This book grabbed your attention right at the start. The narrator did an amazing job!
The nostalgia of the 90's and summer and the coming of age moving from high school to college. The family struggles with the loss of her mother and reconnecting with her father. The relationships throughout having to navigate all the emotions and feelings. This was such an emotional read.

Amazing 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

I am left with a book hangover. This is definitely being added to my all time favorites list.

The summer before Amore is supposed to start her freshman year at Howard University, her dream school, tragedy strikes and she is thrust into a Jersey City to live with her estranged father. Jersey City is drastically different than the suburban town she grew up and she joins up with Gabe, a somewhat shady guy who straddles the fence of the law.

This was a superb coming of age tale of what it was like to be a black person in the 1990s. It was an extraordinary story, and I felt transported back to that era, my personal coming of age era. But this wasn't my coming of age story, and it was humbling to see (hear) the differences between white suburbia and black urban Jersey City.

I was rooting for the the unlikely pairing of Amore and Gabe. Two young people in love from different pasts.

This book shows us that people are more more complex than their actions. This quote captures it perfectly "Sometimes you have to look at not what a person does but why they do it"

There are some pretty spicy 🔥 moments so this is getting 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 on the spice-o-meter

This was a fantastic audio book production. This people, is how audiobooks should be done. AMAZING NARATION by Shayna Small who nailed all the female AND male voices. And those spicy scenes I mentioned above. Wow! I was blushing big time. There was one time I was walking with the ear buds in and I seriously looked around to make sure nobody was near. I was freaking out that people could hear the spiciness 😳

Sometimes you avoid a book because you don’t think it sounds good or possibly the cover isn’t that enticing. You haven’t seen it splashed all over Instagram, so you just push it away? Well this is what I did with this book and let me say, oh how this gave me such life!
Set in the 90s, the author whom I never read before, gave these characters such a deep emotional rawness and it gave me all the feels throughout.
Loved it and I will be reading more of this author!

I enjoy a good coming of age story and this one was great. I love the time period of the 1990s and thought the plot was fabulous. This one really deserves more recognition because it is a masterfully told story.

The narration was good and I also would have enjoyed reading it as well.

This was an average coming of age story for the MC. I did enjoy the development of the relationships in the story and thought there was some great moments with the MC and her father. Overall though this book was a little too graphic for my taste, especially on audio. I felt like the sex scenes were overdone and distasteful.

This is such a poignant and powerful coming of age story. I love Amore's desire to be a good person despite what is going on around her. Though life keeps dealing her a very rough hand she bravely moves forward and changes her world for the better.

You guys, this is one book that you need to read or in my case listen to. The narrator, Shayna Small did a wonderful job of narrating this book.

I was instantly transported back to the 90's. I experienced love, heartache, good times and bad times, laughter, and growth...all while listening to this book. Last Stop from Innocence by Takerra Allen is a recommended read and in my top 3 favorites for 2021!

The connection I formed with Amore, Gabe, and her cousin, Tammy was strong. While, the story may have mainly been about Amore; Tammy was a nice surprise. The things she would say had me laughing. She is the best friend you never knew you needed. The ending made my heart happy. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

amazing story, powerful and inspiring. I would love to read more from this author. The pace was perfect. The plot heartfelt and brought me to situations dealt with in society today.

2 💫

I think this was a good overall story, but the amount of sex scenes in this just ruined it for me. I would be on a walk for exercise listening to this and someone would randomly start moaning. Like NOPE. I would be embarrassed to listen to it most of the time. I just wanted it to be over 😅 this would’ve have a lot more stars if there was no over the top sex scenes.

I really enjoyed this one! It was a powerful story and great characters! I loved the narrator as well!

📆 90’s Flash Back ⏰

Picture it : DMX is on the radio, beepers are tucked in Tommy Hilfiger ( although most of us are pronouncing it “HilfIgure”) jeans, the girls are popping with their burgundy lips & smelling as sweet as their cucumber melon body spray from Bath & Body Works. You’re in the 90’s. Were you Brandy or Monica when you sang “The Boy is Mine?”

Amore’s ( obsessed with this name) mom passed away & she has to move in with her “barely there” father for the rest of the summer before attending Howard for school in the fall. But, Jersey City, NJ is nothing like what she is used to. The city streets are dangerous & you never know what to expect when you turn the corner. There’s a wanted man out there right now for kidnapping, raping & murdering between 4-6 women.

She starts hanging out with her cousin Tammy whom she absolutely adores (so do I) & throughout their journey she runs into Gabriel aka “Guapo Guapo” which she automatically assumes stands for handsome as would most, but actually means $$. He’s nothing short of extraordinary in the eyes of every girl he passes by, including Amore. But when he sees her time stands still.

But Gabe runs with the wrong crowd in order to take care of his baby brother & parents, to make ends meet. But what 18-year old girl would care what a guy does for a living if he’s THAT hot , makes bank, takes her out on motorcycle rides & adores her like no one ever has. It’s just a summer fling anyway, right? What’s the worst that can happen?

But soon tragedy strikes not once but twice in their own little circle of the world & Amore if left devastated. In this thriller meets romance novel, you will be sweating from the heat under the sheets but also looking over your shoulder for what happens next. This book moved at breakneck speed for me.

I’m from NJ so that made me enjoy this book that much more & although I was young in the 90’s I wasn’t TOO small to remember everything I mentioned. I also enjoyed Gabe’s & Tammy’s Interludes.

5 ⭐️

Thank you BookSparks, Netgalley, Podium Audio & Takkera Allen my #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. This was title #3 of 4 on the #src2021 Audiobook Track!

Is there anything like summer love? How about summer love when you are 18, the summer before you head off to college. A summer full of possibilities and hope, firsts and lasts; stretching toward the future while clutching the comforts of the past. You can tell this book made me a bit nostalgic.
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Last Stop From Innocence by Takerra Allen was a great story of being true to yourself, family loyalty, first love, heartache and grief. It is an #ownvoice novel that really puts the reader back in the 1990’s and nostalgic for summer love, a cousin to help you through it, and a real feel of the issues that the black community has faced and continue to face.
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I listened to this audiobook, expertly narrated by Shayna Small thanks to a copy by @BookSparks @podiumaudio and @bytakerraallen and actually slowed it down so I could savor the words. Allen has a definite gift for storytelling that entertains while imparting truths that we need to know.
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I relish the opportunity to immerse myself in different cultures, different times, with wonderful true-to-life characters that I’d like to know. This was definitely time well spent.

#LastStopFromInnocence
#TakerraAllen

#audiobooktour
#SRC2021

Thank you @booksparks, @podiumaudio, @netgalley and @bytakerraallen for the complimentary audio book.

Narrated by Shayna Small.

Synopsis
A nostalgic tale of first love, first loss, and the budding womanhood of a Black girl in the '90s.

Tragedy flips Amore Brown’s world on its axis right before she heads off to college. Having to sit tight for the summer, she chooses Jersey City, New Jersey - the home of her estranged father - to pass the time. Here, in urban grit, a stark contrast to the comforts of suburbia, she reconnects with a long-lost cousin for some final months of summer excursions, enrooting, and evolving. But it could never be that simple, even if it were all so simple then....

How much will Amore have to lose in order to find herself? On the road to the woman she is becoming and removed from the girl she is no more, one stop changes her path forever.

"Girls just want to have fun" transforms into the kindling of summer romance tucked into the crust of good times, tribulations, close calls, and one hot summer in Jersey. Amore meets THE guy, finds solace, heals fresh wounds, and battles the thorny relationship with her father, all while learning that heartache has no limits.



My thoughts:

It is a story which keeps you involved. Amore spends the summer with her father before she goes to college. She is dealing with the death of her mother. It is a summer of discoveries, of finding herself, of reconnecting and of dealing with the realities of life. The setting was in tune and the narration was nuanced as Small (the narrator) voices different characters.

A coming of age story about family, first love, loss and tragedy.

I find I’m getting quite hooked to audio books.

𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭, 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘸!

Talk about and emotional and gut-wrenching roller coaster ride.
Last Stop from Innocence is an incredible coming of age story about family, first love, loss and tragedy. It was raw, it was ugly and beautiful. A fantastic audiobook.

Thank you BookSparks , Podium Audio , NetGalley and Takerra Allen for having me on this #SRC2021 audiobook tour.

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦: 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

Thank you @booksparks @netgalley for a copy of this audiobook. This book blew me away!! This book starts with Amore dealing with the death of her mom and spending the summer with her dad before college. She discovers first love, relationship with her father, death and so much more. I did not want to stop listening to this. I love the relationship between her and Gab. Having the book set in the 90s was a great flash back to pagers and musicians in that era. The narration was amazing on this audiobook.

Fantastic audio book really well done and fully immersive enjoyed it a lot! Shayna Small gave this story life - and you will go through all the emotions from crying, laughing, and all of the in-between!

I really enjoyed this. Would recommend to everyone. Well written, all consuming. Fantastic read from this author.

This read was everything one can ask for in a book. I was sucked right in the moment I started listening. The narrator was wonderful and the author made the characters so raw and real. Takers Allen has put so many issues to light in this book and tells from a perspective many of us need to see from. Thank you Book Sparks and Net Galley for this audiobook in exchange for my review!