One Last Word is a super fun read following Sara Chae, a bipoc(!!) woman in stem(!!!). Sara is the founder of the app One Last Word, which allows the user to pre-write messages to people that will automatically send after their death. Lots of techy things involved in that, and she has her best friend Casey to help! We love Casey. We follow her journey as she faces discrimination in a white male dominated industry, but I loved how she always stood up for herself, even when it could've cost her a career opportunity.

As an Asian American, I could relate to so many events and emotions Sara went through, like constant comparisons to everyone and different (and slightly questionable) parenting techniques. Sara and Jia's (the sister) relationship also felt identical to my sister's and I, and it was very entertaining to read. Though they banter a lot and sometimes make questionable choices, they want the best for you and will always be there to support. I also always appreciate reading about food - the descriptions from when they ate at the Korean restaurant made me drool.

The romance in this book was also super unique and loveable! It had high school friends to lovers, fake dating, and also lying-about-a-fake-boyfriend-so-he-can't-make-any-moves dating. If that's a thing (I made it a thing). Just a little too much whispering for my liking. I always appreciate a good epilogue though.

One minor issue for me was with some of the conflicts seen throughout the book (the conflicts with Harry and Naomi). I would've liked to seen the resolution more in depth and addressed more as it felt like they were resolved pretty quickly in the last few chapters.

Overall, I enjoyed rooting for Sara and following her journey as an entrepreneur. Thank you NetGalley for the Arc!! My first "official" review ;))

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @avonbooks for an early copy of One Last Word by @suzannepark. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5
Release date: April 16th, 2024

Blurb: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/181109954-one-last-word?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=5TdbeJr24X&rank=1

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑

One Last Word tells the story of tech entrepreneur and One Last Word founder Sara Chae, who embarks on a journey of self-discovery after the said still-in-development app, which sends messages to people you choose after you pass, accidentally sends out her messages to the important people in her life, including Harry Shim, her high school crush and venture capital mentor.

This novel just screams girl power towards the end of the story, through protagonist Sara. Of course, before all of that happy ending, Sara navigated through a series of reflections and self-discovery when her messages, though not fully intending to have them sent out, were accidentally sent out. This mishap allowed her to reconnect with people who were very important to her at one point in her life, particularly Harry and Naomi. It also made a deeper connection for her and her sister, Jia, and their parents.

I particularly liked how Sara’s story emphasizes balancing all aspects of her life, her work, and her relationships. Throughout the years, she has been solely focused on getting good grades, excelling at work, and getting a promotion and raise, that she has neglected her friends and did not even think about dating. It made me realize that while work is important as it brings food to the table, it’s the relationships that count. It’s the people you share your struggles and triumphs with that make all the hard work worth it.

Reading One Last Word felt like such a warm hug for me. It really gave me a lot of perspective when it comes to work and relationships, and taking time for myself, especially as a working adult.

This is so utterly emotionless it's almost a curiosity. I didn't hate it, i didn't even dislike it, really, I just don't understand how Park got it to be so clinically sterile you could perform surgery on it with no risk of infection.

One Last Word by Suzanne Park. Sarah Che is the founder of an app, One Last Word, which allows you to send messages to people after you die. Her messages accidentally get sent to her parents, ex-friend, and high school crush, Harry. Sarah applies for and wins a tech mentorship and is mentored by Harry. Are her Last Words a help or hindrance?

I’ve read two of Park’s previous novels, The Do-Over, and So We Meet Again. They all have the common thread of a Korean-American woman who is very capable and seems to have lost focus in her life, getting a second chance to re-prioritize and create the future she wants for herself. Sarah is a relatable first-gen eldest child; driven, mantle of responsibility, perfectionist. Many women can relate. She has looked back on her relationship with Harry in high school with rose-colored glasses, and allowed the idea of him to keep her away from trying to build a life and a romance. I appreciated the arc and development of all the main characters. Younger sister, Jia, is a hoot and could be a cliché, but Park avoids this at every turn. Some of the events in the novel are a bit contrived, but I was rooting for Sarah the whole time! It was easy to live in her skin as the reader; feel her pride, embarrassment, frustration, and hope. I’m a big fan of women in STEM novels, though I’m not sure how dude-bro it gets to know if all of Sarah’s experiences ring true. All in all a good read, even if not my favorite of hers. Read this first and then The Do-Over or So We Meet Again, you won’t be disappointed. Thanks to Net Galley and Avon Publishing for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. 3.75 stars.

This is a first by this author for me. It was good but a little slow to me. I had a hard time relating to the main character. But that’s just me. The plot is great and oh boy the header in those emails cracked me up!!

3.5 Stars I'm always fascinated by romance novels that center on women in STEM and One Last Word by Suzanne Park definitely fit the bill. The story is about Sara, who has developed an app called One Last Word, which will send custom messages to your loved ones and friends after you pass. After a night of too many drinks, Sara writes letters to her overbearing parents, her ex-best friend, and her high school crush. The letters are mistakenly sent when another woman with Sara's name dies and the app is triggered by her obituary. Sara assures everyone she's still alive, but is shocked when her high school crush, Harry, turns out to be her assigned mentor in a program she was just accepted to to develop and pitch her app for funding.

Sara was a very likeable character from the start. Usually at some point in a book about a woman in STEM, they show others (typically men) walking all over the main character before she learns to stand up for herself. That wasn't the case in this book; from the beginning, Sara wouldn't let anyone make disparaging remarks about her or treat her with disrespect just so she'd have a space in the Silicon Valley tech world. I absolutely loved this about Sara and admired her greatly for demanding the respect she was owed instead of tolerating it in order to get her app funded. Sara was insightful, kind, and a wonderful friend and big sister. The romance with Harry was cute, but I felt this novel really shined when showing Sara being a brilliant founder, CEO, and app developer.

Thank you Avon and Harper for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Book Review 📚

One Last Word by @suzannepark 💬📲🎶☕️

This was a light easy read, about Sara who has a dream to develop an App where you send out the last word after you’ve passed away. She’s struggled her whole life speaking up for herself, she figures when the times come everyone will finally hear what she has to say. With a glitch in system the messages got send out to her parents, ex bestfriend and her ex high school crush. Watching her having to own up to her words and navigate some awkward conversations she never intended to have, made me feel hopeful to her finally being able to stand up for herself. She deals with a difficult relationship with her parents, which has heavily affected now as an adult.

If you like friends to lovers, women empowerment, women owned business vibes you’ll love this read!

Release Date 4/16 🗓️

One Last Word by Suzanne Park is a fun and quick read. It is a great story about exploring what could happen by getting the last word upon your death. I loved the use of this fun idea for an app to explore a romance between a long lost crush, the relationship with your parents, and a lost friendship. Also it explores the position of women in tech and the VC space. Overall, great read and I can't wait to read more by Suzanne Park!

This was a light romance about an Asian woman fighting for her place in the tech world.

I really appreciated seeing the challenges of being a woman in the bro-ey tech environment. The FMC was never afraid to stand up for herself, and it was great to see her say the things many of us wish we had in our own personal business experiences.

Outside of that, I found the book to be slow and a little boring. The whole premise of the book as discussed in the blurb, the app making a mistake and sending her postmortem messages while she was still alive, didn’t happen until nearly a quarter of the way through the book. Since I knew it was coming, I spent a lot of the beginning just waiting for the buildup to stop and the action to start.

There were also a lot of classic cliches built into the romance story, and I found the couple hard to root for. I’m not sure I really liked either of them individually, and was not invested in their success outside of the business.

Read this if you like:
•workplace romance
•STEM
•fake dating

This book started out strong and I was really into. I love the strength MFM has as she works through being herself and not caring what others think!

Thank you Avon for the eARC!

Thanks to Avon for the copy of this book!

Sara Chae came up with an app that sends messages to her friends and family after you pass away called One Last Word. Her current company isn't into it, so she decides to go in her own direction. At the same time, another Sara Chae dies and triggers all of her messages being sent - including one to her high school crush.

I love a good STEM female main character and also the second chance romance trope. ONE LAST WORD delves into what it's like as a female in the tech industry, and I loved Sara's journey of realizing her worth and learning to speak up for herself while also succeeding with her app and finding love.

4.5 stars! I loved this book. Not only was it a unique premise, but this followed Sara as she had a journey to be more confident and ask for what she needed in her life, in work, love and even family relationships. I enjoyed the plot of this, the characters and the issues it helps examine. This book tackles simpler things like how to communicate with your sister, but also some bigger things like sexism in tech. I think Suzanne Park does a great job of creating a main character who is definitely on a journey, but also who feels self aware enough to get to the lessons she needs to. I also like that this book emphasizes how we ourselves have our own side to every story, and that it is important to consider how situations felt to others. This doesn’t make our own feelings invalid, but can help us to see how we might have unintentionally hurt others and how to repair that harm. The use of the app accidentally sending out messages to significant people for Sara definitely provided the perfect way for this idea to be explored. I really enjoyed this book!

Book Name: One Last Word
Author: Suzanne Park

ARC
Thank you to NetGalley and **Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon** for an ARC of Suzanne Park’s One Last Word

Stars: 5
Spice: 2

Standalone
Fast Paced
FMC POV
Contemporary Romance
Similar Vibes to the Stand In by Lily Chu

- Thoughts.
- FMC is Brilliant
- Techy Romance Comedy
- LOL Funny
- Taylor Swift OMG LOL
- Top Summer Read 2024
- Chemistry & Tension
- Fake Dating… Other People
- Reconnections
- Work Place Romance Vibes
- I Cant Put it Down

This was my First Suzanne Park! OMG I am ordering her backlist now this book is unputdownable fast pace laugh-out-loud funny with really deep heart-felt themes of reconnection recompense and finding your voice as an adult. I love the Techy vibes and …. just order this ASAP

This book for me brought out quite a few laughs. Sometimes after reading so many serious books you need a good dose of humor. I enjoyed it and would recommend

I enjoyed this one over all! Sara is an app developer who leaves her job rather abruptly after she feels like she is not valued for her ideas. She moves in with her younger sister, and starts work on her app that automatically sends your last words to people upon your death. She enters into a pitch competition with a capital venture company is awarded a mentorship program. It turns out her mentor is none other than her high school crush, Harry. They spend time together and forge a connection based on the past and also present day connections. From there, ashe participates in a TV competition similar to Shark Tank.

This was a 3 star for me because, I just didn't find the love interest likeable. He seemed untrustworthy and wholly hyped up in the main characters mind. That made me not want to root for them. Regardless, I would still try other books from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC.

The tech is new but the premise is very old as words meant to be private get released publicly, and Sara has to deal with fall out on top of a life already failing the work/life balance department. It is a good portrayal of the struggles all modern women go through trying to reach that mythical "having it all", with the added pressure of what it means to be a woman in a filed men have grabbed for themselves.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

I thought that this was a cute and fun romance. It reminded me of Tessa Bailey or Emily Henry or Helen Hoang's work. I really enjoyed this book and I thought that the characters had wonderful chemistry. Read this book if you are looking for a light and fluffy beach read!
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I wish I had nicer things to say about "One Last Word", but I think my expectations were too high for this book. Many of the ideas at play here felt half baked, the characters didn't reach out and grab me at any point, and every scene felt so incredibly rushed. I'm not sure if maybe Suzanne Park needed extra time to tell this story, or what, but the end result was something that I wish I could have enjoyed more. For such an interesting premise, I couldn't recommend this book to anyone else.

This was the first Suzanne Park book I've ever read and if the others are anything like this one they will be an auto read! I loved it!

Sara Chae is an aspiring tech entrepreneur and the creator of one last word an app meant to send your last words to whoever you choose. She definitely wasn't expecting it to malfunction and send out the drunken test messages she and her sister created when another Sara Chae died. She ends up having to deal with all the chaos while going on a journey and finding out her highschool crush is none other that her her newly assigned mentor.

I loved that even though it was a romance read there was so much more to the story than that!

Possibly my favorite Suzanne Park book, which is saying something because I'm a big fan of hers. I love Sara as a protagonist—she's ambitious and determined, and she doesn't let setbacks get her down. When the app she'd spent a year developing is summarily dismissed by her bosses, she doesn't just wallow or give up. She *doubles down* and throws herself into making that app a success. Watching Sara chase her dream and grow along the way is rewarding, and the twist of her assigned mentor being her high school crush is a fun one. This is a fun, fast read that kept me cheering for Sara the whole way. My only complaint is that it's *too* bingeable. :)