I have such mixed feelings about this book. It is a bit all over the place and completely over the top, yet I couldn’t stop reading. I think there is a really strong premise, it just needs to be scaled back a bit. The graduate school saga and the cabin saga felt like two different novels, even after they intersected. The ending was a little too tidy in comparison to how we got there. Luke felt entirely unnecessary.

All that said, the Justine/Hannah storyline was completely enthralling. Obsession, addiction, competition and mental illness all intersecting into a situation of pure nightmare fuel. I don’t doubt this is how actual writing programs are to an extent. I don’t even like academia but it was set up and executed really well.

Three and a half stars rounded down. Rebecca Kanner’s “Last One Seen” is a hard book to review. This book had a nice hook with the line “There are three people I suspect of killing her, and I’m one of them,” but the plot was all over the place at times.

Hannah is accepted to the creative writing MFA program at Washington University in St. Louis. She’s looking for a fresh start from Minneapolis. Hannah also happens to be bipolar.

Hannah meets Justine, a prospective fellow student, shortly after she’s accepted into the program. The evening they meet each other, in a group of other current students, Hannah quickly claims she and Justine have a “bond.” Even after Hannah and Justine have a few confrontations, Hannah claims Justine is her best friend. She also believes they have a “real connection.”

This book flips back-and-forth between present day and the past few months. Hannah is the narrator and, at times, her actions and thoughts made little-to-no sense. The ending was satisfactory, but the second half of the book was difficult to read and understand what was happening.

Overall, I hesitantly recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

“There are three people I suspect of killing her, and I’m one of them.”

Hooked. I was hooked from that first line and didn’t come up for air until I hit the final page.

Last One Seen is the kind of dark, twisty psychological thriller that grabs you by the throat and quietly messes with your mind in the best way. Think unreliable narrator, dual timelines, academic pressure, toxic friendships, mental health unraveling and a murder that may or may not have been committed by our own narrator. Yes, please.

Hannah is complex, brilliant, vulnerable, and hauntingly real. As a reader, you’re constantly questioning what’s true, what’s distorted, and whether you can even trust her perception of the people around her, or of herself. Justine, the magnetic and mysterious classmate, feels like danger wrapped in Chanel perfume. I loved the intensity of their relationship. Obsession? Admiration? Manipulation? It blurs, constantly.

Set against the gritty, gray backdrop of a graduate writing program, the story unfolds in two timelines: one inching toward a murder, the other racing away from it. The writing is razor-sharp and layered with emotion, trauma, and suspicion. You’ll question everyone, including yourself.

A chilling, spiraling, beautifully broken story.

2.5/5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this digital ARC :)

Okay I do feel my rating is a tad low because the book itself was a quick paced read

Pros: super fun and fast to read, short chapters, alternate timelines leaving you breadcrumbs to piece together a mind trickery of a plot.

Cons: the MFC Hannah was really hard to like at times. She wanted a healthier stable life and had the chance, but her obsessive tendencies led her to befriend another VERY unlikeable character. In fact most of the characters were quite toxic (exceptions for Luke, Claire and Lynette). Hannah is untrustworthy and this makes the plot misleading.

I did not see the plot twist at the end and must admit I was very happy with the turn of events 😂

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the advanced copy!

Unfortunately, I ended up DNF’ing this one around 25%. While the beginning pulled me in right away, I struggled to connect with the characters and found myself unsure of what was happening as the story progressed. The pacing started to slow down around this point, and I realized that I might not be the intended audience for this book.

While this one may not have been for me, I think this would be perfect for readers who like a slow paced thriller, that gradually builds and twists that will keep you guessing until the end.

If you enjoy a book that make you feel like you are having a hangover, this is the perfect book for you.

This one was a MAJOR miss for me. I was confused from the start. Just chaotic and exhausting. My brain was fighting to comprehend all the overlapping plotlines and wild situations happening in this book. It was twisty for me but just messy.

The FMC, Hannah, is completely unhinged, unlikeable, and off the rails. Maybe this was intentional by the author but I couldn't get behind it at all. The pacing was really dragged out.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

LAST ONE SEEN is an interesting and compelling psychological thriller that begins with a great opening hook. Hannah, the protagonist, is speeding away in a car with her boyfriend, Eli, and their friend Justine is dead. Eli tells Hannah that she shot Justine and promises to keep her safe. Hannah doesn’t know if she killed Justine or not but she knows there are only three possible suspects and she is one of them. The other two are Eli and the director of her graduate writing program at Washington University in St Louis, the program she’s been attending until now.

Hannah’s story unfolds in a dual timeline overlaid with private angst and the competitive challenges she is sure are everywhere within the writing program as she fights for success and financial support. Dealing with her social paranoia and an all-encompassing desire to succeed as a writer is complicated by Hannah’s ongoing battle with mental illness. She has a self-destructive edge and a willingness to ‘go off her meds’ so she can blend in better or drink more or otherwise do things she she might not do—an approach that costs Hannah dearly.

LAST ONE SEEN moves along briskly and keeps you guessing. Hannah’s illness is presented with empathy; she and other characters will slide through the love-hate part of your brain repeatedly, the hallmark of a writer at the top of her game. You can’t help but root for Hannah and her messy and unintended journey toward self-awareness, painful as it may be. And as the ending approaches, the many reveals are noteworthy and satisfying—no spoiler alert needed here. That said, the final two sentences of LAST ONE SEEN brings the reader to a terrific ‘full circle’ moment that I greatly appreciated.

LAST ONE SEEN is an enjoyable psychological thriller featuring a female protagonist and a cast of characters that you won’t soon forget – I recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for this digital ARC!

This book really started out strong. Our FMC is in a car that is driving away from a murder scene but she has no memory of how she ends up there. The first part really kept me curious and had me hooked with its building suspense until the character started spiraling along with the story that felt abit over the top and it just felt so jarring or unnatural.

This is book is a slow burn, I did like that the chapters are short.. Told in two different time lines by the main character. It was just okay. Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for ARC.

Nice coming of age type of hook I fairly enjoyed it and it won’t be my last from this author I loved it thank you

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Frantic, dark, unpredictable, toxic, lots of interesting characters = very fun read.

This was a slow burn. I thought this was going to be a mystery but rather it’s a story about mental illness. It was well done but the way it was marketed confused me.

The plot is perfect but the execution is not. I really did not like the way the pacing changed, it messed up the flow of the book. I was also not the biggest fan of the narrator, being to into her own mind.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Last One Seen had all the ingredients I like for a thriller; dual timelines, a murder mystery, and a college campus setting. The added layer of an unreliable alcoholic narrator with bipolar disorder, struggling with inconsistent medication use, gave the story a unique twist that has you do lots of questioning.

While the premise was intriguing, the execution fell a bit flat for me. The story dragged in places, and some plot points felt overly far-fetched (the Dr. Pepper!?!), making it hard to stay fully invested. The narrator’s mental health challenges were central to the narrative, but at times it felt like the author leaned too heavily on that device to explain away plot holes.

Despite its flaws, there were moments of suspense in the book that kept me turning the pages. Readers who enjoy slow-burn psychological thrillers with complex, flawed characters might find more to appreciate here—but for me, it didn’t quite live up to its potential.

This book was a little all over the place for me. And then with only one point of view, and that point of view being unreliable, we’re not really sure what happened. The obsession was a bit much also. Probably would have DNF’d if not for it being an arc. Thank you NetGalley for this early copy.

This was a hard book to get through. First of all there's the unreliable narrator. I'm astounded at the games other characters played with her, considering the mental health of this character. But everything going on is so wild, that it was hard for me to stay connected.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the twist but did not love Justine (iykyk). I love that Rebecca wrote about the struggles of having mental health issues & how that comes with its own challenges. I hated how Justine messed with Hannah, knowing she had bipolar disordered. I did enjoy the ending of the book with it being a happy ending. I was not prepared for the ending.

A toxic friendship goes sour and Hannah, struggling with her mental health and drug and alcohol addiction as a way to maintain the highs of her manic phases of biopolar disorder. I couldn't help but root for her to get herself out of the messes she was in, both of her own creation and those created by her enemies. Toxic friendship, toxic love affair and desperate actions and the threat of violence. I enjoyed this and think my older students will get something out of it as well.

Twenty six year old Hannah has been accepted into a writing program at Washington University in St Louis.

Hannah’s behavior can only be described as obsessive. And as she is off of her medication, her role as narrator is anything but reliable.

She is intently focused on Justine, another student in her writing program. And it seems Justine returns the attention, but are her motives sinister?

I really wanted to like this one, but it never really clicked for me. Most of the characters were unlikable and others were non-entities. I never connected with the frenzied, overwrought storyline. 3 stars.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and feedback.

Last One Seen had me spiraling right along with Hannah. She shows up to her MFA program with good intentions: take her meds, stay focused, write something great. But then Justine happens— brilliant, magnetic, a little too interested-and everything starts to spiral.