One Last Gift by Emily Stone is tearful and joyful. It was written with a deep understanding of sibling love.

💭Thoughts:
This was much more emotional of a read then I was expecting for a holiday romance. It definitely had me ugly faced crying a few times.

The book is told from the POVs of Cassie and Sam, her brother Tom’s best friend. The first third of the book moved a bit slowly for me as the characters and setting are introduced. Then a tragic event happens and it really moves the story along.

The scavenger hunt that Cassie’s brother sends her on each year to find her Christmas gift was my favorite part of the story. Each note she found had me feeling more and more invested in her and her story. I found myself really rooting for Cassie and her character growth throughout the book.

I loved how the author ended the book. I don’t want to give to much away because I feel like this is a great story to go into a bit blind. Highly recommend if you are like me and you enjoy an emotional read!

This was a middle of the road just okay book for me. I loved the first 30% and then felt like there were too many things happening while simultaneously moving really slow for the meat of the story. It picks up again for the last 30%, but then skips large chunks of time with very little explanation of those missing months. I felt like everyone was floundering in the story and would have liked to see MORE detail of the resolution in the end instead of having those big gaps. Overall I would say I was super invested in the book from the beginning but the middle and end left me wishing for more.

Emily Stone is the queen of taking stories laced with sadness and turning them into holiday novels filled with hope. One Last Gift is no different. It doesn’t shy away from grief, but shows how we can still find love and happiness!

Cassie’s only true family is her brother, Tom, so when he dies in a tragic accident it sets her adrift. The only piece of him left behind is the first clue for his annual Christmas treasure hunt. When she finally takes the leap, she finds he’s given her exactly what she needs.

Truly a standout Christmas novel. Cassie and Tom lost their parents rather young. Tom remembers them because he was a bit older and through life helps Cassie with their shared pain. Their best friends Hazel and Sam all grew up together doing almost everything together. This story follows Cassie’s grief as an adult and is truly unlike any other Christmas novel. You’ll feel their pain and truly be touched by this story. This story has a beautiful flow along timelines and between the romance sparking with Sam and Cassie and Hazels whit it’s truly a great well written book. Thank you NetGalley for the copy!

Sweet, light-hearted story. It gave me such Hallmark Christmas Movie vibes. Loved it! Emily Stone ripped my heart out and pieced it back together again!

Thank you so much @RandomHouse & @NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 11 October 2022)

SYNOPSIS | Cassie & Tom lost their parents at a young age forcing them to rely on each other as they grow up & face each milestone of life. They become the best of friends, but Cassie's world is turned upside down when her brother unexpectedly dies. As she is grieving she receives a handwritten letter from him for their annual Christmas scavenger hunt... this is the last one that she will ever complete.

WHAT I LIKED:
- the idea of a scavenger hunt pushing Cassie outside of her comfort zone

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- the inconsistently spaced time jumps really pulled me out of the story as I felt like all of the character growth happened off the page
- the format would have worked better with alternating chapters between current day Cassie on the scavenger hunt & flashbacks to relevant moments
- I wasn't invested in Tom as a character so his death didn't hit me the way it was probably intended too
- Cassie & Sam didn't have enough on page time together for me to root for their romance

If you read Emily Stone’s Christmas book from last year, Always in December, then you know her books are heavy on the sad for this time of year. This book is no exception.

2/5 ⭐️⭐️

Cassie and Tom are siblings who lost their parents at a young age and now they only have each other. Every Christmas Tom plans a scavenger hunt for Cassie to get her present. Tom’s best friend, Sam is also a prominent character who Cassie has a crush on. As the story continues Sam makes some bad choices and we watch as Cassie and Tom navigate life.

While this book is marketed as a romance I think it’s more of a women’s fiction. Even so I did not enjoy the story. For one it’s sad, which is okay but I didn’t find very many redeeming happy moments. Also Sam is not a good person and the majority of the book was spent showing us how bad of a person he was only for it to be quickly swept aside. I didn’t feel like I could root for the romance when the majority of the book I wanted to yell move on!

Also, I found Sam and Cassie very immature and exhausting. Their decisions were strange and naive so often.

Overall, I’d say skip this book and pick up a different Christmas option.

This book is everything.
SO many moments. So many emotions.

I feel like the relationships in this book are really a highlight. The brother and sister relationship between Tom and Cassie was beautiful.
The relationship between Cassie and Sam was so many things. The highs and lows were definitely there.

A scavenger hunt takes place in this book that is really fun on page.

This book does a lot of "looking back" at different times.
The relationships are strong.
The tropes are second chance/brother's best friend/friends to enemies to more.

Overall this book was a major rollercoaster, and such a gorgeous seasonal read!
4.5 stars.

Cassie and Tom were brought up by their Aunt Claire after their parents died, becoming very close. Cassie loves her job as an events planner but is sruck in a job with a horrible boss. The third person in Tom and Claire’s circle is Sam, Tom’s best friend and someone Cassie has always felt she could love. When a tragedy occurs, both Sam and Cassie turn on each other and have a hard time moving forward. Tom has always given Claire a treasure hunt for Christmas, filled with poems as clues. As Claire embarks on the treasure hunt, she hopes to find her way. I really loved the story, and appreciated all the secondary characters, such s Hazel, Claire’s best friend, and Linda, who played a huge role in Tom and Claire’s lives. Recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Cassie and Tom were young when both their parents died in an accident and were taken in by their aunt. Lost in her grief as well, their mother's sister didn't know how to treat them and Cassie and Tom grew up feeling as if they were each other's only family. With this they have also relied on close friends including Tom's best friend, Sam. Cassie always had a crush on Sam and when they were old enough she tried to convince him that Tom wouldn't mind but in the end Sam pushed Cassie away and their friendship fizzled after that. When Tom decides to go on a trip to South America right before Christmas, after a fight with his girlfriend and promising that this year's gift hunt will be the biggest yet, Cassie is never expecting the outcome of that fateful trip. Cassie had been looking forward to their annual traditional gift hunt which Tom prepared for her every year as her big brother. Instead, Cassie is informed that Sam did not accompany Tom on his trip as he was too hungover to get up in time for the flight and that Tom died while on the hike that he decided to go on. Cassie spends months in her grief until she remembers the gift hunt and starts on it to feel her brother still close to her. The hunt eventually has Tom guiding her to let go of some of her fears that developed as a result of the loss of her parents and her brother in similar incidents and allow her to take control of her life. Ultimately, it leads her back to Sam and it shows her that he always loved her just like she loved him but his fear of losing their friendship, both hers and Tom's especially, kept him from going after his heart while Tom was alive. It was a very moving read and very mired in grief and hurt. I would warn that people who are sensitive to the loss of a loved one might not particularly enjoy this but otherwise I would highly recommend it.

This book is a warm hug, perfect for the holidays. Heart breaking and emotional, a story of second chances and finding romance. Well written and evenly paced. Enjoyed it.

This was a good holiday read. I loved the Christmas scavenger hunt. And while this one is definitely a little sad, the scavenger hunt did end up turning it a bit lighter and fun. I didn’t love Sam, which is why the rating is a little lower. He was definitely hard to like for most of the book. If you are looking for a holiday read this is definitely a good option, but beware it is on the sad side and addresses death of a parent and sibling.

🎁 One Last Gift 🎁

This book is very much on par with the whole holiday romance (but also a ton of other stuff is going down) genre that seems to be very popular lately.

It's not a cutesy, hallmark, type of read.

Although a bit slow at times, it is a very well written and a pretty emotional book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely loved this book! Emily Stone did not disappoint. It is the perfect book to start my holiday reading. I could not put it down and read entirely in one sitting.

Another 10/10 book by Emily Stone! I was obsessed with Always, in December, so I was thrilled to see that Stone was writing another book. She follows the theme of an important event around Christmas, but I wouldn't classify this as a Christmas book.

We follow Cassie, as she grows up living with her brother and Aunt Claire after both of her parents pass. She doesn't have a strong relationship with her aunt, but she idolizes her brother. Every Christmas, Cassie's brother Tom creates a scavenger hunt for Cassie to find her gift.

One Christmas, Tom is no longer there, but she still receives her first clue. This time to the biggest and best scavenger hunt yet! Cassie has to figure out the clues on her own, but also with the help of close friends, and Tom's best friend Sam.

Cassie and Sam don't see eye to eye anymore, so we see how they interact with each other throughout the years, and then after Tom's death.

As stated before, I loved this book. Stone creates a story that destroys you, but also lifts you up during the holidays with family traditions, and celebrating life after loss. I would recommend this book to everyone!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A sweet, emotional, feel good story. Cassie and Tom lost their parents at a young age and only had each other. When Cassie loses Tom, too, she withdraws from everyone around her. Every Christmas, Tom gave her a scavenger hunt for her to find her gift, This year, there is one final scavenger hunt from Tom which will help her to take a trip to memory lane to embrace her own happiness. This is the second book by this author, proving she does the emotional holiday read really well. Overall this was a sweet, emotional, feel good romance story. I will definitely keep checking out this author's future works.

One Last Gift is a holiday read about grief, loss, and healing. It’s also about embracing life, and not being scared to take chances. Among all of this, there is also a romance, but they won’t be able to embrace their love until they go through their emotional journey, and a treasure hunt spanning almost a whole year.

It’s impossible not to compare Emily Stone’s latest book to her previous one. I found Always, in December to be more heart wrenching, more tear jerky, and also more filled with twists. This one, in comparison, was more straightforward. But she is fantastic at emotional authenticity, at handling grief, and the journey to healing.

👍
+ I loved how real these characters felt. Tom, Cassie, Sam, even Hazel came to life within these pages, I felt like I really got to know them as friends.
+ I’ve always been a huge fan of treasure hunts, I used to make them for my friends all the time, so seeing it be such a big part of this book made me really happy!
+ I was rooting for our romantic duo the whole time. I loved the way they cared for each other, even when they were on the outs. And their deep connection felt very genuine and strong through time, shared experiences and loss.
+ I really enjoyed the flashbacks and the glimpses we got of the characters’ past. I think this really helped show how their bond was forged for a long time.

👎
- These people had no fight in them. I understand this was partially due to the fact that they were both scared which was the theme for the whole book but it started to get a little old how quickly they kept giving up on each other at the smallest hiccup, especially making the end of the book feel a little too long.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the eARC!

Unfortunately this was not a good fit for me.
The Cassie’s character came off extremely immature. As a result, I found this book read more like a YA novel.
Not my cup of tea.
I was actually shocked since I absolutely adored the previous book by this author.
Hoping her next will be back on track!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine. Dell.

What an adorable book! It was the perfect light hearted romance that I needed after reading a month of horror books.
While this book does bring up conversations surrounding death and grief, it's primarily a story of friendship and personal growth.
If you are someone who dislikes the miscommunication trope, then this may not be the one for you. I also felt like the first 20ish percent read like a YA, which I absolutely don't like in adult books.