I was very excited to start “The Last Love Song” because it sounded like everything I like to read about in my books. Mamma Mia vibes, music, two POVs in different time-lines, a grief rep, a scavenger hunt with a mystery element and a sapphic romance. I mean, what’s not to love? I was so ready to dive into this story and once I did, I had a really good time. I think for a debut this was great and despite a couple of little issues I had with the storyline I was still happy to tag along Mia’s scavenger hunt and to find out more about her mother’s mysterious past.

So what exactly is the book about? Well, we follow Mia Peters who lives in a small town and is the daughter of former country music star Tori Rose. Apparently, Tori’s death was kept quiet and no one wants to talk about what happened in the past. After graduation, her grandmothers give her letters in her mother’s handwriting, though and so an unexpected scavenger hunt for the whole truth and Tori’s past ensues. I’ve to admit that the premise of the story was very intriguing and I enjoyed to follow all those little hints alongside Mia. With every new letter, there comes another clue and the pages of Tori’s diary don’t only reveal how her career started but also hint at the identity of Mia’s father. I personally love scavenger hunts and the way it was done in here was a lot of fun and kept me guessing until the very end.

Another thing that was done well, was Mia’s anxiety and her fear of always being compared to her mother. Mia was a great musician in her own right, but if you’re the daughter of one of the brightest country stars that ever shone, some people will always draw comparisons and see you as some sort of legacy. All of Mia’s insecurities stemmed from that and I think her character arc was very relatable and comprehensible.

It’s not easy to deal with all of those expectations and the added pressure of Britt – her best friend and soulmate – leaving soon to follow her own dreams, certainly didn’t help. Still, at times I couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated with Mia because it was so obvious that she wanted to be with Britt, yet it seemed like she didn’t want to face that truth and conditioned it on how her mother’s scavenger hunt would end instead. Mia wanted someone else to make that choice for her and yes, that was extremely frustrating. Then again, she was still a teen and I guess if you’re that young and never knew your mom, you might crave some sort of guidance.

As we follow Tori Rose’s diary entries and her story unfolds, we discover that she didn’t always have an answer for everything, though. The reader gets to see a young Tori Rose at the beginning of her career, torn between adventurous life on the road and the quiet safety of the small town she grew up in. Her inner struggle reflected in the two boys that accompany her on her journey while she follows her dreams. And let me tell you this, those two boys couldn’t have been any more different even if they tried.

On the one hand, we had Patrick Rose, the mysterious boy with the rose tattoo who connected to Tori through their mutual love for music. And on the other hand we had David Summers, Tori’s childhood best friend who supported her no matter what and knew her better than anyone else. I loved how those two boys stood for different things in Tori’s life and the fact that one of them could be Mia’s father only made to read her POV even more intriguing. The only thing Tori Rose always knew was that she wanted to make music, but in order to do that she also had to make a choice.

So in the end both, Mia as well as Tori Rose, had to decide what they wanted and it was no easy choice for either of them. I think what Patrick and David represented for Tori Rose was exactly what Britt and Mia’s grandmothers represented for her. Choices, different paths with a million of possibilities and yes, this can be quite scary. Still, despite it all, I could always feel how much Mia loved her grandmothers and Britt. Both girls, Mia and Tori, felt torn inside and both had to find their own way.

Even though Mia’s POV wasn’t as interesting as Tori Rose’s, I still loved her relationship with Britt and those two had a lot of chemistry and sweet moments that instantly caused me to pull for them. In addition, I’m such a sucker for the best friends-to-lovers trope and Britt and Mia definitely delivered on that front. What I really loved about this book were the beautiful lyrics, though. They made everything feel even more real and I could totally imagine them singing those songs on a stage together. Meaningful lyrics that rhyme are my kryptonite in books that feature music so this was amazing!

Finally yet importantly, before I end this review I’ve to mention a couple of things: Firstly: The fact that we got an elderly lesbian couple in the form of Mia’s grandmothers was awesome. I honestly need more representation like this in my books! For obvious reasons we so rarely get older LGBTQIA+ couples in stories, but I think representation like that is so important. Secondly: Kalie Holford nailed the grief representation for me. It ran like a common thread through the entire book and was palpable in many different ways. No matter if it was through Mia’s grandmothers that didn’t want to talk about Tori Rose, Tori’s old friends, people that knew her and spoke about her with Mia or even Mia herself who never got to know her mother and held on to her letters so tightly it hurt. Grief can have many forms and this was shown so nicely throughout the story.

Despite all my enjoyment there were some things that didn’t make a lot of sense though and of course I want to address them in my review as well. For instance, I couldn’t understand why Mia’s grandmothers never spoke about Tori Rose. I mean she was their daughter and no matter how much it hurt, for the sake of their grandchild’s sanity alone they should have told her about her mother. And if we’re already talking about flaws in the story: I didn’t get how Mia was able to live in Sunset Cove all her life without finding out about her mother’s death. You would think that it’s impossible not to know everything about your famous country star mother in a city that is so clearly dedicated to her life and work. Not to mention that the press would have had a field day finding out who Mia’s father was. Under normal circumstances, Mia could have easily read about Tori Rose’s love life in all the tabloids and newspapers of that time. Especially in times like now in which all those things are archived online and you just have to follow the right link. So that part of the story felt a little unrealistic and I’m sure the author could have found a different way to keep the mystery alive than just not allowing the characters to talk about Tori Rose.

All told, “The Last Love Song” was a great debut novel that lived from its beautiful lyrics and intriguing storyline. The scavenger hunt element and the mystery around Tori Rose’s death and Mia’s father kept me invested and I really wanted to know how the story would end for both of those girls. I loved how the grief representation was handled and the fact we got a queer rep as well was the icing on the cake. So despite of some things not making a lot of sense I was still happy to follow Mia’s journey. 3,5 stars rounded up to 4, because at the end of the day this was a very enjoyable read and I had a good time reading it.

Updating my review since the last one didn't fully capture how much I loved this book. From the almost-perfect, beautiful, and lyrical prose to the characters that rose from the pages, and the lyrics!!! Phenomenal. I mean, it's based on Mamma Mia so honestly, that should be reason enough to read this fantastic book. Plus gay people let's go! Also, mother-daughter relationships explored in books are always something that I look forward to. I just found some loopholes in the plot: like how does Mia know close to nothing about her mother? That was the only thing that slightly deterred my amazing reading experience.
Mia and Britt's relationship had me swooning, and the way the author writes about romance is nothing short of magic. It was truly heartwarming, and I was close to shedding a tear or two by the end!

The main character in this book needed therapy. For some reason, this story BUGGED me. It felt very "go to therapy and get over it" but I did get emotional toward the end. I felt the second half really turned it around as far as personal development. The messages of not letting fear stop you and giving love your all were very well executed in the end as well.

This book was cute! Unfortunately, I thought it was only ok, but it wasn't bad at all! I enjoyed the prose. It told the story well and the coastal town vibes were on point,

I liked Mia and thought she was a believable and developed character, however, the romance was not anything special. That was the main thing about the book I didn't like. While I liked the characers individually, the romance didn't feel believable. I just needed more. I also felt like there wasn't enough backstory about Mia's family and past. There were a lot of questions there.

Thanks netgalley for the copy of this book.

A blessing in disguise. Katie? I don't know what you put into this book, but I love you for it. And not to mention, the coverrrr. I love this book so much and everything about it. I'm so grateful I got to read it!!!!

My main issue with this book is easily explainable: I am not the target audience for it, both age-wise and the fact that I never went to an American High School and therefore could not relate to the main character at all. The writing did feel quite juvenile, but still accessible and I have absolutely come across worse YA books. Its a sweet, lighthearted story with all the right times and vibes for a Summer reading.

I really wanted to love this one, but it was just okay. I loved the songwriting aspect and I loved the characters, but I felt like it was not as genuine as it could have been. I had fun with this, but wanted it to be just a bit more than it was. I will read this author again in the future.

What are you reading this week? Thanks to Partners @bibliolifestyle and @blackstonepublishing, I am getting ready to start reading The Last Love Song by Kallie Holford. It just came out yesterday, on April 9th, so you can grab a copy and start reading too! It’s a sapphic YA debut novel, telling a coming-of-age story, and I can’t wait to start reading it!

Here’s a Synopsis of The Last Love Song:
“A lyrical and moving debut…A magical book that feels like your favorite song playing on the radio.” --Rachael Lippincott, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Five Feet Apart

A queer YA Mamma Mia! with a dash of Maureen Johnson, The Last Love Song celebrates the music of an uncertain heart—perfect for fans of Nina LaCour, Laura Taylor Namey, and Emma Lord.

After high school graduation, Mia Peters faces a summer full of painful goodbyes. Songwriting is her only solace. Everyone she knows is moving on, including Britt, her biggest supporter … and kind-of-sort-of girlfriend. Britt keeps pushing Mia to go bigger and do better than their small town, but Mia can’t imagine a life beyond Sunset Cove. Besides, she refuses to follow in the footsteps of her late mother—country music star Tori Rose—who abandoned her family to pursue her dream, leaving Mia and her two grandmothers alone.

Desperate for a sign of what might lie ahead, Mia finds the opposite—a mysterious letter from the past, addressed to her in her mother’s handwriting. It turns out to be the first of many. One by one they lead Mia on a wild scavenger hunt through a Sunset Cove she never knew, buried under the memorializing that has frozen her mother in time. Each new discovery brings Mia closer to the real Tori Rose, but with the clock ticking on Britt’s departure, Mia knows she is running out of time.

With the summer winding down, Mia must decide if she is ready to face the present, confront her feelings, and forge the destiny she truly wants. A dazzlingly soulful debut, The Last Love Song is perfect for anyone who’s ever tried to decode the clues in the lead-up to a new Taylor Swift album.

Doesn’t it sound like the perfect spring read?

Super cute and easy to read! It's Mamma Mia inspired, which I thought meant it would be more emotional than I found it to be; there were definitely moments where I could feel that, but largely, with Mia being very disconnected from her mother (to the point of not even having any memories of her really), the emotion didn't come through. I just couldn't work out how Mia knew absolutely NOTHING about her mother, who was supposedly a very famous singer - like she didn't even know how her mum had died - did she not think to Google her once in eighteen years?? Just a bit unbelievable to me. I do think the author has a lot of talent though, and I did like the main character and the love interest's relationship, and the scavenger hunt was such a fun concept!

A little juvenile for me but otherwise a sweet story I managed to get into fast and enjoy a lot!
Thank you for providing me with the arc. Think I’ll check out more from the author!

The Last Love Song by Kalie Holford is about a girl named Mia who just graduated high school and is forced to face the challenges of moving on from what she has ever known in Sunset Cove. Upon graduating her grandmothers gave her the gift she had been waiting to receive for most of her life: letters from her late country star mother, Tori Rose. As the summer goes on Mia is on the scavenger hunt her mother left for her with help from her (girl-ish)friend Britt who plans on leaving for Nashville at the end of the summer. Themes of grief, romance, and uncertainty are well displayed all throughout this book in dual timeline POV between present day Mia and letters from her late mom.

Mia was such a complex character as she was navigating grief and challenges with the inevitableness of change. I felt it was pretty realistic how she was dealing with yearning and introspection in her own way. I thought this was a cute story, however, I didn’t love the writing and found it pretty hard to get through. The pacing of the story felt off, and I couldn’t really get past a lot of the main character’s insecurity in her dialogue; although it’s understandable and raw.

Overall I thought this is a great book for YA readers who love finding a deeper meaning in everything (Swifties I’m looking at you). Breaking the fourth wall, I couldn’t really wrap my mind around how Mia lived in the town that loved her mother so fondly, yet she knew nothing about her. Does Google not exist? How was her mother able to keep these clues from being uncovered for all these years leading up to Mia’s graduation?

I think the premise of this book is good for a YA coming-of-age, queer story, but I just didn't vibe with it and it just didn't have that spunk that I was hoping for based on that "mamma mia" inspired pitch. I think there's an audience for this book, evidenced by the many positive reviews, but it just wasn't for me and I thought it would be.

When they said a ya mamma mia, they weren't kidding!

It has what every book that tells two stories at once wishes for- balance. Perfectly mixing the story of Tori and Mia, it makes it hard to know just who to love more, the mother or the daughter. Personally, my favorite parts were Tori's, but the story wasn't complete without Mia's, which made it easier to transition from one POV to the other. All that, plus the perfectly atmospheric writing, and it makes for the perfect "just one more chapter" book.

If you rewatched Mamma Mia religiously and thought it needed a little more heartbreak, or read Daisy Jones & The Six and thought it should be 90% more queer, then this is the book for you.

A very sweet coming of age story for fans of Mamma Mia. I loved how the story successfully incorporated the daughter’s and the mother’s storyline separately. I’m a big fan of the friends-to-lovers-trope and was very happy with how Kalie Holford included the queer representation! I can’t wait for her to write more YA stuff like this.

A sweet YA about discovering who you are through exploring where you came from. The book parallels a mother-daughter duo Mia and Tori. Mia has just graduated high school when she receives a letter setting her off on a scavenger hunt of her small town centered around her late mother and country music star, Tori. The young love story between Mia and Britt is also beautifully depicted. Great and quick summer read that will be sure to tug at your heart strings.


Thanks to Net Galley and Blackstone for the ARC.

Mia Peters is about to graduate high school and with it she knows she's going to have to goodbye to many, included her best friend Britt. Mia turns to songwriting for comfort, as she faces these goodbyes and pressure from her best friend to leave with her and follow her dreams. Unfortunately, Mia is scared to leave Sunset Cove and follow in the footsteps of her late mother, country music star Tori Rose. Tori left her daughter with her two mothers, to pursue her dream and never came back.

Then Mia finds a graduation gift from her mother in the form of a letter she left behind. It turns out that her mother left her a scavenger hunt through Sunset Cove, causing her to see the town in a new light. As Mia goes on the hunt she finally gets to learn more about her mother and what happened to her over the years. However, as the summer goes on she is in a race against time. She needs to finish the scavenger hunt, confront her growing feelings for Britt, and decide if she's ready to follow her dream.

For the most part I really enjoyed The Last Love Song. The relationship between Mia and Britt was endearing, as was the relationship Mia had with her grandmothers.

Ultimately, this book is about a girl who has fallen for her best friend and wants to leave with her to follow her dreams, but she's scared. She doesn't want to hurt her grandmothers and doesn't want to make the same mistakes her mom did. MIa is also still dealing with the grief of losing her mom and not really knowing her. Her grandmothers and the town are extremely tight lipped about who she was and what happened to her. This makes the scavenger hunt all that more important, because she's finally learning the truth and feeling closer to her mother.

The Last Love Song is a book that deals with extreme grief through most of it. Your heartbreaks for Mia over her confusion and sadness about her mom, not to mention her heartbreak over preparing to lose Britt. You can't help but cheer her on as starts to grow and learn throughout the book. All in all I really enjoyed the journey.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All of the opinions are my own. Thank you Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley!

I’m all about things music, and this books is interesting. Some mystery and clues are going on, which I continue reading to see what happens next. I like that there are dual timelines in the story. Overall, I like the book about finding clues, music, and moving on from some people. If you are into the ones I mention in the previous sentence, then you can check out this book. I would say you will like it. For me, I enjoy it!

Going into this book I honesty didn’t know what to expect. Sometimes I like to go into a book without reading the synopsis and it usually works out for the best. I loved the cover and how it reflected the part of the story tells two interconnected stories of this book. I for sure fell in love with the way music lyrics were woven into this emotional journey.
When we meet Mia, she is at a crossroads. Chase after her dreams or live in fear and let them slip between her fingers. Not knowing her country star mother before she pass away, she is haunted by her legacy.
When she gets the opportunity to learn who her mother was as a person and how they may have been more a like than she could have ever imagined.
This book for sure was a trip. Following Mia’s journey of self discovery had my heart smiling, breaking and being mended all in one sitting. I love a book that can make me feel so many emotions. I could feel tears in my eyes yall! Which has happened like less than 10 times in my life with books.
Overall I adored this book and it will hold a special place in my bookish heart. I would recommend to anyone needing a book to make you feel.

Thanks to the folks at NetGalley for a copy of this book. My review is a honest reflection of my feelings towards this book.

This book was so much fun! I loved the way it was inspired by Mamma Mia but still felt like it's own unique story, and really loved the dual timeline between Mia and her mom.

I read the audiobook thanks to Libro.fm's ALC program and thought it was the perfect way to consume the book. Hearing the two different narrators felt like they were telling me a story, and I really loved that.

The concept of a Mamma Mia + scavenger hunt sapphic YA novel really intrigued me but the execution of it fell a little flat for me.

The most interesting part was Mia learning more about her mom’s life. I would have loved to see more of the past timeline. The romance felt like such a small side plot that I didn’t have enough time with the characters exploring their relationship to make me care about them being together.

It also slightly enrages me that for 18 years of this girl’s life, out of all the family and friends that loved her mom and love her, not one person thought to open up more to Mia about her mom’s life.

Though I felt a little underwhelmed, this was overall still a good read and I would try another by the author in the future.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the arc!