I had so much fun with this.

The Last One To Fall was as if One Of Us Is Lying and A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder had a baby and I loved every minute of it.

The Last One To Fall was a fantastic murder mystery with twists and turns that left me on the edge of my seat. It also covered some very important topics and it was done in a way that wasn’t overly intense or graphic which I think was great as it is a part of the Young Adult genre.

This was another great example of the unreliable narrator which has got to be my favourite feature in Mysteries and Thrillers. I love not having a clear-cut innocent character because it makes the story feel more engaging and interesting.

I loved the characters and all of the different personalities and quirks they individually brought to the story.

The story pacing back and forth between before the murder and after it added a fantastic setting for me. I loved searching for clues along with the characters on just who the killer could be.

I’m super excited to check out more by this author.

Thank you to HQ for providing me with this copy to review.

Slow to start, but it definitely picks up towards the halfway mark.
Filled with characters that could be people you know, in situations you could have been in.
Easy to read with a simple writing style that keeps the pages turning.

3.5 ⭐

First person dual POV.

*setting ⭐⭐⭐⭐
*characters ⭐⭐⭐
*atmosphere ⭐⭐⭐
*story ⭐⭐⭐
*twists ⭐⭐
*whodunnit ⭐⭐
*ending ⭐⭐

My favourite part of this book was the mixed media.. emails, police interviews and texts.. littered throughout.

My least favourite part was all the telling, especially in part 2. We are told literally everything in dialogue and it really ruins any suspense there may have been. I think this definitely negatively impacted the twists and the reveal of whodunnit and their motive for me.

One other thing.. chapters/scenes are very short, which keeps the story moving very quickly, however, for certain scenes I definitely felt they were over just as they had begun.

A couple that come to mind are the bathroom scene and the parking lot fight. I wanted mooooore!

*Captivating beginning
*Part 1 was stronger than Part 2
*Best characters: Jesse, Raf, Tara
*Underused characters: Raf and Corinne

On a great note, I didn't want to put it down until I had all the answers!

3.5 stars ⭐

“Sooner or later you’re going to get what’s coming to you.”

Introduce me to a group of dysfunctional teenagers that go somewhere and all but one return because someone’s no longer breathing and now everyone else is a suspect, and I’m a happy camper. Add some social issue soup to the mix and I’ll be hooked. It doesn’t matter how many books along these lines I read; I just keep coming back for more.

Savana and Jesse are neighbours who’ve known one another for years. They’re friends and there is absolutely some chemistry between them so when Jesse asked her to meet him at Cray’s Warehouse, the senior class’ summer break party spot, of course she was going to go.

She didn’t expect to see someone fall out of a fourth storey window when she got there. She definitely didn’t plan on getting caught up in a murder investigation. But here we are.

“I have a horrible feeling this is just the beginning.”

Supplementing the narrative, which is told by Savana and Jesse, are transcripts of an audio file, interviews and text messages, as well as an email and news article.

This was a quick, entertaining read. I guessed the who but not the why.

I don’t know what it is about books like these. They feel like a guilty pleasure. I don’t expect to stop reading them anytime soon, though.

“Don’t assume you know the whole story.”

Content warnings include mention of alcoholism, domestic abuse and sexualised violence.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for the opportunity to read this book.

This is an interesting young adult murder mystery. The violence is relatively low, but it’s emotionally involving and offers a suitably twisty plot. It’s also very contemporary, touching realistically on a number of issues that teenagers today have to deal with.

Savana Caruso and Jesse Melo are neighbours, and they’ve been casual friends since they were children. Now, as teenagers, there’s a growing attraction between them. But for Savana, the attraction is to a large extent stymied by Jesse’s close friends, a group Savana finds really unpleasant.

Raf is more or less the leader, with Jesse, Owen and Freddie as loyal followers. Raf’s girlfriend Tara also falls more or less in line with what he wants. To Savana, Raf is a bully with a whole host of unpleasant behaviour traits. Tara is far too obsessed with social media for Savana’s taste, and she despises the way the other three boys never call Raf out.

Still, when Jesse texts her late at night to ask her to meet him at an abandoned warehouse, Savana goes. She’s willing to help him if he needs her. But before she can find Jesse, she witnesses a horrifying murder. In the aftermath, it becomes clear that everyone connected to the murder is keeping secrets, and at least one is ruthlessly intent on making sure that theirs aren’t exposed.

One of the things I enjoyed about this was how everyday most of the problems these teens deal with are. (Excepting the murder, of course.) On the edge of independence, but still beholden to their parents, they’re very real. Social media use, affording higher education, social cliques, drug use, parental relationship breakdowns, sexual assault, parties, drinking, and just getting through high school are among the issues they are dealing with. This is a relatively short novel, and it has a particular focus on the murder, so many of the issues are only touched on lightly. Still, they provide a vivid and realistic backdrop to the main action.

I found the aftermath of the murder was also realistic and strongly depicted: the suspicion, the ostracism, the pointing of fingers. Lepore conveys some of the horror of being caught up in an investigation like this, and of the way survivors can become collateral damage.

The focus is on Savana’s investigation and experiences, so this isn’t a police procedural and doesn’t hit many of the beats you’d expect of that kind of novel. This is framed more as a series of revelations about people and who they are than about events (although that flows, too). The result is a cross between a drama and a murder mystery, and it works very well.

I enjoyed this. It’s a very readable writing style, and because it’s vividly realistic, there’s a sense of being grounded. The characters are strong – even the ones you don’t like, you’ll likely react to strongly. Finally, the plot is believable but challenging to unwind. Although this is aimed at a young adult audience, it should appeal quite widely.

The Last One to Fall was an addictive young adult mystery with a complex narrative, endearing characters, and a delightful writing style that absolutely hooks us in. The novel demonstrated how one event can drastically alter everything, observing how quickly things may deteriorate and spiral out of control. This was a fantastic and fun book to read, it kept my interest throughout and had several unexpected turns. The story switched back and forth between two timelines: the six friends' past social encounters and the weeks that followed the suspicion and police inquiry. Despite being a YA novel, it incorporated and dealt with some serious subjects. It was a very intriguing mystery, mixing in Savana and Jesse's points of view, detective case file transcripts, and hidden texts from a burner phone. New pieces of information keep getting provided in this web of secrets. I liked getting to know the characters and the character arcs were excellent and intricate with them tackling authentic struggles. The friend group dynamic was so interesting to dissect, how soon they turned against one another, twisting the truth, making up lies, and telling half-truths in an effort to deflect the blame away from themselves and onto someone else. How quickly they were able to discredit one another, exposing their actual selves and providing more justifications and motives each of them has for the murder. This book's underlying romance was sweet and strategically handled and I loved the build-up and development. They encouraged one another when they most needed it and brought out the truth in one another. Their bond and draw to each other was palpable even when allegiances changed. These individuals had all hurt one another in the past and everything was all so interconnected in the panning out of the mystery. As trust is questioned and the devastating effects of jealousy were demonstrated, this novel took an in-depth look at social standing and cliques, dysfunctional families, and friendship groups, it also wonderfully represented the high school experience's anxiety-filled atmosphere that influences behaviour.