When I first started to read this story, I thought I knew where it was going to go and then things kept happening causing me to second guess everything. I had to keep reading it, just to see how it ended. The crazy amount of things that went on in this town, it is a wonder how anyone ever trusted someone. Then I learned about free diving from this book, never knew that was a thing and seeing it used as both an escape and it makes sense when one of the twists comes to light. This was a rather fun ride of a story and how it ended, I was pleasantly happy with it. Everything did come together perfectly and I am so happy to have gotten an arc of it. Thank you so much for allowing me to read it.

One Last Breath was captivating from the first page. Tru is a fascinating main character--true to herself, curious, and brave. This was a pretty fast-paced read, perfect for true crime fans, and one that keeps you guessing until the very end. There's an unsolved murder, a killer on the loose, and an investigation that was fun to piece together along with Tru and Rio. The side characters added so much to the tension and mystery, and the end wraps up nicely, although a bit abruptly. I didn't know what to expect picking up this book, but I was pleasantly surprised and read it quickly. Fans thrillers, supernatural mysteries, and true crime will love this!

Thank you to netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for allowing me to read this book. This book was overall decent. I enjoyed i wanted more but I did enjoy it

I DNF'd this book I tried so hard to get into this story but it was so blah and forgetable that I even forgot I was reading it and forgot to go back and pick the book back up to read.

This one wasn't for me. I felt that the story had a good premise for your standard YA thriller/mystery, but the fantasy/paranormal element threw me off as it was unexpected - especially with the ending! I liked the twists and I think YA readers who enjoy fantasy would get more out of it, but it just isn't my thing. That being said, I'd be interested in reading other works from this author - thank you for the ARC!

I think I'm settling on 4 stars. This is my first read from Ginny Myers Sain, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that it will not be my last. The quality of the writing was exceptional and the atmosphere and ambiance that Myers Sain crafted was masterful. The story itself felt like if a Stacy Willingham book and Simone St. James book had a baby, and that baby was YA. If you like haunting, creepy thrillers with fantasy/ paranormal elements, then you should absolutely check out One Last Breath. Truly, I couldn't put this down. It's not that it was fast paced, because it wasn't. But it was paced perfectly, and Myers Sain sprinkled crumbs and revelations at just the right moments to keep you hooked. Honestly, the build up was a master class in suspense.

Why 4 stars instead of 5? The ending was just a little too fantastical for my preference. And I'm not talking about the fantasy-esque components... I was fine with that. But with that aside, the ending felt a little too unrealistic, and at some points, maybe even silly? Like the author was just throwing everything against the wall to see what would stick/ be the most dramatic and surprising. But literally every thing else about the book was perfection, and I unequivocally recommend this. Thank you so much to Myers Sain, Penguin Teen, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this early in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dark and Shallow Lies was a 5 star book for when i had read it so i had high expectations for this book and even though it isn't a 5 star read i still very much enjoyed and will most likely buy a copy when its released.

My true crime loving heart ate this up i loved the loosely woven paranormal aspect of why Tru and Rio connected so fast and the whole reincarnation thing was pretty cool to read about as well.

If you liked Ginny Myers Sain Dark and Shallow Lies you will love this book as well, please RUN don't walk and grab you a copy when it comes out in March 2024.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

I absolutely loved this book!! This book starts out with a memorial service for 2 girls that were murdered at hidden glen 30 years prior. The girls names were Celeste and Bailey. They had gone camping and the next morning their bodies were found one by the tent and the other was lying in a crystal clear bottomless pool. It is where all the locals go to cool off during the hot summer days. However no one tries to swim in them at night because of the alligators like to swim in them at night.

All the local teens like to use the springs to go free diving. They swim as far down the spring as they can before coming back up again for air. Tru meets another girl named Rio and they become best friends, together they work to uncover what really happened to Celeste and Bailey several years ago and at the same time they find out who they truly are and what they are to each other.

The ending of this book was so good!! I won’t give it away but I will tell you that you absolutely need to read this book because it ended up being someone you wouldn’t have ever expected.

Trulee (yes, you read that right) has been obsessed with the Hidden Glen killings since she can remember. The small town where two girls were killed and the killer never caught is also Tru's hometown, and the town where her sister died to boot. Enter Rio. Not the river, the girl. Everything about Trulee's life gets turned upside down, including her feelings and her understanding of the world at large.

I have read everything Ginny Myers Sain has put out. This one would likely have been my favorite if not for a couple of glaring issues. But let's start positive.

The plot is a slow burn, both in the romance and actually action parts. I would argue that the ending is a little too fast and as a result, some details are fuzzy and confusing. The twists are GOOD though. I just wish they had maybe been spread a little bit more throughout the book.

The characters. They fell a bit flat. Derry was probably the best, and she doesn't make much of an appearance. East is great as well, I need justice for my boy. Rio and Tru are nearly codependent, and they just met. Tru doesn't seem to do a lot of thinking for herself, she believes whoever she's around at the time. I won't go into too much because of spoilers, but the paranormal twist is super obvious early on, and honestly too many people believed it right off the bat with no pushback whatsoever.

Now for my frustrations: there's emotional cheating in this book. I am staunchly anti-cheating in any form. I will say it does toe the line, but Tru pulls away from her longtime boyfriend and emotionally replaces him with another person before breaking up with him. Also, while the mysteries are "solved," it's unclear who killed Celeste and Bailey, because one second it's explicitly stated that person A did it, and the next, person A and person C are vouching for each other because they knew they would be suspects and that person B did it. The reveals at the end were great though!


Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review!:)

80/100 or 4.00 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was great. I think it is a solid psychological thriller that people will enjoy. I did figure out early on what was going on, but I can also acknowledge that even though I figured out who the killer was, I still had a good time. The last 15% brought it down to 4 stars for me, as it was a little much leading up to the climax/reveal. I would recommend it for those interested in this genre.

This is a hard one for me to rate because on one hand I didn't *hate* the reading experience, and I flew through it really quickly. But, on the other hand, I did have a handful of issues with this story. I'll start with what I liked, though. I liked the premise of this story a lot--a cold case, a serial killer, small town Florida, queer rep. I love things set in small towns, so I was really excited for this but I honestly didn't end up really getting a good sense of the town. We got a lot of "it's hot" "I'm sweating" or other descriptions of being moist from the heat, but the actual town wasn't really described/utilized much, which was a bummer.
The characters were also pretty one note. Trulee (MC) was sort of head-empty, too. I felt like she...wasn't doing much thinking or connecting the dots? I don't know how to explain it. Like, she would have a big clue moment and go home and eat food, or think about East, and then the next day she would debate sharing with Rio. That whole thing would happen every time she figured something out, and it just got repetitive and really slowed the pacing of the story down (which I would argue was already pretty slow until like the last 25% of the book). Rio also felt like she needed some fleshing out. We get a little information about her backstory, which was great, but then in all of Tru and Rio's interactions they both felt like the same surface level character. I have to say, I also wished the girls were being haunted by the dead duo, or something. Having them just "be" the dead girls was an interesting risk to take that ultimately felt a little bit silly to me.
East was also done weirdly. When Tru and East break up, he starts spouting off weird phrases and therapy speak that I would argue most adults wouldn't even know. He absolutely didn't react to that experience as a 17-year old boy. Even if he was a softer, sweeter boy, he absolutely was too young to *immediately* be like "I'll always love you but I'm working on forgiving you". It's just not believable to me that he was a teenage boy. Teenaged boys are absolutely allowed to be emotional beings, but that was definitely the author and not East reacting as a teen.
I also have to say, and it might be because I read so much YA for my job, but the reveal didn't get me like I thought it would. I think that's because the culprit was sort of Chekhov's Gun-ed into the story in a way where I was like "Well if they're not involved then none of this really means anything/makes any sense".
But yeah, overall not a horrible book by any means. I wish the whole story was a bit deeper, though. And I think the style of the prose may have honestly contributed to the story feeling so shallow, because we spent a *lot* of words describing being sweaty and hot, or diving, etc. that the actual world and characters didn't get the page-time they needed to really develop some depth.

Basically a sister tries to find her sisters cold case and then there’s paranormal I liked that we got to follow the MC on her journey to answers and there were sooo many red herrings throughout the story. I was surprised with the ending and really enjoyed this book.

Rounded up to 3.5 ⭐️

I found this to be a super easy read and got through it quickly. I did figure it out fairly early on, at one point thought I was wrong butttttt I wasn’t lol. The characters were likable and I enjoyed the story. This was the first book I’ve read in a long time that didn’t jump between past and present so if you’re into that, this is the book for you. Overall, good read!!!

Thank you to the author, Netgalley and Penguin Group - Penguin Young Readers Group for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.

REVIEW BY PROFESSIONAL FREEDIVER

One Last Breath by Ginny Meyers Sain offers a metaphysical twist on the traditional murder mystery. The plot will leave you turning the pages. In this novel, we follow the main character Trulee, who is ironically surrounded by liars, and keeping some secrets herself. This book accomplished exactly what murder mysteries set out to do: leaving the reader wondering: Who did it?

In some regards, the prose in this book was strong. In other regards, it was weak. There were so many sentence fragments, that in my stylistic opinion, should've just been commas and extensions of the previous sentence.

That being said, I do admire Sain for her remarkable set of place. This is truly a Florida book, so kudos to her for achieving that aspect which she set out to achieve. However, the freediving in this books falls short.

I regret to inform readers that this book is full of freediving falsehoods. DO NOT DO WHAT THESE DIVERS DO. I must admit there is a certain irony to a book which offers a surface-level look into freediving. I wanted to go deeper, and I am guessing other readers share the same sentiment. If they don't share that sentiment, it is because they're new to freediving and don't see the potential that I see. This book could have been so much better with a little effort from the author.

The author clearly did not do enough research into freediving. First, freedivers are clear on communication. In this book, signaling is all wrong. No freediver worth their salt would ever give a thumbs up on the surface. That is really bad and clearly under researched. Also, we do our breath ups in the water, not standing next to it. That's just not how the sport works.

Everything about the buddy system in this book is wrong. You tell your buddy how deep you expect to go, and often they offer to meet you on the way up. That never happened, it was all, I am going down to see how far I can go. Nobody dives like that. In some scenes, the dive buddy didn't even have their face in the water while they acting as the safety. Now that is totally and completely bad research and bad writing.

Also, she did no research at all into freediving equipment. Nobody uses dive computers or depth guages. In the book there's markings in the spring that signify depth and it's like no. People use computers. Typically, for a training session, divers set a line. There are no lines in this book, which really doesn't make any sense. Also, no characters use wetsuits at all. As a freediver who has been in the springs of Florida, these people would need wetsuits to achieve any sort of relaxation underwater. Snorkels are also not mentioned at all, which goes back into my previous point about the safety buddy sitting on the rocks while their buddy is pushing 80 feet.

Also, these characters defy the laws of phsyics by looking up at the surface under several atmospheres of pressure. If that was real, the blood vessels in their throats would rupture and they'd be out of the water for a month minumim. Sain has clearly never heard of a squeeze, or never bothered to understand the sport she tried to write a book about. Also small details, like the feeling after a blackout, were not accurate. The most cringe part was the main character went to 140 feet deep without a mouthfill. I wish I could do that too!!!!!!!! The characters only equalize once in the entire book.

I had really high hopes when I saw this book was about freediving, but it fell short in almost every way.

The one thing she got freediving right was the emotion of it. She did accurately describe the zen feeling, the motivation many people feel for diving, and their connection to water. However, I couldn't help but feeling like she read the wikipedia page about freediving and that's it, especially when she namedrops the Bajou. That felt incredibly out of place. It felt like she should have showed us something real rather than using that example. It felt totally unrealistic.

I do suggest that if the author continues to write about freediving she should either do additional reaearch, take a professional class, or consult an expert. I am available, and have been used as a freediving accuracy reader for books such as Into the Sunken City by Dinesh Thiru.

I must say, I really did like the twists in this book and still think it is worth a read.

Lastly, this book has a truly stunning cover.

📖 𝕆𝕟𝕖 𝕃𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝔹𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙 𝕓𝕪 𝔾𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕪 𝕄𝕪𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕊𝕒𝕚𝕟

“𝘞𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵.
𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦.”

Trulee lives in Mount Orange, Florida where the murder of two best friends took place 20 years ago. The town has now become a tourist attraction where podcasters and crime junkies come to fulfill their morbid curiosity with solving the murders. Trulee has just graduated high school and is looking at the rest of her life mapped out by what everyone expects from her. She has an amazing boyfriend but something still doesn’t feel right. All her life she’s dreamed of the murders and she can’t stop feeling connected to them somehow. As a local free diver, Tru only feels at peace when she’s deep in Hidden Glen Well. One day she meets a girl named Rio, and a dark mystery begins to unfold.

This story had me captivated from the very first line. The whole book is rich with such vivid imagery, I felt like I was a part of the mystery and had full body chills most of the time! I was kept guessing until the very last chapter as to what was going on and who the murderer was. Through all the crazy things going on, we have Trulee coming into herself as a young woman and figuring out how to tell the world who she wants to be.

The way Tru describes free diving is fascinating, and I loved the way she is able to let go all of her worries at the bottom of the spring.

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘱. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯."

Just like with Dark and Shallow Lies there is certainly a hint of something supernatural going on! 👻

I would recommend this novel to all fellow suspense readers! It’s a story of loss, grief, coming of age, and solving a cold case all at once.

🚪I would consider this a closed door romance, with pretty much only kissing on page.

Tropes:
🫶🏼 Young Adult
👻 Suspense/Mystery
⭐️ Coming of Age
🌈 LGBT
🌻 Small Town

Thank you to Bookish First, NetGalley and Penguin Random House for my ARC and eARC so that I could share this honest review. One Last Breath will be published in March 2024, you won’t want to miss this one, Ginny outdid herself this time! 🩶

The New York Times bestselling author of Dark and Shallow Lies delivers another chilling supernatural thriller filled with murder, romance, and a decades-long mystery that haunts a small Florida town.

This was really good. I loved the characters and the plot twists and thought the atmosphere was very well done.

So basically this town in Florida had this cold case about these two girls that got killed and it’s been going on for years they would have crime investigators come people who are podcast journalist who wanted to know more about the case weird people come visit and then this is one girl that her sister also died by the killer as well so she’s like the main character of the story. I liked the relationship with her and her boyfriend East it was sad what happened to him while reading I feel like half the time all they talked about was like the killer and and the girls what they were missing and they were just obsessing over it for like half the book , so I give this book 3 stars just because it was all right. The book was good to kind of point fingers on who you thought thought was the killer because the killer basically came back in was starting his killing again there were so many different people that I thought it would be, but it wasn’t and I always thought it was who I thought it was gonna be in the beginning, and I actually kind of got it right in a way I think the book had a massive twist towards the end you find out it’s somebody and somebody else basically , so it was a pretty good read. Thanks for letting me read this arc.

Ginny Myers Sains books are always the perfect blend of supernatural thrillers. After absolutely loving Dark and Shallow Lies, I jumped at the chance to read her new book.

One Last Breath follows two girls, Tru and Rio, as they try to solve a 20 year old mystery in Tru’s town. The girls feel a deep connection in their bones to the victims, Bailey and Celeste.

The one thing I love about Ginny Myers Sains books are that the setting of the books come alive just as much as the characters and help really immerse you in the story.

One Last Breath was right on track to be a 5 ⭐️ read until one twist at the end that I didn’t love. I still gave it 4.5 ⭐️..The story wrapped up a little too quickly at the end but it’s definitely a story I’m going to be thinking about for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"One Last Breath" by Ginny Myers Sain is an enthralling supernatural thriller set in the quaint town of Mount Orange, Florida, renowned for its cerulean freshwater springs and haunted by an unsolved cold case dating back decades—the murders of best friends Bailey and Celeste.

Tru, the protagonist, has always lived under the shadow of these gruesome murders, compounded by the loss of her own sister. As she prepares to embark on her journey to FSU with her boyfriend, the weight of the unsolved crimes and personal tragedies engulfs her thoughts. The darkness begins to lift only when she immerses herself in the mysterious Hidden Glen Springs.

The entrance of Rio, a enigmatic girl on a mission to uncover the truth behind Bailey and Celeste's murders, propels Tru into a thrilling pursuit of solving the longstanding mystery. Tru is drawn not only to Rio but also to the challenge of unraveling the truth. As the summer heat intensifies, so does the connection between Tru and Rio, intertwined with their otherworldly link to Bailey and Celeste.

However, their quest takes a perilous turn when a mysterious stalker emerges. Convinced that the killer has returned to town, Tru and Rio must confront the past. The stakes are high, and as they delve deeper, the fear looms that this time, it might be their blood staining the springs red.

Ginny Myers Sain skillfully weaves a narrative filled with murder, romance, and a paranormal twist. The atmospheric backdrop of Mount Orange heightens the suspense, and the lingering mysteries contribute to a compelling plot. The novel delves into themes of loss, obsession, and the interplay between the supernatural and the mundane.

"One Last Breath" assures readers a gripping journey through a town haunted by its dark history, making it particularly appealing to those who relish supernatural mysteries with a hint of romance. The amalgamation of suspense, paranormal elements, and the quest for justice renders it a captivating addition to the young adult thriller genre.