Book Review: Last Day by Luanne Rice

Source: Goodreads

(Warning: MAY contain spoilers)

What made me decide to read this story? The promise of a good plot, along with a rating of 3.97/5 on Goodreads, persuaded me to give it a try. And boy, do I have words.

This book was UNBELIEVABLE, and I'm definitely going to remember it for a long, long time. In fact, every time I think about it, I may just kick over a chair in anger.

A pregnant woman is found dead - now what?

I'm not going to lie, this story had so much potential. Kate and Beth managed to survive the worst day of their lives, over twenty years ago. Unfortunately, their mother didn't. To add the icing to the proverbial cake, their father was the instigator of this horrendous crime. 

Now, back to the present. Beth, now married and pregnant with her second child, has been murdered in her home. Who did it? Detective Conor Reid, a man extremely familiar with the old case of the Woodward sisters, is determined to find out.

His sights are set on Pete Lathrop, Beth's husband. After all, he seems to have a motive. But alas, like all great suspects, he has a rock-tight alibi. 

Kate is shattered by her sister's murder. After the terrible incident that changed her life forever, she escaped into herself, giving up all relationships except those with her sister, best friends, and niece.

Let's add in some more characters, shall we? Sam, Beth's 16-year-old daughter, has trouble dealing with the fact that her cheating father may have a role in her mother's death. Then there's Scotty and Lulu, Beth and Kate's best friends forever, and the dreadful "secrets" they hold.

Okay, I'll admit this story started off great. The first few chapters were riveting and left me wanting to find out more. After that, I'm not sure what happened.

There were probably a good 200 pages that this book could have done without. Way too many characters and story arcs were introduced, but none of them really worked for me.

EXAMPLE: Pete is smart, the book explicitly states that several times. But what does he do with this smartness? Nothing. All we hear from him is, "Oh, I'm smart, everybody should know this about me." I mean, come on, let me see some character development!

As for the storyline, it's called a "line," not a scribble! There were way too many moments when the author briefly began a whole different viewpoint - but then failed to mention it anywhere else in the book.

The narrative style of this story made me want to cry (not happy tears, let me tell you). It was so slow! I kept reading the book, waiting for something to happen, but nothing really did. In the end, it took sheer willpower to finish the novel. What a pity that hard work doesn't always pay off.

At this point, the only way for this book to redeem itself was to have a spectacular ending. After all, it IS a murder mystery. I expect to be blown away, saying, "Wow! I did NOT see that coming!"

But once again, that did not happen. The ending was disappointing and left me feeling sad in a way that only comes after having guessed it towards the middle of the book.

Overall, I would give this book a 1/5. I didn't truly love any aspect of the story, and every page made me want to go to sleep. However, returning to my first statement, this book did receive pretty good ratings. So maybe I'm in the minority here.

If you've read this book or have decided to give it a try, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments!