This book fell a bit flat for me. I wanted to enjoy it and it’s certainly a love letter to music with themes of identity and trying to find out about a parent who you never knew, but I just didn’t get into it.

One thing that really bothered me was that there were these mysteries surrounding her father and how her mother died and I just couldn’t believe that a celebrity in early noughties America could have those mysteries surrounding her. I can’t see journalists letting those mysteries lie or people not selling her out.

Tori was a good character. Mia annoyed me a bit with how much she was trying to leave an important decision about her life to her late mother, but the Tori bits I enjoyed a lot more. I could just picture this wild girl with her guitar, painted with roses, on her back doing anything in pursuit of the music.

I’m really sad I didn’t like this. Because of the bisexual representation, I really wanted to like it. But unfortunately it fell flat.

The last love song is a queer YA romance inspired by Mamma Mia with a dash of Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes, the story follows Mia Peters (daughter of a late country superstar) who wrestles with leaving home, first love, and her true ambitions-all while following clues on a journey through her celebrity mother's hidden past.

Mia: Daughter of late country superstar Tori Rose, whose only solace is songwriting.

Britt: Member of a band called The Lost Girls and Mia’s best friend.

Tori Rose: Country superstar and Mia’s mom.

I would like to begin with that this book’s plot is compelling; you would not like to put The Last Love Song down. I was really into Tori Rose’s story- How she rose to the top? Who was Mia’s dad? How did her story end?

Mia and Britt’s story was filled with angst and adorableness. I really liked how they loved each other, but that didn’t influence their opinions. The parallels between Tori and Britt that showcased how they were born to be stars were really clever.

Mia’s grandmothers or Tori’s moms need to be mentioned because they were the cutest, and I LOVE THEM.

To conclude, this is a gorgeous debut that makes me want to look forward to author‘s future works.

“She’s the personification of a love song, and I can’t get her out of my head.”

Mia Peters just graduated from high school and is terrified of the upcoming summer. She has to say goodbye to everything she’s ever known, like her kind-of-sort-of girlfriend, Britt, and her band, who are following their dreams of going to Nashville, leaving Sunset Cove behind. Then, Mia finds mysterious letters from her country music star mother, Tori Rose, who died years ago. The letters reveal secrets that piece together her mother’s time in Sunset Cove and help Mia discover who she really is. Mia must decide whether to go to Nashville to pursue her love of music or stay in Sunset Cove with her two grandmothers.

This story was beautifully written and was such a quick and fun read. I loved the scavenger hunt aspect because it had me on the edge of my seat, waiting to find out what Mia uncovered next. I also enjoyed all of the relationships in this book, both platonic and romantic. Mia’s two grandmothers were adorable, and I loved seeing their dynamic. Mia and Britt’s friends-to-lovers arc was executed well, and I loved their tension and chemistry. One criticism I have is that the book was marketed with Mamma Mia vibes, but they weren’t really there. Yes, Mia didn’t know who her father was, but I don’t think it fulfills the Mamma Mia characteristics that were promised. Despite that, I loved the musical elements, like the snippets of songs written by Mia’s mother and Mia herself and the love triangle between Tori Rose, her bandmate, and her best friend. Kalie Holford’s debut novel is a heartfelt love story about growing up and letting go of the past.

I had such high hopes for this, but while I enjoyed it, I ended up with some mixed feelings. I thought this was a very charming story, heartfelt and cinematic, and I loved that we got to read chapters from Mia's mother's perspective as well, which really added to the atmosphere of the story. That said, the story did fall a little flat for me. I think I expected a little more from it in terms of mystery and character development. I really didn't like how the reason for her mother's death was kept from Mia for so long, because this really screwed with her brain. I think she always deserved to know. I also wasn't a fan of the romance, because it felt really conditional, and I didn't feel the chemistry.

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was everything I wanted it to be. Messy queer characters, a scavenger hunt, and lots of angst. I will say, I don’t always love family drama stories, but this one was so intriguing and heartfelt. I cried multiple times, and personally I love that for me.

I loved following Lia as she figured herself out, and learned more about her mom. This is such a great spring book. Definitely binge-worthy (ignore that it took me 2 weeks I am tired). It felt like I was bingeing it every time I picked it up, and that is a great feeling!

Thank you to Netgalley for the free e-arc.

This book was not what I expected. In the best way possible. Like seriously I somehow did not read closely enough and thought this was just going to be a silly, sweet love story (which I love too) but this book is so special to me. To explain why, I need to explain to y'all how hard it is to make me cry. The last book I seriously cried, it was the last one of a series I'd been reading for more than half my life and one of my favourite characters had died. This book made me cry not once, not twice, but three times. Some of them tears of sadness, some of relief and happiness because I felt for Mia so, so much. Now I try to keep these as spoiler free as possible, but this is such a beautiful story of grief and growth and exploring not just who you are but who the people around you are. From pretty much the beginning on, the book just hits you with one beautiful, devastating lyrical blow after the other. I usually hate when authors write lyrics for their books because often times they just fall flat for me or don't fit, but god seriously Kalie put these in an album. These lyrics are so beautiful, and I just kept wishing I could actually listen to them (and probably cry even more). I'm seriously so happy I pre-ordered this book, and I urge everyone to do the same before it publishes next week!

THE LAST LOVE SONG kicks into gear quickly and moves through its ~230 pages at an equal pace. The story follows Mia Peters as she graduates from high school and struggles to figure out what her next step in life is. Helping her on her journey is a scavenger hunt set up for her by her mother, a country singer who died tragically when Mia was only a year old. Through her life, she's struggled with her identity as they daughter of her small town's most famous resident, especially since no one, including her grandmothers, can bring themselves to talk about her mother with her. During her journey to learn more about her mother (and her own past) she carves out a path for her own future.

This story punched me in the feelings in a big way. Debut writer Kalie Holford gets the emotions -- of abandonment, yearning, that summer after graduation when everything feels that it's changing -- all so right and so truthful that you can't help but be brought along the journey with Mia. A standout element of the writing is the song lyrics; it's incredibly difficult to write song lyrics for songs that within their universe are smash hits, but these lyrics sing right off the page (pun absolutely intended).

THE LAST LOVE SONG might be for you if you love:
- Taylor Swift, Mamma Mia, I KISSED SHARA WHEELER, Almost Famous
- Queer representation all over the place
- Complex mother/daughter dynamics
- Girl bands

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing an advanced review copy.

*Thank you to Netgalley, Blackstone Publishing, and libro.fm ALC for copies in exchange for an honest review*

LOL so at first I had just an arc through Netgalley, then Kalie Holford reached out to me to see if I wanted a physical arc (YES), and THEN I saw libro.fm had this in their April ALCs, and I grabbed it because I’ve been in the mood for audiobooks recently. I sort of did a tandem read going between the audio and ebook or physical book.

But anyway…THIS WAS EVERYTHING I WAS HOPING FORRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!

When I first heard the news that this book was being released, I KNEW I had to follow along to know when it was being released. And oh man I’m SO glad I did. This was a 5 star read. I loved everything in it. I loved everything about it. I loved the characters. I loved the plot. I loved the sapphic representation. I loved the music aspect. I loved evERYTHING.

Oh my god. PLEASE this is amazing and everyone should read

Why did this book almost bring me to tears!! TEARS!!!! Every chapter!!!! UGH! I never wanted this book to end!!!

We meet Mia, who graduated high school and she she got the ultimate gift, her late mother’s journal. Mia’s mom is Tori Rose and she was a famous singer, who died at a young age and Mia was still a baby, and no one talks about her mom, even though the town is literally making money off of her fame.

Tori has her on a scavenger hunt of sorts and she is to complete the missing pages of her journal. This was a way for Mia to get to know her mom, FINALLY!!! But omg the journey was an emotional one, and one of self discovery as well especially for Mia. She doesn’t want to fall into her mom’s footsteps because she fears she might lose it all like her mom, but if only she knew….

I don’t know how I am going to recover from this book.

The writing is very…simple? It’s wordy and overly descriptive at times. It reads very YA, which obviously it is and that’s not a bad thing I do love the genre, but it’s telling-over-showing-and-lacking-depth YA writing, if that makes sense?

You have to suspend your belief throughout-Mia is in a small town and knows nothing about her mom, Tori Rose. So no one in this small town can tell Mia anything about her mom, a town DEDICATED to the legend and life of Tori Rose?! Also her mom died in 2006, if she was this great celebrity it would’ve been all over the internet how she died! Also I found it incredibly cruel and unbelievable that Mia’s grandmothers wouldn’t share ANYTHING about Tori. I know grief is different for everyone but withholding information about a girls mother- That’s fucked up and could’ve prevented Mia’s major anxieties/fears/commitment issues.

The only thing about this that is mamma Mia is that there’s music and an absent father whom Mia doesn’t know who it is otherwise it’s more Daisy Jones meets I Kissed Shara Wheeler.

The characters are all so flat and underdeveloped-I don’t know anything about them aside from Mia’s repetitive inner turmoil about leaving vs staying in her hometown. There’s not enough excitement or intrigue for it to hold my interest, I kept putting it down after only 5 minutes of reading, so I DNFd after 15%

The romance Mia is involved in (trying to avoid spoilers) already happened a few times but it’s briefly mentioned as not turning out well. So it felt almost forced to have them going back and forth with this crush if they tried several times without it working out. I wanted the bi rep and was so excited about it but this romance had zero chemistry because we are being TOLD everything without depth, or even simple actions.

The Last Love Song begs the question: what if Mamma Mia was mediocre at best? The story follows our main character, Mia, as she tries to track down the last remaining memories of her late mother and her unknown father. The plot is convoluted and hard to follow, although it seems promising on the surface level. This book wants to be Looking for Alaska, but missed the mark.

4.5 stars
The Last Love Song is a story about a daughter trying to find the courage to follow her dreams.

Mia is the daughter of country star Tori Rose, who passed away before Mia could even remember her. Now 18 and facing the rest of her life, Mia struggles with going after the music like her mom did and fears hurting the girl Mia loves in the process. But Tori Rose left a special gift for her daughter: a journal and a scavenger hunt to find one last love song.

First of all, this book needs a soundtrack immediately. The way lyrics were woven into the story was so beautiful. Second, I cried, which is always an indicator to me of a good story. This book takes place over the course of a week (aside from glimpses into Tori Rose's past), but there is actually quite a lot of character development for such short a time. The pacing was a little bit weird overall, but I definitely enjoyed this story about a woman's love for music and the daughter she left behind.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

The Last Love Song by @kalieholford was such a joy to read, it feels like a love song to music with so many wonderful lyrics! throughout the book, I really felt the need for a playlist! Somebody should create real songs with these lyrics, please!!

Mia and Tori are both wonderful, messy teenagers. I think the author did a great job at encapsulating that feeling of being torn between choices when you are barely an adult and the fear of making the wrong ones. This is a story all about following your dreams while staying true to yourself. How one person’s story doesn’t define how you should write your own. How two journeys can be opposite yet still have the same underlying path.

More than anything I loved Mia and Britt´s story, the whole back and forth and the fear of ruining their friendship by pursuing their feeling felt really well done, it didn´t end up feeling rushed due to all the throwbacks at their other slip-ups! 😉

To convince you to pick up this amazing coming-of-age sapphic book, here is my favorite quote:

"We burst and we break. We are dichotomies and paradoxes and lies and happily never afters. We are an ending that wants to be a beginning and a beginning that never got to start quite right. We are everything and she is everything and only I know that I truly wish I could go with her."

My God, I could not stop crying near the end. I guess Kalie Holford must have written this book with an onion. I was on and off crying the whole book.

This book is only about 250 something pages and the way it made me that emotional in such a short book is a good sign!

Not everyone may cry, but if you cry over baby elephants sucking on their nose as a pacifier, like me, then you'll cry.

Imagine a book that has Mamma Mia and Daisy Jones & the Six inspirations, toss is a dash of inspo from Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes, that's this book.

I loved the song lyrics typed out in the book, and to show how it was in relation to Tori's past that Mia was digging up.

Mind you being, this is a young adult book. So it does have the whiny 18 year old problems, which doesn't float everyone's boat. I'm still somehow fine reading young adult books like this, as a 32 year old woman.

I want someone else to read this book and cry over it with me.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬.

I really wanted to love this book but it was just ok. There were some really sweet moments and tear jerker scenes but over all some of the characters were really unlikeable. It did make me want to know how it ends and that’s what kept pushing me to read and for that alone I gave it three stars.

COULDN'T CONNECT TO ANY PART OF THIS STORY

I am clearly in the minority with this book, but I just couldn't get into it at all...

What I disliked

👎Writing: Normally I don't get too hung up on writing, but when pretty much the entire story is written as an angsty teenagers inner dialogue, the writing bothers me...

👎Characters: There really wasn't any one character that I could connect to, they felt flat and boring - especially Mia didn't do anything for me

👎Pacing: The book is quite short, which makes the pacing quite fast - too fast for me to get emotionally connected to anything

👎Scavenger hunt: Mia is following clues left by her dead mother in order to learn more about her, but the scavenger hunt just didn't feel involved to me, it seemed more lackadaisical

👎Premise: The entire premise of Mia living in a town that is clearly very devoted to her mother (!), and yet no one will or can tell Mia anything about said mother just seems super weird and odd to me

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

A love letter to Mama Mia and a beautiful coming of age story. The cover pulls you in right away! Full of heart, queer rep, and friends to lovers. How you live up to your legacies while also being yourself and following your own dreams. This is a beautiful story and I can’t wait to read lore from this author!!

I loved the idea of this book, the comparisons with Mamma Mia, and the use of the flashbacks were so fun. I love dual timeline/flashbacks in books, and loved getting the learn about Mia's mother's past and everything with her. I did want to shake the main character and her on off love interest, the back and forth and the way they talked about their "slip ups" got a little much, but I am happy with how their story ended. I don't think Mia really develops much over the whole book, and don't understand her decision almost solely dependant on what she learnt about her mother but I'm not surprised by this either. The song lyrics were a fun addition, I wish I knew more about Mia and the bands music styles so I could maybe imagine them more, everything in my head felt country because of Tori but I don't know how accurate that was. I loved the queer rep, the wlw main couple, and her grandmothers and side characters too.

3.5 stars rounded up. This book was a case of awesome premise, so-so execution for me. It sounded like a warm, comforting, potentially sob-worthy tale. And it was, except for the sobbing part. I definitely didn't do that.

I liked the format and lyrics. I felt like there were some gaps though, parts where I would've liked to know more of the backstory. I also thought the characters were a bit flat. They were likable enough, I guess. I just didn't really connect with them. Same with the main relationship. It was a cute but kind of bland friends to lovers one.

All in all, I'd say this is worth picking up if you're in the mood for a quick summer read that's light on the plot and heavy on the vibes.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

I loved the poetic writing style. I highlighted so many lines throughout this book that were beautiful. And while I appreciated this, I felt there were some things I wanted to see more of. For example, we were told Mia and Britt’s romantic history but I never felt their connection. I had trouble picturing what Britt looked like in scenes. I would have also liked to see a little more into her feelings towards Mia. I know Britt said she loved her and wanted their story to continue but I missed the depth of these emotions.

Also I feel so bad for Mia that her grandmas literally told her nothing about her mom or who her dad is—like not even his name. She was so in the dark. I can’t imagine. But I am shocked with how famous Tori Rose was alleged to be that the news never slipped out. I know 2006 was a different time than 2024 but still.