The Last Thing She Wrote by Julia Bodwell

Published: August 3, 2022

Julia Bodwell

Pages: 148

Genre: YA Thriller

KKECReads Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Julia Bodwell is an educator, writer, and musician living in Florida with her husband and their rescue cat. She’s obsessed with Halloween and summertime and loves to curl up with a good book as often as possible. She is the author of One Wrong Summer and The Last Thing She Wrote.

Six months after his sister’s death, seventeen-year-old Freddie Monroe is still reeling from the loss as if it were yesterday. More than anything, Freddie hasn’t been able to forgive himself for not being there the night Kaylee took her own life. He remains consumed by the notion that he failed to protect his younger sister.

At his therapist’s recommendation, Freddie finds himself going through Kaylee’s bedroom, sifting through her things and clinging to her memory.

Searching for answers.

When Freddie first stumbles across Kaylee’s diary, he hesitates to open it, unwilling to break the sibling code of privacy, even in death. But once he finds the courage to delve into its pages, he realizes he didn’t know his younger sister as well as he thought.

What secrets was Kaylee hiding? If she had confided in Freddie, could he have saved her?

The more Freddie uncovers, the more he realizes the truth is nothing like it seems.

“But at the end of the day, I know I’m the one who left her alone.”

It’s been six months since Freddie’s little sister, Kaylee, died by suicide. Six months and Freddie is still angry. Still hurt. Questions still haunt him. When his therapist suggests he spend time in Kaylee’s bedroom, the last thing Freddie expects is to find her diary. To read her diary. But as he does, he starts getting answers to questions, and he starts having more questions about that night.

This was a quick read. Very emotional and dealing heavily with talks of death by suicide. If that is a subject you can’t handle, this isn’t the book for you.

There was a lot of emotion in this novella. Freddie was going through the stages of grief and, in his own way, trying to figure out what happened.

The cast of characters were pretty typical high school teens focused on parties and dating and working their way to graduation.

So when vibrant Kaylee takes her own life, the wreckage left behind is vast. And Freddie needs answers. He wants to know why.

This novella will punch you in the heart and make you gasp out loud. A very quick read, you will devour the words and find yourself trapped in the story.

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