⁀➷ 3.5 stars ☆
⋆.˚✮🎧✮˚.⋆

“i ask you this time: will you follow the music with me?”

this was a beautiful story, but i think my expectations were too high and i was a little disappointed with it :( the cover is gorgeous and the premise seemed really interesting, but it was a bit of a letdown. this will be a fairly short review bcs i don't rlly have much to say

⟶ what i liked.

the writing was really beautiful - it was heartfelt and lyrical and the prose was really well done! although the dialouge at times felt overtly dramatic and unnatural, but oh well. the setting was amazing and i loved the small town coastal vibes. take me to sunset cove !!

mia was a really realistic and well developed character, and i loved reading about her journey. the romance was fairly cute, though not particularly memorable, and i loved the parallels between britt and tori.
the ending actually made me cry a bit. it was a perfect way to tie up the story.

⟶ what i didn't like.

despite being fairly short, the middle part of this book dragged a lot. it took me over a week to read this book despite it being under 300 pages. but it was also fast at the same time, given that everything takes place in like a week...but okay.
the entire premise of the book felt really unrealistic. mia lives in this town that is very clearly devoted to her mother, yet she knows nothing about her? also the internet exists, why was there no mention of her ever looking up anything about her mother? the dad plotline felt like it was just shoved in there and didn't really have any real bearing on the plot. also, the scavenger hunt thing, despite being the main plot, was just sort of there...i would have liked more mystery around it because for the most part it was pretty random.
mia's chapters were quite slow at times, and i found myself getting bored a lot. i was mostly just looking forward to tori's chapters bcs her story was way more interesting to me.

⟶ overall.

despite it's flaws, i still liked this book ! i think the author is really talented - like those song lyrics?? - and i'm looking forward to seeing what she releases next ! although this wasn't really for me, i would recommend this book to anyone who wants a short summery story about love, loss, music, and following your dreams.

⟶ thank you to netgalley and the publisher for sending me an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review! 🩷

The Last Love Song is a queer Mamma Mia-inspired YA novel that follows Mia, a songwriter who is the daughter of deceased country music superstar Tori Rose. When Mia finds a letter from her mother shortly after her high school graduation, she must follow clues throughout her small hometown of Sunset Cove to unravel Tori Rose's past -- and maybe figure out the path to her own future.

This book is heartfelt, emotional, and bursting with enjoyable characters! I loved the slow-built friends-to-lovers romance between Mia and her longtime crush Britt. The relationships in this book weave so neatly into Mia's character arc as she weighs up the people who make her want to stay in Sunset Cove and the people who make her want to leave with them -- and questions whether it's possible to have both.

As much as I loved the romance elements, the mother-daughter relationship was the beating heart of the story, and the most resonant part for me. Not to spoil it, but a scene toward the end fully made me cry! It was really cool to experience how Tori's story mirrors Mia's story.

I adored the song lyrics sprinkled throughout the book. Each song reflects the character who wrote it, and they helped me get more immersed in the story. I also think it's super cool that the author collaborated with a musician to actually record one of the songs and post it on Spotify!

Long story short, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Sunset Cove. If you're looking for a dazzling, musical debut novel with plenty of heart, you should definitely pick this up!

Kalie Holford’s “The last love song” is a raw, emotional story about closure, love, and identity.

I really enjoyed the story and found that it was easy to follow along to and the over all plot was interesting.
I liked the characters, they felt very real and flawed and well written. I really loved Mia and Britt’s love story and Mia’s journey of discovery was important to understand.
The only thing is that the writing itself felt a little rushed, and that some part could have been focused on a little more. Overall, I think this was a pretty good book, and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for books about queer kids falling in love, as well as learning about their past and finding answers.

I thought this was a very cute story about a girl finding out more about her mom: her goals & dreams, her life, how she cared for her! I also think she found things out about herself as well. Very quick, easy and cute read!

I was gifted this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I’m really torn about this one and in all honesty, it may come from the similarities/overlap I noticed from my last read, so this should be taken with a grain of salt. This was a cute read, but I wasn’t sucked in. I kept getting distracted and pulled to the side. I’d just finished “Every Time You Hear That Song” which was also about a main character and her partner (about to graduate high school) going on a scavenger hunt to hear the last lyrics of a country music singer and here, a girl and her girlfriend who are musicians and are bound for the music scene post high school graduation are following the diary clues of her deceased mother to learn more about her career and past. It was a large vat of Deja vu. I really loved the queer representation and the young love and the idea of learning to find your own dreams and being sure of them instead of doing what others expect of you but the similarities kept nagging at me and the “Regret You” album title had me singing had me singing Daisy Jones and the Six music. A cute read but I quite literally felt like I’d already read this before.

First off, thank you for the ARC!

I want to start off with what I liked which is the cover. The cover is absolutely GORGEOUS. Genuinely one of my favorite book covers in a long while.

I really wanted to enjoy this book because I've found most LGBTQ+ books to center around gay men and I was so excited to read a book about queer girls around my age. This book just did not live up to my expectations. I found it very hard to stay engaged with the story and actually want to read it. The writing was very much angsty teenage girl monologues that made the book progress slower than was necessary and at some point it gets tiring to have to read solely that.

I can appreciate the Mamma Mia, Daisy Jones, The Half of it vibes of the book but overall it was a rather boring read for me.

eARC provided by NetGalley

Hold on, let me gather my emotions here...

I really enjoyed this one. I flew through it in less than two shifts at work, not wanting to put it down (but occasionally having to).

Mia - and her mother, Tori - tell this story in present time and diary entries from the past. Both characters have their flaws, Tori being wild and chasing dreams at the expensive of the people she loves, while Mia is safe and runs from love and her dreams to protect her heart. Both characters were messy, learning about themselves through each mistake they made. Mia getting to learn about her mom and find herself throughout the course of the story was beautiful, and heartbreaking. By the 90% mark, I was crying pretty hard (might just be that whole dead mom thing).

Overall, a touching story full of family, love, queerness, and music.

I have long awaited Kalie's debut, and I'm so glad it's finally out in the world! What more could you want than a queer YA Mama Mia!? The writing is so readable and relatable. Kalie does an amazing job of capturing the teen voice on the page. I also adore a mother/daughter story, and one that's not afraid to shy away from complicated topics like grief. Add this one to your shelf.

This is unfair to this book, but having this come out shortly after Every Time You Hear This Song is doing it a huge disservice. Obviously no one could have planned for it, but they're similar enough that this one doesn't hold up to the other.

Overall, Mia really annoyed me as a character. She was kind of a wet blanket who didn't seem to know what she wanted at all and only went off what other people told her. Britt was way too patient with her.

The Taylor Swift references felt over done and cringey (and I say that as a Swiftie).

Also as an Oregonian, this did not feel like the Oregon Coast at all. In fact, the setting just felt super inconsistent in general - is this town tiny? Is it medium sized?

I would probably try from Holford again in the future, but this one needed more work.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙎𝙤𝙣𝙜 by 𝙆𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙙
🌟🌟🌟✨ (3.5/5)

So this book was a delightful surprise, especially since I don't typically read YA novels. Despite this, the book quickly captured my attention and held it throughout. 💕

One of the things I liked most was the focus on strong female characters, each representing different age groups. From the young protagonist to the seasoned matriarchs, these women exuded resilience and determination in pursuing their dreams. Their stories served as a reminder of the importance of chasing after what truly matters in life, regardless of age or circumstance.

I just wish we could listen to the songs written in the book, the lyrics were so damn pretty.. I loved reading them and I'm sure I would love them if one day they turned into actual songs. 🎶☺️

Without revealing any spoilers, let me just say that 'The Last Love Song' is a heartwarming journey that will leave you feeling uplifted and inspired. It's a story of courage, love, and the pursuit of happiness—a perfect read for anyone seeking a heartfelt YA novel with a powerful message. 💖📚

Who should read it? 📖
- enjoys YA fiction
- with strong female protagonists
- LGBTQIA

Thank you @netgalley and @blackstonepublishing for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest review!

Mia Peters is facing some serious post-graduation blues as she faces a summer of goodbyes. As a songwriter, she has a talent that will take her places if she lets it, but she doesn't want to follow in the footsteps of her mother, a once famous country music star who abandoned her family in pursuit of her dreams and has since died. Mia's biggest supporter is Britt, who keeps pushing Mia to do bigger things than their small town. A wild scavenger hunt around town, seemingly set up from the grave by her mother, helps Mia confront her feelings and embrace her future. I absolutely loved the relationship between Mia and Britt, and Mia and her grandmothers. We always hear the phrase "coming of age story", but this is one where I really feel that is true. Mia has some big decisions to make, and the way she goes about them is relatable and inspiring. There were some plotholes that are easily forgiven because this debut novel is so well done. Described as a Mama Mia or Daisy and the Jones lookalike, and can stand behind these vibes, but the book, in my opinion, is one of a kind and stands on its own merit.

This book has a fun premise but it really quickly started to feel overly cheesy, angsty, and unrealistic. I think it needed to dive a little bit further into the tough topics it brushed upon, and also give us more time to really understand why the mother/daughter dynamic was the way it was to kick off the entire plot - if the mother was leaving a trail of scavenger hunt clues for her daughter, there has to be some reason she couldn’t have told her all of those things while she was alive, or else it just feels gimmicky (and in this case it did). There were also sooo many song lyrics included that again felt overly angsty and like they were supposed to represent the deep feelings that the rest of the narrative was missing but for me missed the mark.

First of all, I want to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me with this eARC.

From the first time I saw that cover, I already had a good feeling about this book. No, I don't usually judge a book by its cover, but the description also confirmed that I would like the story. Mysterious letters from her mom's past, scavenger hunt, music, sweet romance ... well, everything hooked me to keep reading. Mia's journey was relatable. It's all about finding yourself and chasing your dreams.

I would recommend this book to everyone!

So, I really like the concept of this book. I like that the town is so queer-normative, and I admire the author for writing all those lyrics.

That said... I just did not connect to the story. I liked the first 20% and the last 20%, but I never really connected with Mia, and her friendship/romance with Britt was really flat and I didn't care about it at all. I also really dislike stories where I have to wait forever for any information on the main character, and that was the whole concept of this book. And the scavenger hunt idea is cool, but like all those clues still being around 17 years later? No one touched them, they didn't get damaged? I found that really hard to believe. There's so many things about this book that you kind of have to suspend your disbelief to be able to enjoy.

I found I was only really continuing to read the story because I wanted to see Tori's chapters (which was like, 1 out of every 6 chapters, and they were very short) and because I wanted to find out who Mia's dad was. And the moment I was most interested in the story was the last 20%, when we did finally find out who her dad was and was FINALLY able to make a damn decision about her life.

The way this book became a new all time fave instantly is something I hadn’t experienced since reading Clap When You Land. This book follows the story of Mia, daughter of the country legend Tori Rose who one day didn’t come back from her last tour, and now as she’s facing the summer after high school as everyone around her is set on moving on from Sunset Cove and the uncertainty of following her mother’s footsteps or staying with her grandmas.

Following a scavenger hunt to put together her mother’s diary by following some letter’s she got as a graduation gift she starts a journey through song lyrics and the memorable moments.

Told in dual POV we get to know who Tori Peters was, and learn what led her to the ending that she had. Inspired by Mamma Mia, we have the mystery of who’s Mia’s dad and how Tori became a legend who shaped Sunset Cove into what it is today.

The writing from this book was captivating, from the first moments I couldn’t put it down, and which every letter as I got my answers I grew curious on how everything was going to turn up. The story gave me all the feels, one moment I was in awe of how inspiring Tori was and the next I was crying with the lyrics, I knew it was going to be an instant fave halfway through it and that ending did not disappoint.

Perfect for fans of Mamma Mia and Taylor Jenkins Reid, this book is the go to read coming of age for this summer, it will leave you thinking and give you all the feels.

After graduating high school, Mia faces a summer of goodbyes. With her friend Britt urging her to chase bigger dreams, Mia uncovers a series of mysterious letters from her late mother, a country music star. Each letter leads Mia on a journey through her hometown, revealing secrets about her mother’s past. With time running out before Britt leaves, Mia must decide whether to stay in her comfort zone or embrace the unknown and forge her own path.

In a way, this book felt like a mix of Mamma Mia meets Daisy Jones and the Six and the vibes were really engaging overall. If you’re looking for a fun, quick read (and are willing to suspend your disbelief for a time) then Mia’s journey to find out about her mother’s life will surely appeal to you.

The story has a lot going for it—we have an adorable queer pair of grandmothers taking care of Mia, a set of small-town secondary characters that are charismatic and intriguing, and we have a romance that keeps you guessing. Oh, and loads of lyrics that tug at your heartstrings!

While I adored the premise of this book, the execution felt a tad strenuous at times. Maybe it was the concept of the whole book but to me it would have translated a lot better onto the screen rather than a page—and that comes down in part to the writing.

As an example, when it came to emotions, the prose often fell into the dreaded telling instead of showing—especially when it came to trying to explain emotions with clichés that were then just explained right afterward with bland statements like “I felt sad”, which was a bit nonsensical. Also, at one point, the reader gets told in every chapter that Mia is sad, that she feels torn, that she can’t get what she wants in almost the same words as before but we’re rarely shown that. Over and over we have this repeated thought cycle without any sort of change (not so much in the emotions themselves but the words to describe them). Mia and Britt’s relationship especially suffers from this and it takes a bit of the magic out of the will-they-won’t-they struggle. All that being said, though, I still found myself rooting for them to find a way to be together, no matter whether physical distance was going to be an issue or not.

By far my favourite part and the one where the prose truly shines is the exploration of Mia and her late mother’s relationship. With the help of the scavenger hunt of clues, Mia unearths so much about her mother that she didn’t know and learns that after all this time, a lot of people she might not have spent a lot of time with in her hometown (felt a bit suss considering it’s a small town where everyone is supposedly a tight-knit community but we’ll deal with it), had the puzzle to the mystery that was her mother’s death all along.

Tori Rose was a strong character whose true voice shone through the lyrics that are included in this book. I could imagine myself listening to her on the radio and (like a lot of individuals in this book were willing to) wanting to follow her around the world. In that regard, the book was truly immersive and made me crave the chapters from her point of view. I guess that’s always a possibility with alternate timelines that one is more intriguing than the other.

While the big plot twist is quite predictable, I still had a fun time watching Mia try to piece together the clues her mother left her and the way it brought her and Britt closer together.

If you’re in the mood for a quick, summer-y story about a girl torn between her mother’s unresolved past and her own fears of the uncharted future, paired with a dash of heartfelt country music lyrics and a small town setting to steal your heart, then The Last Love Song’s the book for you!

This was a really good young adult novel!

There is an underlying romance to it lingering on the surface, but it is about so much more than just a romance- it is about a daughter connecting with her mom who has passed away and it is also about finding yourself especially at such a pivotal time at age 18 and starting your life.

I really liked the two timelines- Mia’s story in present day and then her mom’s story from the past. I loved how the timelines intertwined so well with the set-up of the scavenger hunt and letters her mom left her.

What a great debut! Such a quick and easy read- recommend checking it out!🩷

I swear everyone in this book has an insufferable boner for the vague concept of music, and are every single one of them are some of the most selfish people I've been forced to care about. That is saying something given how most of the central characters are women, and no one more selfish than the central characters, especially Tori who EVERYONE is in love with, despite how much she has screwed over everyone. I feel like the author would be better off as a songwriter for country music, because that ethos expanded over a queer teen story was just so SO frustratingly pretentious. For what was a relatively short novel, it dragged so much, every twist and turn of the plot and the scavenger hunt was so cringe and contrived. The way people talked to each other, especially Mia just felt so stilted and unrealistic. Literally the only people I could stand were the lesbian grandmas (would much rather have read their story) and sometimes Britt, who reflects my own frustration at being caught up in this mess. So one star for them, and one star for entirely too many songs in this that would be of far greater emotional impact in a Taylor Swift album.

**I received a free ebook from the publisher on Netgalley for review purposes.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Last Love Song in exchange for an honest review.

Mia Peters has just graduated high school and is at a crossroads in life. She loves songwriting and making music but is afraid of following in the footsteps of her famous country music star mother, Tori Rose. Mia has been raised by her two grandmothers and knows next to nothing about her mother's life and why she abandoned her family to pursue her dream of music. After graduation, her grandmothers hand over a gift that Tori Rose left for Mia to open upon graduating high school. Inside this gift is a letter from her mother that leads Mia on a wild scavenger hunt through her town, with every discovery filling in a piece of the puzzle as to who her mother really was.

I loved the idea of this book:
+ sapphic romance
+ a scavenger hunt
+ mix of romance, self-discovery, and mystery

However, this just didn't work for me, personally. The characters fell flat and I felt like I didn't really get to know them; there was a lot of telling and not a lot of showing. I had to just take things as they were with regard to the farfetched scavenger hunt Tori designed for Mia; I didn't really understand how Mia was putting together some clues and had to disbelief most of the time. I found myself rolling my eyes and groaning at some of the dialogue, though maybe I just wasn't the right audience.

My biggest gripe with the book is the fact that Mia knew so little about her mom yet lived in a town with restaurants, clubs, tours, etc. devoted to her mega-celebrity mom. I just cannot accept that she wouldn't have found out *something* about her mom in 18 years and think it was cruel of her grandmothers and others in the town to literally share nothing with her.

Again, others seem to love this, but it sadly was a disappointment for me.

I liked this book! I enjoyed that it didn’t feel choppy and flowed well and the characters were likable and had noticeable enjoyable flaws and perks :) 3.5 stars