Cover Image: The Last Night Out

The Last Night Out

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Member Reviews

This author is really great. I really loved this book. This tale was highly engrossing and highly recommendable!!

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If you are looking for any fairy tale endings, you aren't going to find them in this thriller, but you will definitely find dark and disturbing!

The Last Night Out by Catherine O'Connell is one wild ride! It was so unpredictable, twisty, and addicting that I read it in one day and one sitting. I can't say I liked any of the characters all that much, but some of the things that happened just made me feel so bad for them. I really enjoyed the style of writing, and I can tell I am going to have to read everything O'Connell writes from now on.

The mystery and ending were so shocking, and I didn't see the big reveal coming in the slightest. The end of the book had me on the edge of my seat, although I would say that most of the book is a slow burn while still being paced well enough that you don't want to put it down. There are so many layers to The Last Night Out and the plot was very complex. It is definitely on the gritter side so if you like books like that I highly recommend reading this one!

Thank you to the author for providing me with an advance review copy of this book! All opinions and thoughts are my own.

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Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

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Bachelorette party gone wrong. Back stabbing ladies. Do not believe everything you think! Great read. I cannot wait to see more from this author.

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Not what I was expecting but still a worthwhile book with a decent ending. Plenty of actions and secrets. Terribly dark but perfect in its own right.

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This is a fabulous suspense that twists and turns and takes you somewhere and leaves you hanging only to tighten the noose, then let you drop and start back up again.

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Good premise, 6 friends go out for a last hoorah bachelorette party and one ends up dead after. The book details the aftermath and the detectives trying to piece together who killed her. It also deals with the individuals and the secrets they may or may not be hiding. The characters were not my favorite but the book was enjoyable. I would like less points of view and I feel like the end was a little rushed. I would give it 3 stars.

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**Twists, twists, twists, twists, and more twists...but that's not always a good thing. The characters aren't really likable for me, the twists are a bit twisted and mostly unnecessary/unrelated to the story. While the concept is great, the good plot seems to get lost in over development.

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I really wanted to like this. This book is presented as a twisted mystery. A bachelorette party ends with one friend murdered. But what category this really falls into is women’s fiction. There just happens to be a murdered friend, and her death is used as an excuse to explore a myriad of personal issues.

The first 150 pages of the book are chock-full of dramatized, personal background information on all the friends of the murdered woman, Angie. This was hella dense reading. It was clunky and obvious – information dumping with zero finesse. I found most of it was either unnecessary data that didn’t really progress the story forward, or information that would have been better suited being seamlessly worked into dialogue or scenes that were progressing the story forward. And by that I mean, the mystery into who killed Angie.

Instead, we get to read through relationship conversation/arguments, people’s husband being gay, a bunch of people cheating, questioning an upcoming wedding and fretting over possibly being pregnant. And multiple scenes detailing overbearing, unloving rich parents that literally had nothing to do with the outcome of the story. Nor did these scenes resonate in such an emotional way that it hooked me or invested me in the characters’ lives.

Because so much time was spent on personal background, I found the last part of the novel to be rushed and disjointed. Information important to solving the crime is only introduced when the book is almost over. And things that try to keep characters relevant are seemingly thrown in out of nowhere.

This is a disappointment for me. As a women’s fiction novel it barely works because the characters aren’t likable, and the emotional depth and captivation didn’t exist for me in their personal drama.

And as a mystery, it’s a letdown because the emphasis was put on the Sex and the City aspects of the story instead of on the murder of a human being, which in my opinion, is always going to make personal issues seem shallow.

It’s too bad because the case itself was interesting. And if this book had focussed on the murder, focussed on the motive and played the relevant personal drama around that, you could have had a twisted, satisfying domestic thriller. I can see the potential, so the execution, for me, is a little frustrating.

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Perhaps I'm getting jaded after reading too many similar novels, but, this was just an OK read for me.

It's the story of a group of friends, out for a Bachelorette party and then, the next day, one of them is found murdered. There are a lot of characters in this book, so, be on your toes. I liked the premise of this book more than the reality and would say it's an easy holiday read, but, no more than that.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC sent to me in exchange for this honest review.

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Thank you #NetGalley for an advanced copy of #TheLastNightOut!

Overall this was a pretty good book. Maggie is getting ready to get married when one night, her bachelorette party night, changes everything! One of her best friends ends up dead and no one knows why or who the killer could possibly be. The author gives you a few different possible suspects, with almost everyone hiding some type of secret! This goes to show you never truly know someone! My only negative comment would be the pace of the first half of the book. I thoroughly enjoy the books where each chapter ends with me dying to read more... this book did not fall into that category. The twists/suspense didn’t really start until about 60% into the book so it was just a little slow for me, however I’d still recommend it! The ending was quite surprising and extremely realistic, which I feel like is rare in most books (spoiler but kind of not a spoiler, this doesn’t end with everyone getting a happy ending).

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This book will keep you guessing but beware you will not be left much closure. Felt like there was some unanswered questions. would definitely recommend to friends.

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Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. Love a good thriller and this was definitely that. Loved the guess work and twists and ended it till the end. Well written and would recommend

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I really liked learning about all the different ladies and their point of view. Very entertaining and kept me guessing.

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Title was archived before I could review it sadly. Guess I will have to buy it if I would like to read it. I am new to the Galley and was not aware of the fact that the archival date meant that I could not access the title anymore. Too bad

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Nothing is as it seems in this story. Not only does the bride royally screw up right before her wedding, but one of her bridesmaids ends up murdered.

The murder of their friend isn't the only problem. The bigger problem are the secrets that each of the remaining women harbor. Secrets that are eventually going to come out during the investigation, whether they like it or not.

A twisting and intriguing story that will have you racing to find out what comes next.

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Six good friends since high school go out to celebrate a bachelorette party one night and the next day one of the them has been found murdered. The police investigate and find that the women are hiding details relevant to the case. More and more secrets in each of the women’s lives emerge as the story progresses right up to the unexpected conclusion.

This was a nice, quick, enjoyable read for me. I liked the stories of the multiple characters and how everything tied together nicely in the end. I found a few things so be a little far-fetched, but this did not detract from the overall appeal. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Severn House and Catherine O’Connell for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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I was intrigued by the setup of this book about a bachelorette's party gone wrong with the bride-to-be in bed with someone who is not the groom and one of the bridesmaids found dead the next morning. Who is lying? What happened? My initial impression based on the excerpt from Amazon was that it would appeal more to fans of thrillers who are also strong fans of romances and women's fiction and who don't mind unlikeable characters rather than readers looking for a deeper read. I liked the hook of the fiancée looking back in time to 1988. Once I received the full copy of the book thanks to Severn House Publishers, I did find it to be enjoyable enough to be entertained. Some of the attempts to set it in 1988 were amusing – was disco really still around in 1988? I liked the twists and turns. I was put off a bit by the poor body self-image shown by the female characters. One was shown with a small weight gain that took more significance in her life than it should have. Another initially was so content with herself she shunned any work from her plastic surgeon husband but then later (small spoiler) was happy to get unlimited surgery with her divorce. Overall, it was a good light beach read.

Thanks to NetGalley, Severn House Publishers and the author Catherine O’Connell for an electronic reading copy.

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Six friends , bride to be and a murder ! After her batchlerett party Maggie wakes to find a stranger in her bed and gets a call that her friend has been murdered ! Lots of secrets ! Just wasn't enough for me to finish this book !
Thanks to Netgalley and Severn House Publishers for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review ! #Netgalley #SevernHousePublishers
#TheLastNightOut

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I don't even know how to start this review.
Over a week after finishing this book and I still haven't got all my thoughts in order, and I don't know if that's a bad thing or a good thing.

I didn't really like the start of this book, I wouldn't say I thought about DNF-ing it at all because I was too engrossed, but there were just too many characters. Too many people to keep up with and for about a third of it, I didn't have a clue who was doing what and I was mainly spending my time guessing. I'm used to there being loads of characters, and I quite like the multiple point of views but they just seemed to blur into one in this book. I didn't let it put me off though, and I worked a lot harder to try and get to grips with it. And I did eventually.

The story however was pretty mind blowing. I was second guessing everyone's stories all the time and I think that's what I really loved about it. Everyone had a secret and I couldn't wait to reveal them all.

The ending though, I just don't know what to say. I loved it and I hated it at the same time.
I loved how mind blowing it was, how I still had no idea what to believe. But I also felt like I wanted answers because I didn't feel I got them all. I re-read the ending a couple of times to see if I missed anything and I definitely didn't, I was still in the state of 'did I like it or didn't I?' and I think I'm still there. BUT, when you piece it all together and follow the story and the characters, it was a bloody good plot and I thoroughly enjoyed the excitement and the twists.

It's one I would definitely recommend, but only if it sounds like it's something you would enjoy.

Massive thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and the author for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

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