I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

I can say that The Last Thing She Wrote is a quick read. Mostly because it's more on the shorter side. Which made it work. Not every book needs to be 350+ pages with a bunch of filler fluff. It was straight forward and didn't need any of the extras.

While some of the book irritated me, for reasons I can't even explain, I liked the premise of the story. Freddie is feeling immense guilt over the loss of his sister. After taking advice from his therapist, he goes into her room and finds her journal and then gets this sinking feeling that it wasn't as cut and dry as his sister committing suicide.

It becomes a murder mystery that then becomes a little too obvious. He questions everyone he thought were friends and realises that perhaps not everyone can be trusted.

I still enjoyed it and with it being a quick read, it wasn't an entire waste of time.

***3.5 ⭐️***

Freddie's sister is dead, and he's having a hard time coming to terms with it. His therapist suggests that he finds a way to be closer to her to gain closure. He finds her diary, and everything he thought he knew just went up in smoke.

This book dealt with many topics, among which include teen death, loss and grief, and statutory rape. Character backgrounds are inconsequential, as this is a story that moves in a forward trajectory only. The development that Freddie's character goes through, however, is a substantial one, as he appears to inwardly and outwardly grieve the loss of his sister (whereas his parents mainly mourn in silence). I found this story to have a decent mystery /thriller component, but as it falls into the YA classification, it was a little too neatly packaged for my tastes. All in all, a good read for those who enjoy happy endings in the face of devastation.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Wow it took me awhile to pick up this book, but I’m so happy I did! This is a quick read focused on Freddie who lost his sister and really struggles with the feeling of not being there. After he finds her diary, he wants to learn what it was like for her in her final days. He learns a lot that he didn’t previously know. It has a bit of mystery weaved in and will definitely tug on your emotions!

The Last Thing She wrote is a wonderful book that takes you on a journey that you won't soon forget. The writing and descriptions within the book are phenominal. You will be drawn in from the very first page.

I want to thank #Netgalley for the chance to read #TheLastThingSheWrote in exchange for a fair and honest review

I was given a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Just because fast paced and a very well written. The central theme of mental health was dealt with especially well. I also like the mystery aspect. However this book is a bit more on the YA side than I anticipated, but that doesn't mean it's a bad book. I would definitely recommend this to others.

A short, fast-paced YA read. I'm not the target audience as I am today, but putting myself in my teenage shoes, I think I would have flown through this. I don't think it would stick in my mind as a life-changing book or one I would obsess about in any way, but it would be more like a filler book, especially with how quickly it moves and how tidily it wraps up.

There's not much in the way of suspense though the climax gets pretty wildly dramatic. The characters are fairly simple, but again, YA read! It's not a bad book by any means, and the writing is solid.

The one thing I can't quite figure out is where this lands in terms of age appropriateness: the writing is simple and accessible, but the subject matter is fairly dark. I think older teens might think it's too simple, and younger teens might be reading things that are a little too old, subject-wise (although maybe I don't know what teens read, haha!).

I enjoyed this book so much, especially because it has short chapters, which I really loved. I also loved that some chapters ended in a very good way, a way that keeps you wanting to read more and know what will happen next. I liked the character development and the relationships in this story.
However, it is a 1-star short for me because for me it was predictable in most parts. I think the clues were helpful in urging the reader to guess how the story unfolds, but I am always a sucker for mysteries whose endings are just unexpected. All in all it was a good and easy read and I finished earlier than I thought. Give this one a try.

It's been 6 months since the night that destroyed Freddie's world - the night he came home to find his baby sister dead in the pool.

Therapy is not working, life is just not good. Then his therapist recommends that he spend time in his sister's room, finding a way to connect to her and heal from the trauma of loss. She tells him he will never have the answer to why Kaylee committed suicide but connecting with her will make accepting it easier.

However, after finding the diary she kept at her bedside table things take a strange twist. Was it actually suicide or is there something far more sinister and dark at play?

A gripping story that is a quick read with twist and turns.

Fast paced young adult mystery centered on Freddie who is just trying to make sense of his sister's death. I though it was well written and nicely done even if it was fairly predictable.

The premise and the beautiful cover of this book caught my eye and I thought it would be great to get my hands on it as a read for the night. I was not expecting to be an ugly, sobbing mess reading it.

Freddie is still dealing with the aftermath of his sister's death and blames himself for not being there. He has been in therapy ever since and when his therapist advised him to find closure by going into Kaylee's room, he does so but he also finds his sister's diary. As Freddie divulges into his sister's private life, he realizes that there could be more to his sister's death than he first thought. Will Freddie be able to solve the mystery of Kaylee's apparent suicide?

This book had me hooked from the very first page and the very end. Just when you thought things were to be cut and dry, the story takes a completely different turn. This book makes you sympathize with the pain a sibling has had to go through when losing a younger or older sibling. Freddie blames himself for going out and not being there or even catching the signs of something being wrong with his sister. As one character put it - the pain is never visible and there are never signs that there is something wrong.

Freddie is relatable and his anger and grief are palpable. You will find yourself rooting for him as you follow him along his journey to get the answers he seeks and you want nothing more than those questions to finally be answered and Freddie to find some bit of closure.

This was my first taste of this author's books and I am hooked. I would love to read her next books in the future.

I want to take a moment to thank Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me the chance to read this book and offer my honest opinion on it.

The Last Thing She ever Wrote hooked me in the first few pages. I had a hard time putting it down to do the sctual things I needed to accomplish that day. So hard that I ended up reading the whole book in one day.
It is a story of love and anger and death, and family, friends, anguish, healing. At first glance this could be any other tragic family story, family suffers a tragic loss, family tries to move on, son feels resposible, blah, blah blah.
But not this one.
This book is so beautifully written that you become a part of it. I found my breath catching, my heart aching, and then relief from intensity of it all.
I highly recommend you read this book. You will not regret it.

It’s been six months since Kylie was found drowned in the pool and even though it was called suicide Fred cannot help but feel guilty if only he hadn’t gone to Anton’s party she would still be here. He still seeing the psychiatrist and when she advises him to sit in Kiley‘s room and remember the good times he does exactly that and while in there he finds her diary in watching right inside makes bread curious. Could Kylie‘s death have been murdered? If it was murder who did it? These questions lol answered in the book an OMG theaters world for you they did me. This is a surprisingly thrilling yeah mystery And it’s the one I got yesterday started reading and didn’t stop till I was done it was that good. I received it from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

The Last Thing She Wrote by Julia Bodwell was an amazing story.

What stood out to me the most were the characters.
So realistic, real and raw emotion's. It was amazing.
My first time reading her work and I'm very impressed.
The story-line was interesting and engaging.
The writing was great and flowed well.
And the mystery kept me hooked.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank you to NetGalley and Julia Bodwell for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Last Thing She Wrote is a well written YA novel that covers some difficult topics. The writing was superb and it’s clear the author has a strong understanding of teenagers and the ability to write their characters well. The sibling relationship was particularly poignant, I could actually feel Freddie’s emotions and regret. I read the book in one sitting and while it covers topics that may not be easy to read, it was well worth it. I highly recommend getting your copy today and can’t wait to read and. Bodwell’s next work.

[ Review time ]

Title: The Last Thing She Wrote
Author: Julia Bodwell
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/YA
Release Date: August 3rd 2022
Publisher: Julia Bodwell
My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

wow wow wow.

This book took me by surprise because it was so beautiful and good!
Julias writing style is amazing and the way she describes grief, loss and being lost in those feelings was very touching.

It was a quick read but even though it wasn’t a long book, Julia managed to get so many emotions in just a few amount of pages. It definitely made me tear up more than once reading this one.

I really recommend people to read this one, but look up TW before you do!❤️

I can’t wait to read Julias other book and upcoming releases!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Julia Bodwell for letting me read this ARC for an honest review!💖

This book was really good!
I enjoeyd reading it so much. I love mysteries so I was really excited to read it and it still met my expectations. The characters were well developed and likable, and I can normally guess things, but this still managed to shock me that was good.
Overal, I'd recommend.

Still reeling from his younger sister’s sudden suicide six months earlier, Freddie decides to confront his guilty feelings about not being home that night by finally looking for some answers as to what was going through her mind that awful night. When he finds her journal and begins to read, however, it leads to more questions than answers, and soon he finds himself embroiled in an even deeper mystery, wondering if his sister even took her own life or if she was murdered.

NOTE: I don’t normally go for novellas, and at about 140-ish pages, this qualifies, but I’d heard good things about this one, so I decided to go for it. And I have to say I enjoyed it.

This story manages to punch a lot of emotion into this story, right off the bat. We enter as we see this family, and specifically a brother, just completely torn up after the death of Kaylee. And then were tossed into the mystery, which takes a little bit, but does indeed get going, and doesn’t stop from there. And the big reveal was great, I didn’t see that coming.

All of that in a novella. Suffice it to say the author knows how to write a good story to get all of that into a short book. And when I say that the emotion really felt REAL. I mean it. I could feel the pain that Freddie was feeling as he talked about his sister. It was incredibly powerful. I was very impressed by the author’s ability to write that into the story.

Like I said, I’m not a huge fan of novellas, but I greatly enjoyed this one, and it didn’t take long to finish. I highly recommend checking it out!

I rated this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed that this book was fast paced. It was short but packed in a lot of details. I sped through the last 15 chapters.

The story itself was interesting and kept you wanting to unveil more. It was well written, gave you just enough to create your own conspiracy without revealing what actually happened. I liked the two main two characters and I’m glad they worked things out between them.

While I liked that it was fast paced, I do feel the ending was slightly rushed, they went from one extreme to the next pretty quickly. I feel they could’ve dragged it out a tad more.
But overall I am glad I read it, and if you’re looking for a short but entertaining mystery this is definitely for you.

I have read Julia Bodwell's work and I really enjoy their writing. It's a really a good mixture of mystery and circumstances and the characters which portray a real image. And I really love how the plot plays up and I really love the story. I think this book is really wonderful and I think the author has a long way to go when it comes to writing.