My Last Kiss
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my review in any way.3.5/5 stars
I love the cover of this book, because I feel like it properly emotes the right kind of message. The book is very fractured -- as is Cassidy's after life. It's very jolting for her to be dead, but still among the living. One moment she is in the present, and the next, she's swept away in a fragmented memory of the past.
I also loved that Cassidy had no idea what had happened to her -- that she had to relearn the past few weeks of her life. And in doing such, she had to learn about her friends and family in ways she never knew or understood when she was alive.
I've read a book about a girl who comes back as a ghost and can only see and interact with a boy who died a few months before her. I've read a book about a girl who can only be seen by a boy that never met her in life. I've read a book about a girl who is never really seen, but experiences life with those who knew her. I've read a lot of books about dead people, from the POV of the person who died. This book was different, because her boyfriend was the only person who could see her. I was happy this book was able to stand out in a crowd of ghosts that could be seen. I loved the vivid descriptions of what happened to her when she touched something other than Ethan. I also liked that this wasn't focused on their relationship, but on figuring out the truth of why she died and why she was still there. While other parts of the story seemed cliche and high school, this is where the book excelled.
The very first chapter of the book is Cassidy & Ethan's first kiss. You are thrown in the middle of everything and if you don't read the synopsis, you'd think this was a contemporary romance. However, the first chapter comes and rips all that away. Cassidy is killed in a horribly tragic way - by being pushed over the edge of an old bridge on the night of her birthday party.
It took me a few chapters to really get my bearings and see where we are in the story and what was happening. I kept having to flip back and re-read, because things are moving so quickly. However, once I understood the pattern, things seemed to slow down and make sense.
The morgue scenes were both disturbing and fascinating. I can't imagine watching a doctor cut my dead body open. It was such a raw and emotional scene, and while insignificant to the story on a whole, I thought it was an interesting addition to the book.
This book was lovely, haunting, messy, confusing, heartbreaking, and suspenseful! It is a very quick read and the mystery of it all kept me going. Honestly, I love how it all ended -- and the ending definitely left me pondering life, love, death, and what happens next.
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First Impressions
3.5/5 stars
An enjoyable mystery that left me thinking about life, death, all that is in between, and all that comes after.
Review soon!