1.5 Stars to The Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman

by Leydy

THE LAST GOOD DAY OF THE YEAR
by Jessica Warman
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens (May 19, 2015)
Language: English
Goodreads | Amazon

Ten years ago, seven-year-old Samantha and her next door neighbor Remy watched helplessly as Sam's little sister was kidnapped. Later, Remy and Sam identified the man and he was sent to prison.

Now, Sam's shattered family is returning to her childhood home in an effort to heal. As long-buried memories begin to surface, she and Remy wonder what they really saw. The more they re-examine the events of that fateful night, the more questions they have about what happened to Turtle . . . and they become more certain that Turtle's killer is still out there, hidden amongst the members of their tight-knit community.

Master storyteller Jessica Warman keeps readers guessing in an arresting page-turner that questions whether the potential for evil lurks within us all. 

I went back and forth with this one - honestly, this didn’t work for me. At all. It was less than an okay read. Somewhat irritating. Unfortunately, instead of getting a thrilling novel, in which I was excited to read, I read a novel full of details not pertaining to the “mystery” of the abduction. With no plot development. Instead, only the last 10 pages of the book tell you exactly what happens. 

The premise of the story sounds like a heartbreak. A family that is shattered after someone abducted their younger daughter. I honestly believed I would get something like The Lovely Bones. Nope, it was more like the family didn’t exist anymore. Everyone went their own way. And this book tells you how Sam viewed them.

The story is told in Sam’s perspective - the past and the present. Which makes the reader, well me, wonder WHY? Why tell us about the mother's life? I wanted to know about the abduction. Why was she taken from her family? Why in this small town, would people blame an innocent man for this action without enough evidence? 

I almost DNF'd this book, but I was stubborn enough to finish to see if it was ever going to tell us what happened to Sam’s sister, Turtle. I wondered if Sam was ever going to either tell the truth, whether she really kept her eyes shut while knowing someone was taking her sister, or if she really didn’t know who was responsible for this. 

With this said, I do have to admit the last 10 pages were thrilling. My first words when things started to pick up: FINALLY! Only to notice the book was about to end. 

 

Peace, Love + Twilight,

Leydy Baltodano

Blogger & Book Reviewer, Once Upon a Twilight