Member Reviews
A good thriller and a real page turner. Some fantastic twists too - very clever. Loved the setting, very different to what I've read in this genre.
I loved this loved the setting and how it kept you wanting to read more ! This was my first book by the author and would love to read more !!
I was really looking forward to Her Last Summer, having loved Emily's last book, What She Left Behind and I wasn't disappointed.
This is a fantastic thriller with a perfect setting in the Amazon rainforest. I was totally hooked from the start and couldn't put it down. The twists and turns that come out are unbelievable and I couldn't work out what was going to happen next.
Highly recommend
It seems lately that the popular theme in thrillers currently is that they are either based around a podcast or a documentary and they are all showcasing some case that was unsolved and happened about twenty years ago. In Her Last Summer, the book starts with two college graduates headed off before they start university to Thailand and off exploring the jungle. Twenty years ago Mari and her boyfriend Luke headed off for a gap time in Asia, exploring the sights and taking it all in before heading back home to University. The thing though is when the trip finished, only one came back home. Mari was nowhere to be found and Luke was accused of her murder, but of course No Body, No Crime played into this book and case. Now years later, Luke has contacted Cassidy Chambers who has just wrapped up another documentary where she managed to solve a cold case. He is willing to finally talk and get off his chest, the truth about what happened that Summer break. Things go steady and we see sparks fly between Luke and Cassidy, but when filming takes them to the jungle aka the scene of the crime - dark sides start appearing and soon Cassidy finds herself in danger and not knowing who exactly to trust. I have to admit, I did not see this crazy twist coming and the last half of this book was WOW and does make up for the slower first half. Once they get to the Jungle, all the action and good twists and turns start happening. If you love unsolved cases and true crime documentaries, then check out Her Last Summer by Emily Freud today.
Twenty years ago Mari vanished in the Thai jungle with her boyfriend Luke, but while he made it out she was never seen again. Luke now wants the world to know what happened and prove his innocence, so approaches film maker Cassidy to tell his story.
I love a destination thriller and this was a great fast paced page turner which I flew through in just a couple of days. True crime documentaries are hugely popular at the moment so thought that element of the book was a really clever way of telling the story.
What I loved the most about this book was the setting. Thailand jungle such a refreshing change from books I have been reading lately. The author did a wonderful job of keeping my interest the whole way through.
I absolutely loved this book! This was a one day read for me and the plot just moved so well.
The pace of this book changes as the drama builds and while it starts a little slow, developing the characters, the build up is done really well and by the time we reach the end of the book it becomes very fast paced.
The twists were also brilliantly done. There’s a few moments that had me questioning the characters and their motives for getting the story out but I was so far off what was going on. Reading a lot of thrillers, it’s not often that I’m completely off the ending and I loved that I wasn’t able to guess what was happening.
Given the theme of the documentary, the imagery was also beautifully done. The places visited by Cassidy and Luke, especially in the travels around Thailand were so detailed and really helped engage with the story.
Thank you to NetGalley, Quercus Books and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review
Another great thriller by Emily Freud.
As with the author's previous book, this thriller was full of twists and turns up until the very last page. It had me guessing the whole way along, some were correct but most weren't; especially the major twist that came out of nowhere and left my jaw on the floor, after that point I knew anything was possible.
I really enjoyed the way the book was told, with a combination of story, interviews and newspaper articles.
This was a very fast paced thriller for me and the only issue was I felt like the ending was slightly abrupt when they came out of the jungle and after that. Apart from that though I would absolutely recommend this to everyone. It is especially nostalgic to 90s kids I would say as I was round about the age that Luke and Mari was at that point in time so all the references really took me back to that time.
*Thanks to NetGalley, Quercus Books and Emily Freud for the copy of this book. All views are my own.*
I loved the concept of this book - Cass is on a mission to uncover what really happened 20 years after young woman Mari went missing and her boyfriend Luke was accused of murdering her. There are SO many secrets to unfold in this story, and we get backstory from plenty of the side characters which really add into the tale too.
The amount of twists in this book gave me whiplash! Every time I thought I had it figured out, something else came in and shocked me. The chapters are really short and often leaving you on a cliffhanger, so it’s an incredibly bingeable read and one you could easily finish in a couple of sittings.
If you’re looking for a gripping thriller with sticky summer vibes, this is the book for you.
Ok wow, Her Last Summer had some twists at the end that I did NOT see coming!
Great and fun read, Cassidy was very well written and I highly enjoyed this
Wow what a book, I really didn't see a fair amount of it coming.
I was completely hooked by this story, and was as eager as Cassidy and her entire team to find out the truth about what happened to Mari, 20 years ago in the Thai jungle.
I loved the way it was all presented, and the re-enactments of the whole of Luke and Mari's Thai trip was brilliant. I really felt as though I was in Thailand alongside them.
This was the first book I had read from Emily Freud and I would certainly be eager to read more in the future. I was transported to the world between the pages and found myself not wanting to leave it.
Thank you to Quercus and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
The perfect summer thriller!!!!
I read this in a day!
This had all the "must have" ingredients for a spot on thriller! An engaging storyline, great twists, investible characters and a sprinkling of far-fetchedness 😉.
In a 🥜 nutshell.... Twenty years ago, Mari vanished while backpacking through Thailand with her boyfriend, Luke. He was accused of murder, but has always insisted he's innocent. Now, he's finally ready to talk. And filmmaker Cassidy Chambers wants to be the one to uncover what really happened, back then, in the dark of the jungle. But as she delves deeper into the past, Cassidy begins to fear what lies ahead, and the secrets buried along the way ...
Yipppppeeeeee for a "can't put it down page turner!
It's the perfect read to grab at the airport for your addictive summer read!
Thriller fans DO NOT MISS THIS!
This is my first read by author Emily Freud and I really enjoyed Her Last Summer.
We meet main character Cassidy who is making a film on the disappearance of Mari, who went missing many years ago whilst backpacking with her boyfriend Luke. Luke was accused of her murder and he wants to clear things up as he has always said he was innocent.
So Her Last Summer follows Cassidy on this journey as she tries to solve this years old mystery and I thought the way that author Emily Freud writes is just really great and I was fully immersed in this novel.
There are so many twisty turns in this novel it will keep the reader gripped and unable to put this novel down. Really well executed by the author with great characters.
I will be reading more of Emily Freud's novels. Thanks to netgalley, the author and publisher for allowing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Twenty years ago, Mari vanished while backpacking through Thailand with her boyfriend, Luke. He returned and has always insisted he's innocent, however many people don’t believe him. Now he's finally ready to talk, and he wants filmmaker Cassidy Chambers to tell his story.
I LOVED this book. I couldn’t put it down from the moment I started reading. I read the whole thing in one day.
I was hooked on the story & characters immediately. It felt tense the whole way through and I couldn’t wait to get to the end. One of the twists took me completely by surprise, I am usually quite good at seeing where things are going to go but in this case, I was completed blindsided!
I can see this being made into a film or TV series, and I really hope it is!
Another great book by Emily Freud.!
Full of suspense and twists, one of which I had no idea about and was blown away when it was revealed. I really love when that happens.
A great story that had me hooked from beginning to end.
Highly recommend!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I loved this book! I loved how the suspense built up throughout and I really thought I had it worked out but I was so wrong. There was some fab twists and turns and it was a great unexpected ending.
This shows that @emilyfreud_ is definite author to look out for if you’re a big fan of psychological thrillers. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next.
Cassidy Chambers is a crime film maker who just solved a murder case when out of the blue she receives a phone call from Luke. This will be the story of the year. Luke and Mari (Marigold) went on a backpacking holiday to Thailand twenty years ago. They went missing in the Thailand jungle and only Luke was found. Mari was presumed dead and Luke was accused of murdering his girlfriend but still to this day maintains his innocence. Can Cassidy get to the bottom of what happened all those years ago? And if so can she help Luke move on.
I had a "what" moment when the major twist happened. I just did not see that one coming at all. It was well written and quite suspenseful at times. I really enjoyed the Thailand setting, it felt like I was apart of the film crew. I was happily enough binging this one on the Kindle, wanting to know all the answers. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what Emily has coming next.
Thank you Quercus Books and Netgalley for my gifted copy of this e-book for my honest book review.
I tried to really like this book but overall I was just not thrilled. The backpacker story was interesting if a little repetitive but the “thriller” element of the sub or additional plot was not realistic.
I love me a bit of Emily Freud so when I saw this pop up on netgalley I had to have it. I really enjoyed it. I loved the Thailand jungle setting. I loved the TV show elements and I loved the haunting shadow that hangs over the book. YOU KNOW something terrible is going to happen the minute these guys set foot in that jungle and that something terrible did not disappoint.
The book gave me Murder in the Family Cara Hunter vibes in the sense that you really are solving the mystery along with the characters as they film the documentary. I will say I did find the first 20% a bit slow full disclosure it nearly lost me.. but then there was mentions of childhood trauma and creepy dolls and I was like HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOO! 👏👏👏
The tension that the first two parts built really pulled off in the last part with a super twisty and totally satisfying ending.
Overall I throughly enjoyed it and would deffo recommend. It would be PERFECT summer holiday reading.
Love the idea of this book. It Is based around Cassidy, a true crime film maker who has recently achieved success from her last programme which was critically acclaimed as well as resulting in the arrest of the guilty party. She is contacted by Luke, who when he was younger went missing, along with his girlfriend Mari. in Thailand when backpacking. Mari was never found and is presumed dead. For the last 20 years, Luke has been the prime suspect in her murder. He now feels like it is the right time to tell his story and make the public see that he is innocent and hopefully find out what happened to Mari after all this time.
The book follows Cassidy and her team creating the film and is told through Cassidy’s point of view along with interviews with Luke mixed in throughout. As Cassidy comes closer to finding out Mari’s fate, her life is put in danger and we must read to the end to find out if she makes it out of the jungle, discovers the truth about Mari’s disappearance and make her film.
The mixing of Cassidy’s POV, mixed with the media used withing the film works well. The setting of the jungle when the team travel with Luke works well to put the reader in the teams’ shoes (as well as imagining what it would have been like for Mari when she was lost there).
Overall, a great read, good idea, well written and plotted out with some twists along the way to keep it intriguing!.