This thriller had a great premise, but in the end fell flat for me. The pacing was off, dialogue was too long winded/superficial, and poor character development. Had great promise but wasn't my favorite!

I so immensely appreciated this book for its complex characters and realistic portrayals of how trauma can affect us. The characters in this book are REAL and raw, often making decisions that make them unlikable or that you genuinly can't defend. If you need every protagonist in the book you read to have no faults you may not enjoy this but if you also love actually reading about realistic protagonists, even if they make bad choices sometimes, this is a great one.

The switches between point of view and narrative were seamless. I am often not a fan of multiple points of view or third person omnicient(or similar) books but Lori Roy elegantly takes us back and forth between character's experiences, in and out of different peoples heads without any stilted or awkard moments. The distinction between charcaters and ther narrative voices is so well done that you can clearly tell who's viewpoint we are in without labels or new chapters needed. Jenny as an adult, Jenny as a child and Beverly, the mother of Francie Farrow, are our main guides for most of the book.

I loved all the descriptive references to southern dishes like marshmallow fluff salad and of the setting in this area of the South. The setting of not just the swamp but many other elements important to the area created an amazingly immersive atmosphere to read in. I.e. the orchids, the weather, the food, the speech, the cypress trees.

There were a lot of twists at the end that felt like mini twists kind of just thrown around. I wish they had been more cohesively revealed together in a way instead of the last 5 chapters being little reveal, little reveal, little reveal back-to-back.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and it is my new favorite thriller. Thank you to Netgalley and Lori Roy for this Advanced Readers Copy!! :)

This was a really interesting concept, it had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed from the thriller aspect. It was interesting that this uses the true crime element and that the characters belonged in this story. Lori Roy does a great job in writing this and making characters that I cared about in this book.

This book is an interesting mix of present and past storylines, told through the lens of a true crime show and a series of letters. I consider it a fast read, with an interesting concept that should appeal to lovers of true crime shows. Will the final episode reveal what happened all those years ago?

I enjoyed this slow burn mystery by Lori Roy. The Final Episode switches between the present and the past and follows the unsolved mystery of Frankie Farrow’s disappearance from her home in near the Florida swamps. At times the pacing was slow but I’m glad I pushed through because it ends up to be a satisfying mystery novel.

I loved this.
The descriptions of the swamp were so vivid, and the characters felt so real. Particularly the girls, this book felt so true to how we can be at that age, all the games we play with one another.
The grief and the tension of grieving someone who isn't dead, someone who may have done something unforgivable, is raw and it's handled perfectly.

Firstly thank you to the publishers for my early access in exchange for a review.
I’ve reviewed a few of this authors books and this is definitely one of their strongest .
Thought provoking and well written

I absolutely devoured this book. I was hooked from the very first page and stayed up into the early hours of the morning reading it (despite needing to get up early). I guessed who the culprit was, but there were quite a few twists and turns that I wasn't expecting, including what actually happened. I cried once or twice too as some moments really tugged on my heart strings. Definitely buying this book as gifts for a few people when it is released.

The Final Episode has an interesting premise - a girl, Frannie Farrow, goes missing and Jenny's father goes to prison for it... except Frannie is never found. Now, years later, a true crime documentary is airing about what happened and everyone, including Jennifer, is waiting for the big reveal - was it actually her father who did it? And what happened to Frannie?

Unfortunately, the execution fell flat for me. The book switches between 'Episodes,' which are basically the episode of the documentary that recount what happened in the past, and 'Chapters' - which are actually letters Jenny writes to her dad in the present. Sometimes the 'episode' would be interesting, but the chapter would feel draggy, or vice versa. I didn't find myself invested in the characters all that much - especially when suspicions would fall on a character at the drop of a hat. It felt like there was a lot of telling instead of showing. Sometimes I couldn't understand why Jenny would do something, or how she arrived at a conclusion.

I did like the idea of the narrative switching between past and present through episodes, so we felt what the characters were feeling as they watched the documentary. There was one twist I didn't see coming, but mainly because there was no build up to it whatsoever. The big reveal in the final episode felt kind of lackluster and everything after that felt draggy, especially when the author decided to add one final twist. The book couldn't keep the momentum going of its own premise.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for providing an ARC

Twenty years ago, Jenny's father was arrested after a young girl disappeared. Now there is a podcast devoted to the story of Francie Farrow's disappearance, and Jenny and the rest of the world wait for the final episode to reveal what really happened to Francie. As the episode nears, it seems someone might not want anyone to know the truth. This was okay. I felt a bit let down by some aspects of the ending, but it wasn't a bad read. 3 stars.

This is the first book I've read by Lori Roy and its a well done book. It follows the story of Jenny Jones and the mystery surrounding a missing girl. It follows the point of view of Jenny as well as the tv show that is used to describe the events of the night.

The setting of the book is easy to follow, and the main focus is on a small cast of characters and surprisingly the characters were all very likeable. The pacing of the book is fast and I couldn't stop reading this book till 2am when I finished it. It gripped me because of how fast the story went.

The one issue I had about the book was a small one which is the mention of the witch trials in the book. I felt it is rather disjointed with the story and couldn't understand the whole point of it. The ending also kinda threw me off a little because it wasn't what I expected at all

Overall this book is good, fast paced and it's a book for in between a series you're reading.

Jennifer Jones childhood ended when her father was arrested and sent to prison. Many years have passed and a show, Inspired by True Events attempts to finally solve a long time mystery. What happened to Francie Farrow? This little girl was taken from her bed, and many believe Jennifer’s father was responsible (and maybe Jennifer knows the truth).
Told in the present by Jennifer, we see how her father’s shadow has shaped her life. The past is exposed by episodes of the TV show. Will The Final Episode finally reveal who took Francie? Will this finally free Jennifer or make her life even worse?
I had my suspicions about who was guilty but could not figure out the how. I really enjoyed the way the story unfolded. So many twists and turns and wow did I wish someone had seen the guilty party’s true nature many many years ago.

I love the way in which this flicks between now and then! really unique and I loved the TV show element.

Amazing book, genuinely had me guessing till the end, I thought I’d cracked it and I’d figured out what had happened but I was so wrong.

The twists and turns were interesting and the plot was great. Overall a great book, I’d highly recommend :)

When you think of a book with a strong setting that propels the plot THIS is it! Gave me a lot of "Where the Crawdads Sing" vibes with a little bit of a paranormal twist? Such a well-developed and twisty story about family, friendship, loyalty, and growing up. I loved loved LOVED Jenny and Tia! Some of the timelines were a little hard to follow and other parts dragged on, but overall this was a fun and suspenseful read.

While the paranormal aspect with the lilies was fun, I felt like it was undeveloped and kind of forgotten. Or maybe it was meant to be symbolic? I also didn't care for the second person POV - it felt unnatural and out of place at times. Thanks so much for this ARC - I'm already looking forward for more from Roy!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for allowing me this digital arc.

The story is told in dual timelines: the night of the disappearance and what happened after until an arrest was made and present day where a documentary is being aired about said disappearance.

The present timeline is mostly told through Jenny addressing her father in a letter. In a way she is recounting what happened in the past and finding out new information that she wasn't privy to in the past as a child.

As the final episode draws nearer, the truth unfolds about what really happened to Francie and who was responsible for her disappearance.

I really enjoyed the story... I was so drawn into the mystery. There were a few twists that surprised me and I didn't expect a certain thing to happen towards the end of the book and whew, okay!

Not only that but the relationships that the characters had with each other and how it led to certain events happening. This story wasn't just about a crime that occurred, it showed how our deepest emotions, (ie: grief, guilt, shame, fear) can shape us all.

This was my first read from this author but it has me looking up her other works and adding to my tbr.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This one did not work for me. This one follows Jennifer Jones in two timelines. Twenty years in the past, a girl named Francie Farrow banishes and Jennifer's dad goes to prison. Now, a television series tells the story of Francie's disappearance and the book picks up before the final episode airs.

The book's premise intrigued me. I thought this would be another one much like Amy Tintera's Listen for the Lie, which had a very similar premise. The chapters where the reader is (supposed?) to be reliving each episode were incredibly confusing and frankly took me out of the story. They are not written in any mixed-media format, such as a screenplay. In fact, there was no information about what type of show this was. Were there actors? Was this a documentary? A combination thereof? The TV show chapters followed a standard narrative structure, with plenty of inner monologues from the characters. But, that was incredibly confusing to me because I kept wondering what the fictional viewers were actually seeing. Were the characters inner monologues being presented to the TV audience? Despite the TV chapters being a complete slog, nothing really happens in them, begging further questions of what exactly the fictional audience is absorbing. How long are these episodes, really? Not to mention, the TV chapters bounce around from character to character and so how each character refers to each other changes drastically and it is really hard to keep up with.

The book started off well enough, but it soon became a complete chore to get through. It was incredibly repetitive. If I were watching this TV show, I would have waited until the last episode to just figure out what happened, because the characters and the overall mystery were just not that interesting.

It's been twenty years since the summer Jennifer Jones's father, Paul, was arrested. A new TV series chronicles a different crime he was never convicted of but always assumed guilty of - the disappearance of Francie Farrow. It was huge news and the case was technically never solved. But everyone believes it was Paul that took her and Jennifer's not sure what this new show will reveal. Can they finally prove it was him or has new evidence been discovered proving it wasn't him? That's the mystery at the heart of this story, told in the present and the past as the series unfolds. Each episode is a passage from that time, where the reader learns about Jennifer's time in Big Cypress Swamp.

Her upcoming eleventh birthday is all she can think about as she hangs out with her summer friends by the swamp. A new family on the street stirs up drama among the girls who already worry about the disappearance of Francie, another young girl like them. They love exploring outside, staying clear of the dangerous gators, but could there be a more dangerous predator after them as well?

Much of the current timeframe is spent with Jennifer returning to the swamp, reliving that summer, and trying to decide if her father could actually be innocent. There's plenty of suspicious behavior from that time that she sees in a new light now that she's older. But it's obvious fairly early on to the reader that certain characters are not what they seem and should have been looked at harder at the time. Everything known about Francie's disappearance was based on the word of another witness at the time and that's no way to build a case. And there's another twist near the end that was pretty far-fetched. You'd have to be blind not to have noticed is all I can say about that.

While the plot might be a bit dubious, the author tells it compellingly, and it was one of those books you have no trouble immersing yourself in. The descriptions of the summer heat and the dangerous swamp make you feel like you're there in the thick of it. You also feel nostalgic for those simpler times as a child, content to explore nature and stay young just a little while longer.

I finished this book in a day. I was fully engrossed and couldn’t put it down until I knew exactly what happened to Francie Farrow. My jaw dropped and I let out audible gasps multiple times as I was reading. The twists and truth of the plot caught me completely by surprise. I love the uniqueness of the format, the present letter’s to Jenny’s father and the past being set up and the show. I read a lot of thrillers and I am very critical but I can truly say Lori Roy caught me off guard with this missing girl story and I cannot wait to read more from her!

Thank you so much to the publishers, author, and NetGalley for this Arc. An incredible read that left me on the edge of my seat!

I really loved this book and stayed up until 3am to finish it. I thought the story was unique and enthralling!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!