Thank you Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley! I am always happy to review a book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow this was dark......and I love dark and twisted! The writing was intoxicating and absolutely sent shivers down my spine. I never enjoy reading or giving reviews that are just repeats of the summary on the back of the book jacket. I love sharing the feeling a book gives me, and the feeling this book gave me was delightfully awful. The twists, the paranoia, the suspense! It was very well written.

4/5

Holly Collins

So, a young postgraduate student is kidnapped by a dubious boyfriend. She has shot and killed her friend, she is told. They have to go into hiding, he tells her. Deep in the countryside in an abandoned chalet.

The action then switches between the present, and past events leading up to the murder. It soon becomes clear that for the narrator. Hannah Silver, the stakes are high. She wants to study creative writing, and open herself to tough critiques. She receives no funding, as all available money has gone to her classmate, the rich and sophisticated Justine. She wants to be liked by her classmates, but perhaps does not quite feel equal to them. She can't quite afford the chic clothes of Justine, but desperately seeks to emulate her.

All that could be enough to drive a vulnerable individual to possible breakdown, and unfortunately, Hannah has broken down before. She is bipolar.

The writer is especially accurate in describing what it is like to be manic, and the dangerous situations this leads to. It all rings horribly true, as does Hannah's deteriorating state, helped by a prédilection towards alcoholism too, and the trouble she gets into. She loses the respect of most of her friends, as well as of members of the staff. And there are accusations of theft, and waking up with bruised hands and face. She starts taking shooting lessons. Just in case.

However, rehab offers Hannah some possibility of redemption, as she chooses an a cohort to work with her, and her issues, the cohort rising beautifully to the occasion. Until she is kidnapped.

So did she do it? This is the main question Hannah has to find out for herself, as she face the truth about herself - and her classmates.

As already remarked, this book's greatest strength is on depicting what it must be like to experience suffering such a severe mental illness first hand. The post-graduate life for aspiring creatives did bring somewhat distasteful reminders of the competitiveness and back-biting of that kind of life, but that too seemed true to real life. The comments about unreliable narrators seemed a little too clever within the context of the tough situations Hannah is in, but certainly hints at what Hannah needs to do to gdt to the truth of what really happened.

The novel is possibly a little slow to get going, but the plot thickens in a pretty satisfactory way towards the end.

“There are three people I suspect of killing her, and I’m one of them.” Last One Seen is a wild, unsettling dive into obsession, mania, and memory. The story follows Hannah, an MFA student whose world spirals under the influence of the magnetic Justine. Now, she’s fleeing the scene of Justine’s murder — unsure if she’s the one who did it.

This isn’t quite a thriller, but it is a gripping, character-driven ride. The dual timeline works really well, and the short chapters keep things moving. Hannah’s unravelling is so well done that you fully buy into her paranoia. But some elements didn’t land — her lack of fear toward the end when Alex was still believed to be alive really undercut what should have been a crucial moment of tension. The subplot with her neighbour felt unnecessary, and Leroy was more of a caricature than a real character.

That said, I found myself enjoying this more as it went along. It’s a solid read that could have been great with a few tweaks, but it still lingers after the last page.

I’ll be sharing this review (or similar) on IG: @amiedaniellebooks

digital arc was provided by Netgalley and the publisher

Last One Seen is definitely an interesting thriller. The story revolves around a mentally unhealthy Hannah who tries so hard to befriend an important fellow grad student, Justine. Fast forward some months later, Justine is dead, and Hannah is on the run with Eli, Justine's ex, who says that Hannah, in one of her episodes, shoot Justine. Hannah has no recollection, and should she believe Eli?

Calling it a thriller is a bit... incorrect. Most of the book, 95% of it, is a drama between Hannah and Justine, Hannah vs everyone else, and Hannah vs Hannah. Hannah isn't likeable and her desperate attempt to justify and explain everything backfires so hard it made me catch a secondhand embarrassment. However, that does mean than Kanner did a great job in portraying Hannah. Reading this made me glad I didn't continue my pursue in MFA, to be honest.

This book kept me intrigued enough to keep reading. There were times when I laughed out loud and there were times I was like "wait, what?"
I like a book that can do that for me. Hannah is suffering from bipolar and takes medications to keep her mood on an even keel. I
didn't like when her meds were manipulated by herself or someone else and it made me nervous about what kind of trouble she was going to get herself into during those times. She was a very relatable college-aged young woman but a very unreliable story teller. I really liked this book, but for the life of me I'm still wondering about the ending.
Read this book. I've given it 4 Stars

Thank you to Net Galley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in advance of publication for my honest review

This so twisty you’ll never see anything coming. Talk about an unreliable narrator!! This story was a WILD ride. Hannah is a grad student who is…struggling. She meets and becomes immediately drawn to Justine, another student in the program, and things start to get messy. Told in dual timelines (now & then) this story is a fast paced ride that keeps you guessing. Who do you trust when it feels like your own mind betrays you? Who do you believe? What lengths would you go to to stay in a fricking grad program?? (yes anyone could have just transferred but there’s no story if that had happened) Full of drama, lies, drinking, plotting, and more, Last One Seen keeps you questioning even after the very end.

Thank you Netgally & the publisher for this e-ARC.

The start of this book was a little bit chaotic for me but after getting my head into it, I loved the writing style. It became a real page turner and I was never sure how the protagonist would react.
A great book that I devoured in 2 days.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in advance of publication. I’d definitely recommend if you love a good fast paced thriller.

I received an eARC from NetGalley

This book had me in a whirlwind. At times I couldn’t figure out what was going on. It seemed there was so many stories going on at once. The obsession with one person was a bit much. When the story line started to unfold, it seemed the book was just getting towards the end. For me, it took a while to pick up the pace and just too much going on to completely follow through.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an eARC of Last One Seen in exchange for my honest review!

This is quite the psychological tale that pulls me into Hannah's dark interior, keeping me wondering what's truly happening with her and the reality she exists in. This is impacted greatly by her alcoholism and her bipolar disorder (which is exacerbated by her resistance to medication), and the layers that these elements add to fleshing out her inner space further enthrall me. The dual-timeline trope is additionally something that this book deploys, and I find it to be effective here, pacing out the information and maintaining a consistent curiosity in me over the past and the present of Hannah's life. What does hold me back from feeling more strongly on this novel is that the third act, after all the buildup we've spent with a sympathetic and unreliable narrator like Hannah, ties up the threads in a manner that hits me more formulaically than I'd expected it to. It's not like the endings that I've seen from a few other thrillers where they truly managed to deliver all the twists and turns, where they strike all the emotions in just the right way. No, the third act for Last One Seen is perfectly decent, but it feels like it could have strived for something higher.

Overall, I'm officially rating Last One Seen 3.75 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding up to 4 stars. I'll keep an eye out for more of Rebecca Kanner's work.

The book explores themes of trust, loyalty, and the complexity of human emotions. It mixes suspense with psychological drama
It’s not a perfect book, but is maybe for those who enjoy deeply human stories intertwined with suspense and mystery

Thank you to Net galley for providing this ARC.

Where do I begin? The book is done yet my mind is still spinning.

We are told this story from the point of view of one person, the issue is that Hannah (the main FMC) is an unreliable author. We switch between her bipolar mania, her medicated and unmediated, and her drinking. We see her obsession unfold but parts are blacked out in her memory, which keeps one turning the page in hopes of finding the answer.

This book started as a thriller, and then it seemed like it was just about highschool-like mean girls, and immediately changed into wondering if any of what was happening was real, or if it is all within the head of an unmedicated manic 26yr old with bipolar who's fallen into psychosis. We never truly know what is real.

The story keeps reminding us through the dialogue, that fiction and non fiction can easily blend together- it even ends with a non-fiction "memoir" being written where the first line is a work of fiction.

This is why I finished the book feeling unsatisfied. The blurred reality was never cleared up by a reliable source. My biggest question was how did Justine and "Eli" know each other, and what exactly was their motive. But perhaps it ended so loosely, so that like Hannah, we can decide how the story ends.

Last One Seen by Rebecca Kanner is a haunting and atmospheric thriller that explores the complexities of memory, loss, and the search for truth. The novel follows the story of a woman, Hannah, whose life seems to fall out of control after she meets a fellow student in one of her classes at college. Kanner's writing is poignant and captivating, with a strong focus on emotional depth and character development. The tension builds slowly but steadily, making it hard to put the book down. The shifting perspectives and timelines add layers to the plot, keeping the mystery engaging without feeling overwhelming. While the plot is gripping, some readers may find certain twists a bit predictable, and the pacing can sometimes feel uneven. Nevertheless, the emotional weight and the psychological tension are what make this novel stand out. Overall, Last One Seen is a compelling and thought-provoking thriller that will resonate with fans of mysteries that delve into the emotional complexities of human relationships. It’s an intelligent, well-crafted read that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

(3.5 stars)
"By taking my pill every night, getting enough sleep, and not drinking too much, I'd managed not to have an episode in over three years." An unreliable narrator writing about writing, Hannah Silver is a person with bipolar disorder trying to get a Master of Fine Arts. But there's a woman in her workshop group, Justine, who is standing in the way of more than just her scholarship.

What I liked about Last One Seen was the person with bipolar isn't the baddie. Her mania is being weaponised. Her meds are being meddled with. So the reader is positioned on her side. It also weaves in facts about bipolar disorder fairly seamlessly: "A glimmer of what it felt like at the beginning of a manic episode when the world abruptly went magic, and it seemed that anything was possible."

Of course, as things get more stressful, the manic cycles Hannah is experiencing get thicker and faster, making the book a bit chaotic. The line between reality and fiction is constantly blurred: "Was I going to write a story about a beautiful graduate student with teeth marks on the back of her hand? Was she going to write about a bipolar girl who bought meth? We were like two scorpions in a jar." It's a lot, so the book was hard to relax into and enjoy, but it's reasonably pacy and an interesting exploration of the strength and resilience of someone with bipolar disorder who cleverly uses manic episodes to fight back against bullying and violence very effectively.

Not my cup of tea, way too chaotic with the timelines and mental illness / unmedicated personalities switching over and over. Interesting premise for sure, just too much for me as a reader.

After seeing the description of this book, I was really looking forward to reading it. Sadly, it was not my cup of tea. I struggled to relate to any of the characters, I didn't find them likeable or interesting at all, and I found myself not caring about them in any way. I didn't finish the book, it just wasn't for me.

A twisty book but very chaotic at times. I wish I didn't read the other reviews prior, it ruined the surprise of the trope of the book a bit. Definitely worth reading if you can keep up with a lot going on at the same time

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

Last One Seen is a mystery thriller told from the POV of Hannah Silver. An unreliable narrator. A bipolar student who joins a group of wanna be writers. What’s fact and what’s fiction in Hannah Silvers life?

I almost DNF’d this book as it is so twisty, turny and chaotic. However, I feel like that’s how this book is supposed to be. We are to go through this story as Hannah is. She’s extremely unreliable and suffering from bipolar disorder and constantly in and out of manic episodes. Timelines don’t always add up and dots aren’t always connected. For me, that is really hard to get passed.

In the end we still don’t know what really happened as we are only getting one side of the story and only seeing it from an unreliable POV.

That said, I did enjoy this book and want to thank the author and Netgalley for the eARC!

Last One Seen follows Hannah, a hopeful graduate student at Washington University in St. Louis, who becomes captivated by her charismatic classmate Justine. The initial enchantment between the two quickly morphs into a gripping tale as Hannah finds herself grappling with spiraling mental health challenges and the dark influence of those around her.

However, while the novel starts out okay, I found myself losing focus and not engaging in the story. The pacing felt off to me, and some plot developments appeared rushed or underexplored.

Ultimately, Last One Seen does paint a vivid picture of obsession and the pressures of academic life, but it might leave some readers wanting more resolution or clarity in its conclusion. It’s a decent read for those interested in psychological thrillers with a creative twist, but it may not resonate with everyone looking for a polished and tightly woven narrative.

#LastOneSeen #NetGalley

This book was a very solid 3.5 stars for me and I feel badly rounding down, but it just isn’t quite what I would consider 4 stars and I can’t bring myself to round up.

This was a strange ride through the mind of our mentally ill/sometimes unmedicated/sometimes drunken main character. I spent much of the beginning of the book questioning every other character and event in the story, wondering whether things were really happening as they were being told or if we were being tricked into believing our main character’s version of the story, since we have no other point of view to counter her reality.

Since Hannah is a writer in graduate school, throughout the book, we are reminded, in no uncertain terms, that the lines between fiction and nonfiction are often gray and an author can control what version of reality is written for us. Our real author (Rebecca Kanner) quite literally explains throughout the book what she is doing and what we should expect from reading the story told through our unreliable narrator’s viewpoint. But, still I tore through the pages, waiting and hoping that the end of this book would provide a little clarity, and a clearer understanding of the real reality, and not just Hannah’s version of it. Sound a little confusing? My mind is still spinning a bit, after trying to make sense of it all.

I never reveal spoilers in my reviews, but this may be a semi-exception to my rule, so please stop reading if you want to read this book and go in completely blind…
……
We only ever hear Hannah’s version of reality, which for me, was disappointing. At some point, I began rushing through this crazy ride, waiting for the twists and turns, but they just never came. I kept coming up with theories as to what was really happening, but all we end up with is a finished story where the only reality is the crazy one we’ve been given all along. And I both hate that and respect it. As already mentioned, I respect the fact that Rebecca Kanner takes us on this journey through Hannah’s point of view and never pretends or promises that we’re going to get anything else. We are quite literally reading a psychological thriller from the mindset of the person experiencing it as such. And as the reader, we are left to question what really happened, and why.

This was definitely a different kind of book than most, one that leaves you wondering still after the last page, and although I’m disappointed that I didn’t get the explanation I was looking for, the anticipation I felt of getting to it made it an enjoyable read.

<i>Last One Seen</i> is a unique, well paced thriller written by Rebecca Kanner. Thank you to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books, and the author for an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

This book follows main character Hannah as she is admitted to the MFA writer's program at Washington University. This is her dream and she's drawn to a group of students in the program along with a fellow first year, Justine. Hannah is balancing her finances, the program, and fitting in while also managing her Bipolar Disorder. She is typically on top of her routine of taking mood stabilizers and skipping alcohol. However, things get sticky. As does her relationship with Justine. Hannah seems obsessive over Justine, but Justine does keep interfering with Hannah's life in detrimental ways, so who is in the wrong here?

The reason this thriller was unique to me is Hannah being the narrator. There were so many moments that I cringed at Hannah's behavior, but I also understood where it was coming from. I was rooting for the unreliable narrator in this novel. Additionally, there were some stand out support characters that helped highlight which story may be the "true" story. For instance, Claire is an outstanding friend. Meanwhile, most of the other students are terrible classmates at the worst of times and stand-offish friends at the best, but all of them competing in a writing program, this tends to make sense. Overall, the storyline was woven in a logical way. Yet, it was twisty.

I was eager to pick this book up and read the next chapter most days. I needed to know what trouble Hannah was bound to face next.