3 out of 5 stars
I learned from reading All The Missing Girls and The Perfect Stranger that Megan Miranda is a fantastic thriller writer.
I have probably read at least a hundred books since I read All The Missing Girls yet the story and the inventive structure still stand out. When my family gave me The Last House Guest for Mother’s Day, I could hardly wait to dive in.
This one was a little bit of a letdown for me. Don’t get me wrong – it was still a good page-turning thriller. It just didn’t meet the high bar Miranda set with her previous reads.
A Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, The Last House Guest features some of the trademarks found in Miranda’s other thrillers – small-town secrets and complicated friendships between the female main characters. For me, I think the difference is that I struggled more to connect with the main characters in this one.
The pacing was slow for most of the book and the story lacked suspense for the first third. I needed more backstory to feel invested in Sadie. The relationships also felt disjointed. The friendship between Sadie and Avery, which was supposed to be a main thread in the story, didn’t ring true.
Even with these flaws, I am still glad I read The Last House Guest. In the end, it had enough twists to keep me guessing and provided a couple of days of summer reading entertainment. Such a Quiet Place is next on my TBR list by Megan Miranda.
Sorry this wasn’t QUITE as good as her other books, but I’m glad you still liked it overall. I do enjoy a good mystery.
Lauren @ http://www.shootingstarsmag.net