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A review by pagesplotsandpints
The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak
3.25
<b>Read Completed 10/3/24 |</b> 3.25 stars
<I>Thank you to Macmillan audio and Netgalley for the audiobook review copy! This did not affect my reading experience or review in any way.</I>
I had mixed feelings about this book throughout my whole read, but it was very easily readable. It started off as a 4 star read, jumped to a 3 star, then a 3.5 star, and then ended up at 3.25 stars. THE LAST ONE AT THE WEDDING was an easy read, but nothing really stood out to me, and a lot of it felt a little underdeveloped. I think this can be a fun popcorn read, but it just wasn't a favorite of mine.
I really liked the story of "rubbing elbows with the rich" but from the father's POV. I liked Frank as the narrator and I liked that he was neither the rich guy nor the one being wooed by the rich people. I really liked that he was a UPS truck driver and genuinely just an average, normal guy. He's been estranged from his daughter Maggie for three years and is very happy to be invited to her wedding, but red flags fly as he spends more and more time with Maggie and the new in-law family to-be.
Mostly, I just felt like a lot of things were underdeveloped. It's hard to talk about it all without sharing spoilers, but nearly all of the characters weren't very details or deep. I feel like we didn't really get to know anyone, but especially Maggie. There are some stories about her past that give us some insight, finally including the incident that caused the three year rift, but it just didn't really connect. I feel like there still wasn't a lot of explanation about why she makes the decisions she makes and we're just kind of told to accept it.
A big part of the story -- in content, but not necessarily plot -- is that Frank's sister, who helped raise Maggie after her mother died, comes to the wedding as well and she brings her new foster daughter Abigail. Abigail came from a rough background -- she doesn't know how to behave in social situations, came to Frank's sister (and the wedding) with head lice, and consistently becomes an uncomfortable situation for Frank as he's trying to barely keep up with the new part of the family. I don't have an issue with Abigail being a part of the story and her behavior is totally understandable, especially after the trauma she's been through, but I just didn't really enjoy her part in the story. Sometimes I just don't enjoy kids being a big part of an adult thriller and this just happened to be one of those cases.
The ending had some high-stakes moments but it was kind of too little too late, and even then, some things just didn't really feel like they jived with the rest of the book. I just felt like a lot of these plot points and twists were still stuck in the outline phase and we didn't really get the meat and potatoes that fleshed out that whole story.
The very end got a little more exciting and that was when I thought I might end up rating this 3.5 stars, but then we lost the momentum again and it kept going and going. Then I lost interest and steam and the book just kind of... ended and I didn't get why.
AUDIOBOOK THOUGHTS: John Pirhalla was the narrator for this book and I really enjoyed his narration! I wouldn't say he's a new favorite but I did like his voice and narration style. My only complaint was that most of his women sounded pretty similar and his voices weren't *super* varied, but I did have a good time listening to him and I really liked his tone of voice.
<I>Thank you to Macmillan audio and Netgalley for the audiobook review copy! This did not affect my reading experience or review in any way.</I>
I had mixed feelings about this book throughout my whole read, but it was very easily readable. It started off as a 4 star read, jumped to a 3 star, then a 3.5 star, and then ended up at 3.25 stars. THE LAST ONE AT THE WEDDING was an easy read, but nothing really stood out to me, and a lot of it felt a little underdeveloped. I think this can be a fun popcorn read, but it just wasn't a favorite of mine.
I really liked the story of "rubbing elbows with the rich" but from the father's POV. I liked Frank as the narrator and I liked that he was neither the rich guy nor the one being wooed by the rich people. I really liked that he was a UPS truck driver and genuinely just an average, normal guy. He's been estranged from his daughter Maggie for three years and is very happy to be invited to her wedding, but red flags fly as he spends more and more time with Maggie and the new in-law family to-be.
Mostly, I just felt like a lot of things were underdeveloped. It's hard to talk about it all without sharing spoilers, but nearly all of the characters weren't very details or deep. I feel like we didn't really get to know anyone, but especially Maggie. There are some stories about her past that give us some insight, finally including the incident that caused the three year rift, but it just didn't really connect. I feel like there still wasn't a lot of explanation about why she makes the decisions she makes and we're just kind of told to accept it.
A big part of the story -- in content, but not necessarily plot -- is that Frank's sister, who helped raise Maggie after her mother died, comes to the wedding as well and she brings her new foster daughter Abigail. Abigail came from a rough background -- she doesn't know how to behave in social situations, came to Frank's sister (and the wedding) with head lice, and consistently becomes an uncomfortable situation for Frank as he's trying to barely keep up with the new part of the family. I don't have an issue with Abigail being a part of the story and her behavior is totally understandable, especially after the trauma she's been through, but I just didn't really enjoy her part in the story. Sometimes I just don't enjoy kids being a big part of an adult thriller and this just happened to be one of those cases.
The ending had some high-stakes moments but it was kind of too little too late, and even then, some things just didn't really feel like they jived with the rest of the book. I just felt like a lot of these plot points and twists were still stuck in the outline phase and we didn't really get the meat and potatoes that fleshed out that whole story.
The very end got a little more exciting and that was when I thought I might end up rating this 3.5 stars, but then we lost the momentum again and it kept going and going. Then I lost interest and steam and the book just kind of... ended and I didn't get why.
AUDIOBOOK THOUGHTS: John Pirhalla was the narrator for this book and I really enjoyed his narration! I wouldn't say he's a new favorite but I did like his voice and narration style. My only complaint was that most of his women sounded pretty similar and his voices weren't *super* varied, but I did have a good time listening to him and I really liked his tone of voice.