The Last Thing He Told Me
By Laura Dave
Simon & Schuster, 9781501171345, May 2021, 320pp.
The Short of It:
I love a good page-turner that has a little bit of substance too.
The Rest of It:
I’ve enjoyed many of Reese Witherspoon’s club picks during this pandemic and The Last Thing He Told Me was no exception.
Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother. ~ Indiebound
The story goes back and forth between the present and the past, leading up to Owen’s disappearance. The message Owen leaves for Hannah is just cryptic enough to really confuse her. Hannah is well aware of Owen’s love for his daughter Bailey but that is what makes it all the more confusing. Why would he ever want to leave her?
After a friend contacts Hannah about what’s going on at Owen’s office and how they are being investigated, Hannah begins to worry that Owen has gotten himself in over his head. Is he a criminal? Was he forced to participate in something illegal? Does she know him at all? Bailey is equally perplexed by it all. She knows her dad and he would not go missing unless he had a very good reason to do so.
When it comes to these hyped book club reads, all you want to know is if it lives up to the hype, right? Well, I believe it does. There isn’t a whole lot of action but I like the way the story unfolded and I liked the dynamic between Hannah and Bailey, given the difficult circumstances.
Source: Won in a giveaway hosted by Hello Sunshine!
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.
Book Chatter 
I enjoyed this one and liked the relationship between Hannah and Bailey (teens can be difficult).
I’ve been thinking about reading this, thanks for sharing your thoughts about it.
I read another review about this book this morning and that blogger seemed to agree with your assessment. There’s been quite a bit of hype about this book which always makes me a bit suspicious, but it seems that this might qualify as a good summer read. Putting it on my TBR list.
I just reviewed this one too. Good timing. It seemed pretty good for a summer kind of book. I wasn’t a huge fan but it kept me interested and going.
I like thrillers that include the present and then building up to the present and am looking forward to reading this one.
Great review. Other reviews I’ve read have said similar, that they appreciated the relationship between Hannah and Bailey. What is Hello Sunshine?
Hello Sunshine is the media brand founded by Reese Witherspoon. It’s the brand that promotes her book club picks!
Oh, OK, thanks! It sounded familiar so I must have read about her media brand somewhere and just shoved it to the back of my mind. I do that.
I read this back before there were a lot of reviews out, and I went in expecting it to be more of a psychological thriller. (Not sure why.) Of course it ended up being more quiet suspense, but I loved it so much. The balance between mystery and family drama was perfect.
I thought the same thing, that it would be more psych thriller. But, early on you figure out it’s not. Everyone I know talks about the twist ending but I didn’t see it as a twist and wasn’t surprised at all. 🙂
I usually avoid hyped books. I tend to get disappointed.
Laura Dave writes FANTASTIC stories. You know I don’t typically like contemporary fiction or “chick” lit, but I love everything of hers I have read. Her latest is a bit of a departure for her – a lot more suspense and mystery than she normally has – but I adored it. It reminded me of how much I loved her previous novels and how I need to finish reading the few I am missing.
Extremely compelling.