in a position where the only option is to turn the pages and keep reading until you reach the conclusion. The same is true of this book.
I went through a whole range of amateur sleuth theories about what had happened to Jenna. Each time, I was convinced that I’d nailed it, and each time I was wrong. From the creepy Damian to the controlling Kate, each character was written in perfect detail to create a perception that was both accurate and misleading in equal measure.
I really liked Fran and genuinely felt her sadness, the loss that she felt from losing Jenna and the hopelessness of not believing her to be suicidal but lacking proof to the contrary, felt devastating. Her distrust of those from the Gozo retreat was understandable; how could nobody account for what happened to her sister?
As the book drew to its conclusion, it was easy to discern an acceleration in the story and the perspective tilted as surprises came from all corners. A thriller in the truest form of the word as I was genuinely pulled in to discover what had happened in Malta.
Once I reached the conclusion, I was happy that all the loose ends were neatly tied up and I became aware that my pulse was racing. I truly recommend this story as an addictive page turner from an author who excels at her craft.

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