Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Cassie is surprised to find a letter with her brothers Tom,s handwriting. She is tasked with finding everything on the list. She is not sure she is up to it this year. She has had a crush on her brothers best friend Sam for years. This book was well written.

This book was an exercise in pivoting reading expectations partway through the book. For myself, I read the synopsis as the novel falling into the chick-lit, contemporary romance genres. While the latter one may be true to the novel as a whole, the former is not the case. If anything, this novel fell into the women’s fiction genre—which carries its own set of expectations. Due to that pivot, I couldn’t fall into this novel as deeply as I was hoping to; but, a large part of that was also due to the plot structure.

Looking back at my notes, I continually made comments about the plot structure. There’s no denying it: it was strange. The first 25% was undeniably entirely set-up, but it also felt like three consecutive prologues. To which I ask: why couldn’t those scenes be written as backstory throughout the greater story? Since 50% of Cassie’s narrative was already backstory, so including that prologue content elsewhere in the story could have worked well. And it would have gotten the reader to the core of the story faster; I’m unsure if the story began in the right place.

The main plot of the synopsis (Tom’s death and the annual Christmas treasure hunt) didn’t kick into gear until the 25% mark. This was after the first chunk of the novel set up the characters and their relationships with one another; however, due to the repetitive time jumps, I never felt that emotional connection to the characters. The lack of emotional connection was also tied to how the story never lingered to explore the consequences of certain scenes and consequences (like Sam leaving his wedding and abandoning his fiancée at the altar. Sure, there was summary of Sam’s consequences in a later chapter, but what did Cassie have to go through after planning the event?). With the joint time jumps and skipping over the conflict consequences, the plot never felt complete and skirted over moments that were intriguing.

As for characterization, there is no denying that Cassie and Sam both had strong voices and great development journeys. Emily Stone did a great job of signaling to the reader which character perspective a chapter was in. (Although, I was not expecting this to be dual point-of-view; Sam’s perspective didn’t come until play until the 30% mark.) I also felt comfortable in knowing what belief systems were driving the characters, how Tom challenged them both into growing into better people, and how fallible humans are—especially when it comes to working through intense emotions about other people.

I also had an expectation that Cassie and Sam would be spending more of the story together—but a large part of that may be due to primarily being a chick-lit reader and not a women’s fiction reader. Since that wasn’t the case, I was thrown off a little bit. Especially when the two of them fell into, what I would label as, insta-love after being separated for 50% of the novel. Had they been thinking of each other constantly? Sure. But in Cassie’s case, much of it was with anger or disdain over the way Sam had treated her in the past. I wanted more conflict between the two of them before they fell back together again, which comes back to the plot never lingering on conflict consequences for long.

While there is no denying this was a cozy, winter read, I also can’t deny that I wanted to feel more emotions from the narrative, as well. The one storytelling element that was missing, for me, was emotive writing. While I didn’t feel fully connected to the characters, I could admire the character work Emily Stone did on other aspects of their characterization. But where her characterization fell flat was the lack of emotions I felt. I wanted to feel sick to my stomach, I wanted to wipe away tears, but I didn’t experience any of that. I was craving more emotive writing, and if that was present, this easily would have been a three-star read.

Overall, I do think there is a lot going for this novel. I was just craving clearer writing and plot structure to guide me through the novel. This was my first Emily Stone novel and a part of me does wish that I had started with reading her debut novel, as I can’t help but think this novel fell into the sophomore novel trap.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Emily Stone has done it again in providing a deeply moving story in 'One Last Gift.' I was battered with emotions as I navigated through the book. I had to suffer these depths to get to the overwhelming wonderful life lessons provided. I'd give it more stars if I could. I look forward to more from this author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

*Thank you to Dell via NetGalley for the ARC recommendation*

As others have mentioned simply from glancing at previous reviews, The Last Gift is a cross between PS I Love You and insert something else here. I’d insert Hallmark Movie but like a low budget one that doesn’t even have a 00’s former Tiger Beat cover starlet. Don’t get me wrong, the premise of The Last Gift was intriguing enough for me to read the ARC: Cassie is utterly consumed by the grief of suddenly losing her brother, Tom, whose memory she prolongs by following the last holiday scavenger hunt he’s ever put together for her. Couple that with the “in love with older bro’s best friend” trope and I was in!

The dual POV alternates from Cassie and Sam but let’s be honest, Tom is the star. There isn’t a chapter or memory/flashback that goes by that doesn’t highlight their dear Tom, who’s loved by everyone and makes friends every where he goes, and literally gets their lives saved by him. Tom is everything. Except you know, a good boyfriend cause the second he finds out his long time girlfriend is pregnant, he’s outta there, literally dumps her and off to the mountains he goes. But don’t worry, all the loose ends are neatly tied by Tom from the scavenger hunt clues that also conveniently come with side notes explaining everything, even though he’s supposed to be alive when said notes are read. SPOILER: Seriously though, how did Tom manage to write to Cassie saying he’s going to fix things with his girlfriend and be ready to start a family from Argentina where he DIED but somehow manage to get the letter to be hand delivered to Cassie by her coworker? How did the letter make it back but not Tom?!?

Now here lies my problem with Cassie. She’s in her mid 20s and super ambitious and capable of doing great things like crowdfunding to save her beloved pub and throwing events, but unfortunately, her life was so entwined with her brother, Tom and his best friend/her long time crush, Sam, that she’s got zero personality otherwise. She’s so wholesomely naive but shockingly selfishly so. She’s surprised to find other people besides herself who’s been affected by Tom’s passing, even though they’re from a small town. She’s shocked when she realizes their parents death might have hurt Tom more deeply than she realized, even though they were both young children at the time. She’s hurt when she learns Tom didn’t tell her every single thought or feeling he had and chose to…gasp! confide in someone other than her?!? She blames poor Sam for missing the trip that Tom died on because she felt he could’ve saved him from falling off the mountain somehow?! This girl is outrageously immature but yet she gets a pass because….honestly I don’t know why. Cassie is really living life like Empathy? Don’t know her.

I’m so sorry! I’m sure there’s an audience out there that would enjoy this and rate this highly but The Last Gift was just so tedious to read. There was just not much character growth but thankfully there was Hazel and Josh. 2.5/5 stars, rounded up to 3. Publishes in October ‘22 just in time for the holidays!

One Last Gift had me so emotional, I kept a box of tissue next time at all times! The story is beautiful, full of sadness & hope, and tells a tale of family. I love holiday novels and this one was one of my favorites!

This one's needs a tissue warning attached. Phew. Emotionally this one was a tear jerker at times.
Tom is Cassies brother. They lost their parents very young and he took his big brotber role very seriously. We learn he has from a young age created this annual Christmas scavenger hunt for Cassie that has rhymes and 5 big clues. A super cool idea.
Cassie crushes on Tom's bestie Sam and over the years they have moments.
Then, tragedy. Tom dies but there's just one last Scavenger Hunt he had already set up. The journey is a huge one for Cassie.

There were parts of the story that felt a bit over explained to me but overall I loved the message and the story.

One Last Gift follows the story of Cassie as she grieves the death of her brother. A Hallmark movie of a book it was super cute and worth the read.

this was unfortunately a dnf. i usually don't review or rate books i did not finish because i did not read the entire book and since there's no dnf option i'm giving this two stars. the premise of the story was so very interesting but the execution was not very compelling for me, i did not like the two main characters and i did not enjoy reading from their povs.

I was drawn by this author and excited to dive in. In practice, though, I struggled with the writing style. Despite a few attempts I did not finish the book. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

The multiple themes of the book (family, loss, love, facing ones fears, making a life for oneself) are universal and understood by most adults although totally fraught with painful imaginings and raw feelings by young people. I didnt really enjoy this book but hope to leave a fair opinion. This style of writing did remind me of how painfully intense everything seemed to be in my early twenties so perhaps this demographic is the target market? The writing was fine although I chafed at the level.of emoting and the slowness of the story - too much intensity for me; it was painful enough living through it once and not something I'd expect to relive. That said, maybe we older adults need to be reminded of the raw intensity of our early years. 3.4 to 4 stars.

A beautiful story, heartwarming even though it starts out on a sad note. Cassie and her brother Tom lost their parents at a young age so Cassie doesn’t remember them very well. Tom has always looked after her and they were very close. Suddenly, Cassie loses Tom who falls to his death on a climbing holiday. Cassie is devastated. Sam was Tom’s best friend and he hurts too from the loss. Cassie has always had a bit of a crush on Sam. Every year at Christmas time Tom would set up a scavenger hunt for Cassie. He set one up before he died. Cassie has to solve four clues before getting the gift. A story of love, bravery forgivenesses and freedom. I loved it!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

While this story revolves a bit around a holiday theme (Christmas), this can certainly be read any time of the year. Cassie Rivers and her older brother Tom lost their parents at a young age. It’s obvious that even early on, Tom took on on his sibling role very seriously. He set up treasure hunts for Cassie every Christmas with clues for her to hunt with rhymes in them. For Cassie, this was something she eagerly looked forward to and Tom enjoyed seeing her take delight in it. He has a very charming and affable way about him that is also teasing, laidback and charismatic, and he is Cassie’s favorite person in the world. He is her anchor and support system, always encouraging her in her endeavors and wanting her to be happy.

For having so little family, these two also have their best friends, Sam and Hazel. Cassie has a crush on Sam and just when sparks are beginning to erupt and take hold, Sam does something that pushes Cassie away permanently. What’s interesting about these characters is how they each handle grief and loss regarding their parental figures. In some ways, it stunts their growth or leads them down a road of avoidance or even cowardice, opting for the path of least resistance or harm.

Cassie is lost without Tom after his death, but she does undergo a journey of dealing with his death through the actual stages, wanting to preserve his memory and trying to move forward. She is looking for a purpose beyond the going through the motions and that sets the stage for her to wake up from her grief fog. I liked Cassie, she’s a bit feisty and persistent and she’s also no one’s fool. Sam, on the other hand, took more work for me to like. He wasn’t a bad guy, but his priorities were skewed and he makes some big blunders. Yes, he matures from the experiences and even attempts to make amends, but he still didn’t quite make the cut for me. However, the absence of Tom felt palpable in both of their lives and I enjoyed the dilemmas that Cassie and Sam both encountered with reconciling their current lives and pursuing actual roles that made them more active participants in their own lives, to become more fulfilling. Tom’s final treasure hunt has some hidden messages with the way he set up the clues and who Cassie had to retrieve them from, which is apropos for her and wound up also having her cross paths with Sam again, seeing the improved version of him. Despite the sad cloud of Tom’s death, there is also a strong sense of hope and optimism for the future, too, ending on a uplifting note.

I’ll be honest, when I first read the description for this, I wasn’t interested. But I kept thinking about it, and finally decided to read it and I’m glad I did.

This was not an easy read, it was heartwarming after being heart-rending. I dabbed at a lot of tears with many a tissue during my reading; this one kind of put me through a bit of a wringer. I didn’t love everything about it (won’t go into because of spoilers, but ugh, one part really bothered me), but for the most part, the story, it’s a beautiful one and I read this straight through until I finished - you get invested in these characters and this story.

Recommended.

This book was such a heart wrenching yet heartwarming book wrapped into one. You felt the loss of Tom just as every character in this book seemed to, but you also felt the growth of Sam, again, just as every character seemed to. This book was the perfect ‘early Christmas’ read. Not too Christmas’y’ but a good taste of it, while still bringing in real emotions and stories. There are character developments, character shocks, and happy endings. Thank you to NetGalley, Emily Stone and Random House for giving me, and others, the opportunity to read and review this arc. I intend to post this review August 2, 2022 to my ‘bookstagram’. The link should be attached to this review!

A very touching story of Tom and Cassie, brother and sister. Don’t let my daughter read this - too heartbreaking for people who have lost a sibling. Well, I guess reader beware - your heart will be squeezed a few times. Nice story. I thought the author may have actually lost someone close but I didn’t find any mention.

A great read on grief with a scavenger hunt thrown in with a mix of romance a well written book with lovable characters.

Thanks to @RandomHouse for the gifted ARC! The Christmas after her brother passes, Cassie embarks on his final gift: a life-changing scavenger hunt he had planned for her. Tender and compassionate, addressing loss, love, and found families. For fans of The Two Lives of Lydia Bird. Releases 10/11 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

From reading the blurb about the book, you know something sad is going to happen. Cassie's entire world has been her brother Tom and in the beginning, we learn how he tragically passes. I was a little hesitant to read this at first because I didn't want to read a sad book but decided to push through because I'd read another title by Emily Stone, and I'm very glad I did. The majority of the book alternates perspectives been Cassie and her brother's best friend Sam and how they each respectively deal with their grief. This book had moments of victory as each character worked through their grief, moments of friends/family as all of those who also knew Tom rally around Cassie, and moments of introspectiveness. It was a very sweet story that I would definitely recommend reading to others!

*I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion

I fell in love with Emily Stone after reading Always in December. I was SO glad to read this ARC. It did not disappoint. I cannot wait to see what Emily stone does in the future!!

Christmas in July! What a cute holiday read, it made me want to cozy up by the fire! A cute, yet predictable story about loss and grief and follows Cassie as she tackles adulthood and a scavenger hunt set up by her brother who passed away. I enjoyed this book, and think it would be a great addition to your holiday list this year!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!