I really liked Emily Stone's debut novel, Always, in December. I remember it wrecked me a little reading it though. It was so sad. Stone's 2nd book, One Last Gift had a similar theme of grief to it. But in more of an overcoming and conquering the grief kind of way than Always, in December.

I read this book in a day. Stone's writing style is wonderful. Clear, well-written, and well-developed characters. Every character in this book truly had a purpose along the journey for Cassie to overcome the grief she was dealing with throughout the book. I also liked that her relationship throughout the book wasn't Hallmark-y. She and Sam both had to really work through their personal issues to figure out what kind of relationship they might be able to have. Very realistic and sweet story. Though there is a bit of predictability to the story, I always kind of knew what was going to end up happening. But in a way, that was comforting. In reading a story about grief, it was kind of good to have a sense that all was going to end up ok. (I guess that might be a spoiler. LOL!)

Since two of her books have been centered on grief in some way, I really wonder if Emily Stone experienced some major grief in her own life that leads her to write these stories. It seems maybe her writing is cathartic for her. She certainly writes about the process as if she truly understands it.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for providing an early copy of this to read. It is greatly appreciated. All opinions are my own.

Cassie and Tom lost their parents at a young age. Tom has always been Cassie's support system since they grew up with an emotionally distant aunt. Tom's best friend Sam leaned on him, too due to having an absentee father. Unfortunately, Tom dies at an early age and at a point where Cassie has also lost Sam's friendship. At a particularly low moment in her grieving process, Cassie is handed the envelope containing clue number one for her brother's annual Christmas scavenger hunt. She is hesitant to start it since it will be the last link to her brother. This story is pretty sad in places but it's a gentle story about love, loss, establishing a 'found family' and finding oneself.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review.

LIKES:
📝 clear, emotional, relatable writing
🐆 quick read
🇬🇧 British setting
👥 multi-pov (Cassie & Sam)
👱🏻‍♀️ Cassie is a creative, caring events planner
⛹🏻‍♂️ Sam is a loyal lawyer (but also a playboy)
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 examines family dynamics
🗺️ scavenger hunt
🎄 wintry & Christmas vibes
💞 second-chance romance (closed-door)
👨🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻 + brothers best friend
♾️ + it’s always been you
🖤 themes of grief, betrayal & loss
🌱 + personal growth
🥺 emotional & sad
🥹 but also heartwarming
•
DISCLAIMERS:
⚠️ dm me for TW!
🤩 none for me!
•
VERDICT: an incredibly emotional closed-door second-chance + brother’s best friend romance deeply exploring grief, loss, betrayal, family dynamics, & personal growth with just enough holidays vibes to make it seasonal! Get your tissues ready!

Emily Stone has mastered the craft to creating head wrenching holiday reads. If you’re in the mood for a heavy hearted holiday story, her work is it.

One last gift tells the story of Cassie, and events manager who lost her parents at a young age. Through the years she has always had her older brother, Tom, to rely on. He even makes the holidays special for her by creating a scavenger hunt filled with riddles for her to solve in order to find her holiday gift. Tom meets a tragic end and Cassie is left on one final hunt as she battles her grief.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

After reading Always, in December by Emily Stone last year, I was extremely excited to get the opportunity to review her newest book One Last Gift. While I still believe Always, in December was a bit better, I did enjoy the premise and the story itself. In One Last Gift we're introduced to Cassie and Tom, siblings who are living in the aftermath of losing their parents at a very young age in a tragic accident. They make their way with Tom's best friend Sam. While Cassie and Sam are close, they share a moment that has been a long time coming, but Sam isn't willing to take the plunge with his best friends sister. When Tom tragically passes, however, Cassie and Sam are forced to be together and the story follows their relationship as it ebbs and flows.

Stone does a fantastic job of developing the characters of Cassie and Sam, but my favorite part of the book was learning about Tom. Through her descriptions, it felt like I really knew who Tom was as a person, and appreciated his voice woven through the book. I did really enjoy the premise of the book, I just felt that unfortunately it felt choppy in places. The reader is forced to jump forward several times in the story to catch up to seemingly relevant events. I felt like it killed the tempo of the book some. I did like the story, and I love how Tom's Christmas scavenger hunt played a part throughout the book, but it wasn't necessarily a Christmas story either. I appreciate what Stone did, just felt like it was missing the magic of her previous book.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

While there are some Christmas aspects to this book, this is not a Christmas story. This is a book about handling grief and getting through that awful first year after losing someone dear to you. There is a romance thrown in, but I did not care for the male in the relationship so that did not work for me. Not a bad story, but I did enjoy Always in December quite a bit more.

Beautiful! Emily Stone is now my go to author if I need to weep uncontrollably. What a wonderful, immersive story. I loved it. Somewhat predictable, just like her first, but overall incredibly moving and tender.

𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀: One Last Gift
𝒜𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇: Emily Stone
𝒢𝑒𝓃𝓇𝑒: Christmas Romance
𝑅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔: stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
𝒫𝓊𝒷 𝒟𝒶𝓎: October 11, 2022

We can always count on Emily Stone to deliver some heartbreak on a silver platter ✨Christmas style ✨ each year. I do not, however, this this book reached its full potentional. Always, in December wrecked me last year. And I can tell that Stone wanted this book to deliver the same essence, but it just didn’t for me. Nevertheless, Emily Stone will remain an auto-buy author for me. I love her redemptive love stories and they give me warm cozy vibes each Christmas season! Thank you Random House Publishing for a copy of this novel for an honest review!

Cassie and Tom lost their parents when they were very young and have relied on each other growing up. Now as adults, they remain extremely close and are always there for one another, along with their best friends Hazel and Sam.

I enjoyed this one but found the pacing to be extremely uneven. This book started off so strong - I was completely hooked for the first third of the book and literally cried myself to sleep reading it. After that, however, it lost its steam and slowed down a lot. The middle of the book dragged a bit and picked back up slightly towards the end but never fully regained its addictive quality that the beginning had. Overall I liked it but I just wish the pacing was a bit faster in the latter half of the book.

This is marketed alongside the fluffy holiday books but it is anything but! Yes it takes place around the holidays in the beginning but is a tear jerking, heart wrenching novel - tread carefully! Definitely don't read the first 30% in public!

3.5 stars rounded down to 3.

Thank you Emma, PRH and NetGalley for this eARC!

I absolutely devoured this book. Having read Emily’s previous book “Always, in December” and balling like a child - I was bracing myself for another heart wrenching book. I felt so bad for Cassie, the amount of loss she endured throughout her life was beyond anything anyone could go through. There are parts during this story line that were heartbreaking, but I am happy to report this is a HEA that will immediately put you in your feels and set you up for a great holiday read.

Emily Stone's novel "Always in December" swept me off my feet last year, but unfortunately this one wasn't quite as moving.

From the beginning I was not that compelled by the premise - Cassie and Tom were orphaned at a young age, and every year Tom creates an elaborate Christmas scavenger hunt for his sister. While this is sweet I do feel like it's a bit overdone. Tom's best friend, Sam, is usually with them at pivotal moments in their lives. Cassie is, predictably, in love with Sam.

Despite the predictability of these plot elements, Stone's characters are compelling. They talk like real people, have real problems, and deal with those problems in both frustrating and satisfying ways. I would have happily read more about the lives of Cassie, T0m, and Sam (and even more so, of the secondary characters of Hazel and Josh). I especially liked seeing the scenes with Cassie at her job. I thought her struggles at work were realistic - she's good at her job, but struggles with her boss's management style but feels like she's a bit stuck.

I can't quite put my finger on why this book overall didn't quite work for me - I felt it lacked some lightheartedness that her first book, while also sad, brought to the table. I was also completely caught off guard with the twist in "Always" whereas I didn't have to guess at what would happen at all in One Last Gift. I do think the scene with Cassie and Sam at the lighthouse was lovely, but I found myself rushing at the end and skimming passages.

Still, I think this was a fine book and I would definitely read another book by Emily Stone in the future.

Not the typical holiday read, but in the best way. This is an emotional read with a romance element, but one that does not consume the entire story. It is beautifully written, tugs at your heart strings, and makes you root for each character's success.

Cassie and Tom lost their parents at a young age, and while looking after her year after year, Tom would do a Christmas scavenger hunt for Cassie that was filled with clues to guide her to her gift each season. After he dies in an unexpected accident, Cassie realizes there was one last scavenger hunt left for her. And perhaps, this was his biggest one of all.

I loved the writing of this one, I felt like I was sitting in an English cabin by a fireplace reading their stories. Both Cassie and Sam had their own individual path to take, and while doing so somehow kept finding each other in the smallest ways. I appreciated that they at times had romance, but most of all focused on their own individual healing and grief. The way Emily Stone handled grief and it's all consuming pressure was so well done, and also helped demonstrate that healing can come from even the darkest places if you just keep putting one foot forward every day.

The reason I couldn't give a full five stars is just there was something about it that was slower for me, despite being fully engaged in the story. But at no point was I not fully in it, wondering how the scavenger hunt would play out and rooting for Cassie (and Sam's) happiness.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine (Dell) and NetGalley for my DRC in exchange for an honest review!

Every once in a while, I crave an emotional read because a doctor once told me that tears can be a healing mechanism. One Last Gift by Emily Stone turned out to be the perfect prescription. The characters and storyline tugged at my heartstrings producing many tears, both sad and happy. I look forward to reading this author's previous book and hopefully many more to come. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House-Dell for an advance copy to read and review.

I absolutely loved @emstonewrites Always in December and knew I definitely needed this one! I won't say too much about it because I went in blind and am so glad I did. This one will once again rip your heart out before putting it back together and I loved it! I enjoyed the mystery of the treasure hunt and watching Cassie become an even stronger person throughout the story. Definitely go pick this one up if you haven't already!

After reading Always, In December last year, I couldn't wait to read another Emily Stone book. I expected to feel all the emotions possible while reading One Last Gift (I mean, come on, that title alone hits hard). I was not disappointed - Cassie's story of living life through major loss was an emotional journey. And Sam, oh Sam, he made you want to love him in one moment and throw the book across the room in the next.

I adore a story that has history between the characters woven into it - and One Last Gift had that at its core. After losing her brother, Cassie has one last gift from him - a scavenger hunt that will take her on a journey, as she steps into a life without him. Sam, who lost his best friend, also re-enters Cassie's life. He just happens to also be her crush from so long ago. As the history between these two blends with the current day, you find yourself flying through the tear stained pages. Another fantastic emotional holiday read by Emily Stone!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Gallantine for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to get this ARC since Emily’s last book was the only book I’ve ever cried while reading. I liked this one! It’s hard for me to picture a sibling bond like Cassie and Tom have since I didn’t grow up in that kind of environment. It was really endearing to see their relationship and the love they have for each other. I loved the scavenger hunt! How fun would that be?! The relationship between Cassie and Sam was tumultuous to say the least. It felt like slow burn but instant love at the same time. Although this story is a “Christmas romance” it is not solely focused around Christmas. This could easily be read any time of the year. Overall a cute, easy romance read that I would still recommend.

What a beautiful, yet heart wrenching story. This was more of a contemporary fiction with a hint of romance - it was done so so well! I thought the characters were very relatable and their development was *chefs kiss*!

How Cassie kept getting up and going every day after everything she went through really showed her strength and courage. I loved that she had Linda, Hazel, and Josh by her side to love and support her - what beautiful people she had in her life. And sweet Tom - what a remarkable big brother he was to Cassie. His final “treasure hunt” for her had my heart aching with each clue she uncovered. I had tears in my eyes several times through this book, it was so emotional.

Then there was Sam. I think I enjoyed his development throughout the book the most. He made me so mad a few times, but he came around and really became the person Cassie knew he could be. Grief is funny that way though - it takes each person on a different journey.

Overall a very beautiful, touching story!

This book feels like a long hug after a good cry. It’ll leave you a little weepy and a whole lotta sappy, but it all of the best ways. I went into this one expecting things to be emotional based on the blurb, but oh my heart. This pulled at ALL of the heartstrings. I loved the scavenger hunt aspect, and the little touches of her brother, Tom, that popped up everywhere. I have four sisters and three brothers and I can’t imagine losing any of them. This books made me want to text them all long, overly sappy texts when I finished reading at 2am.
.
The romance part of this book was... not my favorite. I don’t love super angsty romances and these two were a bit of a roller coaster at times. The emotional whiplash between hurtful words and heart wrenching moments made things a little heavy for me personally, but don’t let that deter you for a second! This is worth the read!!

I am a person that hates surprises so my friends find it strange that I love *surprising* myself by rarely reading a book’s synopsis. As such, I didn’t know anything about the plot of this book but I was warned that it was more emotional than the average rom com. The prologue opens up with a smidge of melancholy and I thought okay, our main character, Cassie is very young. She’s reminiscing about events that happened when she was even younger. This is sad but I’m not going to need to buy tissues or anything. And then… it just kept getting more depressing.

I don’t really know how I felt about this book. As women’s fiction, I think I enjoyed it. It’s a story of a young girl who has been hit with unimaginable hardships but I liked seeing Cassie grow into her own and learn how to live with her grief. On the other hand, I didn’t care for the love interest and while he also grew up, he wasn’t my favorite. Also, there are some necessary time jumps and the characters seemingly spend about 50% of the book apart (at times working on themselves- yay!) so their relationship, at least as adults, almost felt insta-lovey to me.

One Last Gift was definitely an emotional story, but I didn’t experience the depth I was expecting. Things felt a little too surface level for such a gutting story. If you’re looking for a sweet and swoony holiday romance, I would skip this one. If you’re in the mood to feel emo, maybe you’ll enjoy this more than I did. The good news is that while certain scenes take place around the holidays, it can easily be read any time of year.

ARC Review

𝒪𝓃𝑒 ℒ𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒢𝒾𝒻𝓉

By: Emily Stone

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Read if you love:
Brother’s Best Friend
Second Chance Romance
Time Jumps
Strong brother/ sister bonds
Friends to Enemies to Lovers
Treasure Hunts

This is my first book by Emily Stone…and let me tell you she ripped my heart out and put it back together again! If you are looking for a heart warming and emotional Christmas book this one’s for you.

I adored everything about this book. You learned about the Grief Cassie and Sam were going through. To more exciting things like treasure hunts throughout the whole book…to lead you to the most beautiful ending! I couldn’t put this book down it was so good! Definitely will recommend this book to everyone.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an E-ARC for my honest review.