Release date: June 10, 2014Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pages: 368
Format: Egalley
Source: Publisher provided through Netgalley
What if your last kiss was with the wrong boy?
Cassidy Haines remembers her first kiss vividly. It was on the old covered bridge the summer before her freshman year with her boyfriend of three years, Ethan Keys. But her last kiss--the one she shared with someone at her seventeenth birthday party the night she died--is a blur. Cassidy is trapped in the living world, not only mourning the loss of her human body, but left with the grim suspicion that her untimely death wasn't a suicide as everyone assumes. She can't remember anything from the weeks leading up to her birthday and she's worried that she may have betrayed her boyfriend.
If Cassidy is to uncover the truth about that fateful night and make amends with the only boy she'll ever love, she must face her past and all the decisions she made--good and bad--that led to her last kiss.
Bethany Neal's suspenseful debut novel is about the power of first love and the haunting lies that threaten to tear it apart.
My Last Kiss is a prettily packaged book with an intriguing twist on the oft-seen murder mystery, a protagonist you can easily sympathize with, and an intense ending that packs a wallop.
When Cassidy wakes up the night after her big seventeenth birthday party, it's to find that she's dead. And yet, she's not. She's still here, walking around and talking, though her body lies as cold and broken as can be in the town's morgue. But Cassidy can't remember how she died, and she can't remember much about the weeks leading up to her death. People say she killed herself, but she knows she would never do that. And what's so cool about Cassidy's narration is that you're discovering alongside her what happened in those lost weeks. We see her deep sadness and regret that she's dead, but I liked that she's more intent on showing people she didn't kill herself for her family's sake. Yes, she doesn't want to be remembered as a girl who committed suicide, but the pain it's causing her family is worse than her own pain.
The mystery is slowly unveiled as Cassidy and Ethan, her boyfriend and the only one who can see and hear her now, work to uncover her memories and the truth. Cassidy has wronged and hurt Ethan, but she is given the chance to both bandage her own pain and Ethan's allowing them the chance to repair their relationship before it's truly the end, which is pretty darn lovely.
I really enjoyed so much about My Last Kiss but my complaint is that the beginning is sloooooow, which made it really hard for me to get through. It's kind of roundabout and it does give a lot of information, but there's nothing interesting really happening, just Cassidy flitting between following people through the days. But it was difficult to slog through. Once you hit around the halfway point, though, the pace picks up a lot and we start getting the big, juicy secrets, the ones (aside from Caleb) that really lead to Cassidy's death. From then on it's a really engaging read and, like I said, the ending is intense--but also really interesting in the way it's done.
My Last Kiss is a murder mystery from the point of view of the victim. It's got the kind of cold, wintery setting and story that will make you want to cuddle up in blankets with some hot chocolate to read, even though it's summer. Once you get into it, My Last Kiss will have you hooked until the final page.
When Cassidy wakes up the night after her big seventeenth birthday party, it's to find that she's dead. And yet, she's not. She's still here, walking around and talking, though her body lies as cold and broken as can be in the town's morgue. But Cassidy can't remember how she died, and she can't remember much about the weeks leading up to her death. People say she killed herself, but she knows she would never do that. And what's so cool about Cassidy's narration is that you're discovering alongside her what happened in those lost weeks. We see her deep sadness and regret that she's dead, but I liked that she's more intent on showing people she didn't kill herself for her family's sake. Yes, she doesn't want to be remembered as a girl who committed suicide, but the pain it's causing her family is worse than her own pain.
The mystery is slowly unveiled as Cassidy and Ethan, her boyfriend and the only one who can see and hear her now, work to uncover her memories and the truth. Cassidy has wronged and hurt Ethan, but she is given the chance to both bandage her own pain and Ethan's allowing them the chance to repair their relationship before it's truly the end, which is pretty darn lovely.
I really enjoyed so much about My Last Kiss but my complaint is that the beginning is sloooooow, which made it really hard for me to get through. It's kind of roundabout and it does give a lot of information, but there's nothing interesting really happening, just Cassidy flitting between following people through the days. But it was difficult to slog through. Once you hit around the halfway point, though, the pace picks up a lot and we start getting the big, juicy secrets, the ones (aside from Caleb) that really lead to Cassidy's death. From then on it's a really engaging read and, like I said, the ending is intense--but also really interesting in the way it's done.
My Last Kiss is a murder mystery from the point of view of the victim. It's got the kind of cold, wintery setting and story that will make you want to cuddle up in blankets with some hot chocolate to read, even though it's summer. Once you get into it, My Last Kiss will have you hooked until the final page.
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Bethany Neal writes young-adult novels with a little dark side and a lot of kissing! She is obsessed with (but not limited to): nail polish, ginormous rings, pigs, pickles, and dessert.
You can find her locked in her Writertorium for insane amounts of time. But, hey, insanity is fun! My Last Kiss is her first novel.
Giveaway is open to US/CAN Only | Must be 13 or older to enter
Win (1) signed hardback of My Last Kiss + a Swag Pack (MLK Button, MLK Notebook, & Cassidy's watermelon lip gloss)
