This book was a bit more sad than the books I am seeking out these days, but there was an underlying sense of hope throughout that made me keep going. The characters are so easy to like and sympathize with, that I wanted to see them through to the end. I got the audio version, and the narration was soothing but the pacing of the story felt a little slow at times. I wonder if when reading the book the pacing would feel a bit faster. Overall, a heartwarming book, perfect for reading under a cozy blanket with a nice cup of tea.

I received an AudioARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Goodbye is a story of love, grief, relationships and new beginnings. Fiona Lucas develops Anna’s character in drawing you in to her life as a young widow. The narration gives a voice to Anna and her Portuguese friend Gabby letting you be a part of their friendship.

This book was so unbelievably sad in the beginning. I wasn't sure I even wanted to keep going because it was so depressing. However, I am so happy that I continued. Anna had such a fantastic transformation throughout the book. She is so sad after Spencer dies and after calling his phone to listen to his voicemail one NYE, a voice picks up instead. Thus begins a beautiful friendship where they bond over loss and grief and feeling so stuck. I loved Gabby and Theresa. They were the perfect companions to Anna. I loved Brody and his no-nonsense way of looking at things and helping Anna move forward. I hated Gail. She was the worst!!! Just wait... you'll agree with me. The ending of the story is just what I wanted. It was wrapped up beautifully. Such amazing character development for both Anna and Brody.

I loved this novel. It’s heartbreakingly realistic, but the phone number thing seems just a touch magical. Truthfully, the ability to develop a relationship with someone purely over voice phone calls without doing lots of internet stalking early on almost makes it a fantasy novel! (Ok, not really, but you know what I mean — it’s the 21st century, the age of social media!) There were no surprises for me along the way because Lucas threads all the clues in for you to hopefully catch, but I was still desperate to keep reading. The audiobook narrator was excellent. I don’t know that many of my high school library patrons would like the adult characters too much in this story, but it’s definitely one that teachers would check out and maybe even read for a book club .

This book gutted me. I don't know what I was expecting. I knew it was about grief and loss.
The cover made it look like a love story. The synopsis is accurate. But it's also inadequate. This book is just more. It's emotional and it has depth. It is raw. It is beautiful. By the end I was just sobbing. This is the kind of book that will stay with me for a long time. I don't even know what else to say because I don't want to give a single thing away. This is the kind of romance that keeps you engaged, surprises you, and leave you with all the feels. Buy it. Seriously.

The Last Goodbye by Fiona Lucas is so very well written.

I have lost many family members and know grief well. This came to me at the right time. I resonated with Anna so much. I love how Fiona made it clear that grief is not the same for everyone. We started with seeing Anna broken and going through her healing process.

This book goes through her process of healing and learning to love again. There were several times I wanted to cry for her.
I rated this 4 stars because it was really lovely. I am reserving 5 stars for those I would or have re read. Although I did love this, I think it is something that I would re read only in a season where it worked for me. It addressed a lot of serious topics very gracefully and I appreciated that!

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Harper Audio for granting me access to advance audio recording of this novel.

The book itself was really easy to access. I didn't have many issues. There were a few times the audiobook would stop without warning and jump to the beginning of the chapter. That could have just been technology issues.

This book took me awhile to get into. A good book about grief and moving on.. I didn't get a romantic connection between the characters..

Just finished listening to #TheLastGoodbye by @fionalucasauthor set to publish June 8th.

After suddenly losing her husband Anna finds moving on and letting go an impossible feat. Her only solace? Calling her deceased husbands phone to listen to his voicemail and leave him messages. Until one day someone.. Brody... answers the phone. Anna begins to confide in Brody as their calls become more frequent. Their bond is explored in this unprecedented friendship.

What I liked about this book:
-Anna is very relatable in how she kind of chokes down her emotions and stays quiet to keep the peace with her in-laws
-Brody is a good listener and knows how to listen without offering advice
-The friendship unfolding via phone calls is very relatable during these #CovidTimes we live in

What Missed the Mark for me:
-This is a *very* slow burn
-I never felt a true connection between Anna and Brody as he’s a very demure man
-I wish we had seen a glimpse of Spencer and Anna’s marriage prior to his death. Based on her relationship with her in laws it’s very hard to imagine their son as her soulmate

A solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me, mostly due to the slow burn I personally prefer a quicker pace in a book.

Fiona Lucas' The Last Goodbye was excellent, and especially great as an audiobook. From the very beginning Anna’s story pulled me in as we followed along as she came to terms with the grief of suddenly losing her husband, exploring her relationship with her in-laws, and her late night conversations with the man who inherited her husband’s phone number. I don’t want to give anything away, but the story is so well written and enjoyable. I was able to listen to the audiobook which was especially great - I loved how the narrator, Antonia Beamish, interpreted the characters’ personalities and listening was a great way to slow down and soak in the story. I listened to all 11.5 hours in a single day (😬) I was truly pulled in and didn’t want to take out my earbuds! This book comes out on June 8 - I definitely recommend both it and the audiobook!

“That’s the funny thing about the future, isn’t it? We have all these plans, some small, some grand. But things don’t always work out the way we expect them to.”

This book was very emotional. You feel the anger, frustration, and sadness of Anna. Anna is grief stricken from the loss of her husband, and just trying to survive.

I haven’t read something like this in a long time. Everyone’s path to healing is very different, and this book creates a beautiful picture.

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5 stars

Thank you to @netgalley and @harperaudio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

**I was provided with an advanced readers copy by the Author/Publisher in exchange for an honest review**

RATING : 4.5 stars

This novel revolves around the protagonist, Anna, coming out of a grief over the unfortunate loss of her husband, Spencer. The story was extremely moving and emotional to read, especially the first half. Anna starts off lost, unable to grieve and on the verge of depression. However, she finds herself wishing she can move on and heal. Not knowing how to do that and who to turn to, she stuck in a horrible mental race, where she just runs in circles. To matters worse, her once mother in law keep finding new ways to hurt her in the process of grieving for her son. One day Anna calls Spencers number in a desperate moment of time and finds Brody on the other side (Spencer's number got transferred to someone new) who is living in total isolation for 10 years, dealing with his own loss.

The Author does a phenomenal job in terms of writing about the grieving process and how it can be overcome if only one chooses to share and talk to someone. Communication is ket and this novel really highlights it. Anna grows in front of the readers eyes and it was incredibly rewarding and very subtle. Brody also has great character development. The story was very simple and straightforward; if I think about it, it was just Anna living one day at a time and it was very fluid to read about.

The Last Goodbye will be out on June 8th, 2021...keep an eye out!

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Audio for an audioARC in exchange for an honest review.
I hate to admit that I had a hard time finishing this book. The plot felt way too similar to The Two Lives of Lydia Bird (which I also didn't love) for me to be interested in how it ended, the story was too slow, and the first half continued for too long. I also personally did not care for the narrator - whenever I tried to listen to the book for any period of time I'd get sleepy or my mind would wander ( & I listen to a LOT of audiobooks!). I think maybe I would've enjoyed a physical/print version of this book better. I am sure many will enjoy this book, especially those who enjoyed The Two Lives of Lydia Bird and We Met in December.

Such a powerful and emotional story. Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this as an audiobook. I loved the character development that Ana had throughout the book. And I truly felt every emotion in the book. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and family.

I received an advanced copy of the audio book for The Last Goodbye and I must admit that I struggled to finish. I started my listen knowing that heartbreak and loss are at the core of this book, but I felt like that part of the story (the first half) continued for too long. The connection between Anna and Brody wasn’t there for me, and maybe because the slow burn was too slow and long. I also did not care of the narrator. I have listened to hundreds of audio books and I would put her somewhere in the middle - her voice kept putting me to sleep. Overall, I think it was a well-written book, but I did not enjoy the story.

3.5 I was so eager to get into this book as the story was very promising and intriguing, the idea of the story was really promising, and that's basically what made me want to read it in the first place but I wasn't expecting the narrator so that is the only reason for me to give this book 3 stars.

The last goodbye is the story of Anna, her life changed so drastically making her unable to move forward living, in constant griff without any interest of meeting anybody new or starting a new relationship. people around her want her to move on her friend kept trying to blind date her with other guys but Anna wasn't ready and that's what started to make her life a little hard.

The story really felt so real and that is one of the things that I love about this book, that we were walking through life with Annas mind and feelings making us more aware of what she was going through.

the only reason I wasn't able to give 4 stars to this book was that I feel like the narrator was acting too much for my taste, it didn't felt natural and I was really getting annoyed by that to the point that really made me want to stop listening but I kept going till the end.

this was a good story, if you really want to enjoy this book give it a chance but I do recommend going for the ebook or paperback, that will definitely make you love this story even more.

Review - The Last Goodbye by Fiona Lucas

Audio version

4 stars

A story of love, loss and grief and how the power of friendship has the power to heal. Anna and Brody are the main characters that are dealing with loss and grief. Their initial meeting is quite unique and leads to a continually evolving friendship. They are both dealing with life altering issues that has had a devastating affect on both of them. Can their friendship save them from themselves?
The writing is quite good and captures the emotions of pain and fear that are accompanying the loss and grief that Anna and Brody are facing. The character portrayals were great and their situations at times very relatable. As their friendship builds there are many twists and turns along the way that kept my interest. I constantly found myself cheering for positive outcomes with each new scenario they faced. Hoping for happiness and healing for both of them.

The audio version was enjoyable and I would highly recommend this book to others who enjoy a story about a healing friendship.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. #NetGalley #TheLastGoodbye

I don't think there are enough heart eye emojis to express my love of this story! I am not sure if it was the story itself, if I am particularly vulnerable lately, or both, but this one really got at my heartstrings. 5/5 would read again- though go in softly if you are newly engaged or married like I am, you may find yourself in a puddle of happy/sad tears!

Thank you NetGalley, Fiona Lucas, and William Morrow Publishing for the free ALC of this book!

I have received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Goodbye is a heart wrenching look into the struggles of grief and loss. The characters are flawed and relatable on a personal level. The journey that Anna goes through after losing her husband is both heartbreaking and therapeutic. I found myself feeling what she felt and sympathizing with her whole heartedly. Brody also had his own struggles and you also get to experience him trying to move past them. It explores the everyday struggles of dealing with grief as well as the relationships lost and gained while recovering from a loss. This book was very raw and I will say if you have gone through a recent loss, beware of sensitive material. It did take me longer than normal to get through due to the emotional content, but I did really enjoy the story and Anna's transformation. The plot progressed really well and I loved the ending.

For fans of Forever, Interrupted and P.S. I Love You.

Antonia Beamish did a wonderful job narrating this book! I loved her voice changes and the pauses she added -- she knew exactly how to captivate the reader and bring Fiona Lucas's book to life. The characters in this story are realistic and relatable going through life and coping with grief in their own way. The Last Goodbye is a bittersweet story about loss, moving on, and allowing yourself to accept happiness and forgiveness.

Oh my!!! This was such a tear jerker!!! What a wonderful book!!!! Everything about it was amazing!!!! A heartbreaking tale of Anna a few years after her husband dies. On New Years eve she dials his phone number to hear his voicemail one last time, something she has dine in the past. Only this time someone else answers. In the other side is a man named Brody dealing with his own grief. One call turns into many over the course of the next year as they try to deal with their pain. These calls slowly help them heal and rediscovery not only themselves but the realization that there can be happiness after a tragic loss.