Thank you Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for the ARC!

Synopsis: Tessa is consumed with half forgotten memories from her traumatic past. In an effort to move forward with her life, she decides to pack up and go back to the place that took everything from her. Footsteps on the porch, creaks from the second floor, and an unsettling feeling of being watched has Tessa wondering if she has made a terrible mistake.

My thoughts: Put together the final girl trope + everyone’s a suspect and you have the makings of a great thriller. The Last Girl Left is set in Maine on an island cottage with a horrific history. This is a darker story revolving around a beach house massacre so prepare yourself to be spooked! I found this to be bingeable and fast-paced, perfect for those of us who have read one too many slow-burn stories and want something different.

Do yourself a favor and add this to your TBR immediately! This is definitely in my top 5 reads this year so far! I absolutely LOVED the writing style, the backstory, the main character and the twist was one I did not see coming! Absolutely obsessed!

Thank you to the author, Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC!

This one was good! I was reading it home alone, which might not have been my best choice, but I couldn’t put it down. The premise was simple enough, a girl returning to the place she escaped from to fight her demons, but easier said than done. I liked the atmosphere and the small town where you don’t know who you can trust,

Five years ago, Tessa Chamberlain and three of her friends rented a house on Cassadaga Island off of the coast of Maine. In that house, her three friends were murdered and Tessa was left barely alive. Now, Tessa's returning to stay in that home to face her fears and hopefully get some closure and healing on what happened all those years ago. It's November, the island is empty of vacationers and shut down for the winter months, with only very few residents left. Tessa is beginning to wonder if it's such a good idea to stay ago alone in the house that she almost died in. At night, she feels ill at ease, hears footsteps, hears floorboards creaking, and doors closing. Has her past come back to haunt her? Will she make it out alive this time?

Buckle up for one heck of a ride because The Last Girl Left is a heart-pounding, panic inducing, nail-biting read. This book is filled with a whole list of questionable of characters that will have you constantly questioning if someone is really out to get Tessa or if Tessa's mind is playing tricks on her from being back in the house that caused her so much trauma. This book gets you hook, line, and sinker from page one, and the intensity just builds and builds nonstop until you've read the final page. Not to mention, it may also have you repeatedly checking if you've locked your doors, looking under your bed, and randomly flinging open your shower curtain because it messes with your head like that. 🤣

✨Review ✨

The FOMO was real as my thriller besties @thrillerbookloversthepulse were all raving about #thelastgirlleft in the group chat so I knew I had to move it to the top of my reading list. And I’m so glad I did!!

The Last Girl Left is a bingable book full of suspicious characters, red herrings, a captivating crime and a clever take on the final girl trope. Once I got started, I couldn’t put it down!

I was suspicious of everyone on the island, except one character who thank goodness wasn’t a bad guy. The isolated island in winter was atmospheric and eerie, but I also still kind of want to go there? #thrillergirlproblems

I thought the choice to do short flashbacks of Tessa’s memories vs. a full dual timeline was clever and helped build momentum throughout the story and give depth to her character.

Thriller friends- you want this book on your summer TBR! Just maybe avoid reading it at a cottage on an island in Maine… ;)

Thank you @amazonpublishing and @netgalley for the gifted copy to read and review.

Tessa was the sole survivor of a massacre where her three best friends were killed. After five years of failed therapy, living afraid of everything, she decides to take her life back and heads back to the place where it all happened.

This was such a fun thriller that had me hooked from page one. It was dark and twisty, filled with an incredibly tense atmosphere that had me checking behind the shower curtain before heading to bed. If you're a fan of the final girl trope, definitely check this one out on release date.

The Last Girl Left is about a girl named Tessa who is the sole survivor of a triple murder, it was supposed to be a quadruple murder, but Tessa survived.
Tessa and her friends Courtney, Madison and Shelby all rent a house on Cassadaga Island, a remote beach area of Maine. The girls’ trip suddenly turns into a nightmare when one of the girls befriends a charming man on the beach.
Five years later is really where the story begins, when Tessa who has been struggling to move past the massacre, decides to face her demons head on and rent the house where the murders happened. Tessa is going during off season, so it’s just really the local island people who are there when she returns.
Most businesses are closed for the offseason, and the ferry only travels certain days, so you get a real feel for the isolation she faces. The authors do a great job of creating a spooky, unsettling atmosphere.
We think we know what happened that night at the beach house, but as the story unfolds, we realize there is much more to the story. Tessa once again feels threatened as something is not right on this island. The man responsible for the murders is dead, right?
I loved this book. It reminded me of the recent real life case of the Idaho 4. This book was written PRIOR to that case, and the similarities to that case, made this book “extra” scary. Reading this knowing, evil does exist and this could and does happen in real life. Scary stuff.
The book is written in short chapters, which kept me turning the pages well into the night. I definitely look forward to reading any work by these authors.
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the opportunity to read this novel.
Publication date - April 23, 2024

5 years ago, Tessa and her friends went on vacation to a beach house. Their trip turned into a nightmare when someone broke in and killed 3 of the girls and Tessa was left for dead but survived. Now, Tessa is haunted by her past and decides to go spend a month at this beach house to face her demons and heal. She is also going to write a book while there. While there, she starts to hear weird noises and things quickly unfold.

This book sucked me right in! I loved the creepy abandoned beach town feeling. The house was really creepy and it was described well. The chapters were short and fast paced. It kept the story going fast and I kept reading to see what happened. The story kept me on my toes. I liked how everything wrapped up in the end as well.

I did find Tessa a bit annoying and hard to connect with.

I did really like this thriller and would definitely recommend! Thanks so much to netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

*ARC received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Intro

Five years have passed since one terrifying night left Tessa the only survivor of the massacre that killed three of her friends, and Tessa hasn't gone one day without thinking about it. Her life as she knew it stopped the night Patrick Moyer killed her friends and left her for dead, but Tessa knows she can't live her life like this forever. Paranoid, jumping at shadows, and carrying a bat around her sister's house for protection. She needs to confront the past to be able to put it behind her, so she books a one month stay at the exact vacation house she was staying at with her friends the night they died.

When things start going bump in the night, Tessa would love to blame it on her paranoia, but she can't shake the feeling that something is off on Cassadaga Island, and she can't shake the feeling that someone is with her. Watching her. And she doesn't think she'll be lucky enough to be left alive a second time.
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This book was just okay for me. It had an interesting premise and I loved the setting. I think the authors did a great job with the atmosphere. A secluded, mostly closed down island in November is a great place to start a thriller and I really enjoyed that aspect of it.

There were, however, a few areas that missed the mark for me. I didn't find Tessa to be a particularly interesting protagonist, and her inner monologue was a bit on the repetitive side. In some ways I understand, because Tessa is stuck in her fears, but the content starts to feel dry early on in the story. The story also takes a long time to really start rolling, and that felt repetitive as well. Nothing really starts happening until the last 75 pages or so, so certain parts of the novel felt like filler that the novel didn't need, and I personally didn't feel like the reveal at the end was shocking enough to warrant the drawn out portions.

Overall, this novel felt a little bit predictable and the pacing wasn't my favourite but if you're looking for a thriller to read through in a weekend, this book may be worth picking up.

Every time I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong. Great psychological suspense story. I have never read anything by this husband and wife duo, but The Last Girl Left won’t be my first!
Great atmosphere on an isolated island in Maine, with winter quickly rolling in. Tessa was a victim five years ago, she survived and her friends did not. Now she is back, for multiple reasons. Will she be a victim again?

I loved this book! The writing is fantastic and Hallie Ricardo is awesome on the audiobook!

Tessa Montgomery survives a mass murder and because of that she changed her name and decided she did not want any part of the world so she hides herself away at her sisters. Since her sister has been nagging her that she has made no progress to get on with her life Tessa decides to go back to where the murders happened. She thinks while she is there writing a book about her trauma may help her to move forward.

Since things are happening and she feels that she is getting nowhere she decides to leave the island and she thinks if she gets off the island things will get better.

This book is unputdownable!!! This book will have you hearing weird noises and checking your doors to make sure they are locked.
The writing is great and i will be reading anything this team writes!!!
Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review. I will recommend this book!

I really enjoyed The Last Girl Left. It was well written and very suspenseful. I am not usually a jumpy/nervous person but reading this book at night before bed definitely made me feel unnerved. I read it quickly and kept trying to guess the direction the book was headed but I was wrong at every turn. Easily one of my favorite suspense books that I’ve ever read!

To be honest, for the most part of the book, I didn't find it appealing. It didn't have that chilling vibe that a thriller should have. Besides, I had trouble symphatizing, and empathizing, with the main character. But, I was satisfied with the ending. So, thank you Netgalley for sending me this book.

This was a fantastic book! I could not put it down. Though heartbreaking at times, it was utterly gripping. A must-read for any thriller lovers!

Book Review ✨

Thriller
3.5/5⭐️

•Tessa is the lone survivor of a beach house massacre. After years of never finding her ground again- she returns to the place it all went down to try & find some closure.

I was so lucky to receive this copy & PR box from the authors! This is a book that is very easy to BINGE. I was horrified at several parts and it is hard to scare me most of the time. The writing style had a great flow and kept me on my toes. Overall this book truly was amazing but there was a lot of parts that seemed to drag for me in the beginning. The first couple chapters started with a bang for sure I will say, then it slowed. I think the last half of the book could have even been 5 stars!!! If you’re a fan of a ‘slow burn’ kinda suspense- you will eat this up!

Wow, I’ve got a TMJ headache from clenching my jaw so tightly while reading this book! I was on the edge of my seat, frantically reading to see what would happen next. It was so stressful, and I really enjoyed every second of it! This is an excellent example of a “last girl” book, and Tessa is nothing if not a survivor!

5 years ago, Tessa survived. Her friends were brutally murdered, and she was left for dead. But she was able to name her attacker. The Police Chief of the coastal vacation town ended up shooting the attacker for resisting arrest, but Tessa sees him, feels him, every time she closes her eyes. She went home, changed her name, moved in with her sister...but 5 years later and she is still haunted by that night.

After her PTSD takes her too far, Tessa decides she needs some self-imposed exposure therapy. She returns to the island, the vacation home, to face her trauma. Her attacker is dead; logically nothing can hurt her there. But is she really ready to face the ghosts she left behind?

I honestly did not know where this book was going (in a good way). Some weird weird stuff starts going on in the vacation house and you are left to wonder if it's paranormal or if someone has some unfinished business. Everyone has motive to be screwing with Tessa, everyone is a suspect. Perfect twists right up until the end.

Thank you Thomas&Mercer, AM Strong & Sonya Sargent, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Tessa is back at the house on the island where her friends were killed five years ago and things are creepy. More than creepy. This is the sort of novel that makes a good travel read- it's not too deep, it's a tad predictable, but it's also a page turner. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I suspect others will enjoy this more than I did.

Tessa survived a brutal attack 5 years ago and continues to deal with the terror of it. She decides to return to the remote island and exact house where the attack happened in order to try to come to terms with what happened.

When she gets to the island she is hoping no one recognizes her but returning is not easy. The story is filled with shadows and noises that the reader is not sure if they are Tessa’s imagination or really happening. I flew through this book and enjoyed every page. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy twists and surprises in thriller books!

I needed a good mystery, and this one delivered. This was my first A.M. Strong and Sonya Sargent novel, and they know how to write a carefully constructed thriller!! This book gripped me from the very beginning. The authors kept me guessing until the very end. I loved the twists, and the overall story. Take the day off work on April 23, because you're going to read this in one sitting!