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A review by georgiaberg
The Last Kiss Goodbye by Tasmina Perry
2.0
This book really could've been a lot better than it was - it had the bones of a good story, if you sectioned it off into the beginning and the end.
It flicks back between present day with Abby who is an archivist and dealing with marital problems - to get a divorce or not to get a divorce that is the question - and Rosamund and Dominic our main couple in the 1960s.
It went haywire in the middle. Ironically the most lacking parts of the novel were the present-day romantic bits - for romantic fiction that ain't great. The inclusion of Elliot felt clunky - he was a lingering misogynist who all the women were obsessed with and then he just miraculously disappeared? He was so unnecessary!
Which leads me into another gripe
Rosamund is supposed to be a feminist social activist and yet her agency is stripped from her. She is saved by a man over and over, there's the weird dynamic of your love interest being your employer (power dynamics??) and her calling herself a bitch for speaking up and voicing her opinions. Don't get me started on Abby.
Abby's parts were absolutely the weakest parts, she's dealing with the aftermath of her cheating husband, and her friends are horrible to her about it! So many times I kept hoping for Abby to stick up for herself!
And yet, when we could actually get into Rosamund and Abby teaming up and somehow working on redeeming Abby's husband it really got a lot better. Though I still don't think this passes the Bechdel test (or what we think the Bechdel test is)
If the author wanted to tell a story of an investigation into this mysterious photograph and the lovers in it, she really could've ditched like half of this book. It could've been Rosamund and Abby together from day one, they discuss Rosamund's long heartbreak and Abby's fresh heartbreak over her husband (or if she really wanted the redemption arc then the husband could've been there helping out on the side and them having long conversations about trusting again and relearning communication) But I just... idk!
This could've been great, it wasn't bad, I have so many feelings about how this could've been developed that presented a more 21st-century approach.
(Also this was so low-key [b:The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo|32620332|The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo|Taylor Jenkins Reid|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498169036l/32620332._SY75_.jpg|46885151]Evelyn Hugo vibes, Abby & Monique = dealing with divorce, interviewing an older famous woman on her lover... Like Evelyn Hugo without the best most meaningful beautiful parts of Evelyn Hugo lol)
It flicks back between present day with Abby who is an archivist and dealing with marital problems - to get a divorce or not to get a divorce that is the question - and Rosamund and Dominic our main couple in the 1960s.
It went haywire in the middle. Ironically the most lacking parts of the novel were the present-day romantic bits - for romantic fiction that ain't great. The inclusion of Elliot felt clunky - he was a lingering misogynist who all the women were obsessed with and then he just miraculously disappeared? He was so unnecessary!
Which leads me into another gripe
Rosamund is supposed to be a feminist social activist and yet her agency is stripped from her. She is saved by a man over and over, there's the weird dynamic of your love interest being your employer (power dynamics??) and her calling herself a bitch for speaking up and voicing her opinions. Don't get me started on Abby.
Abby's parts were absolutely the weakest parts, she's dealing with the aftermath of her cheating husband, and her friends are horrible to her about it! So many times I kept hoping for Abby to stick up for herself!
And yet, when we could actually get into Rosamund and Abby teaming up and somehow working on redeeming Abby's husband it really got a lot better. Though I still don't think this passes the Bechdel test (or what we think the Bechdel test is)
If the author wanted to tell a story of an investigation into this mysterious photograph and the lovers in it, she really could've ditched like half of this book. It could've been Rosamund and Abby together from day one, they discuss Rosamund's long heartbreak and Abby's fresh heartbreak over her husband (or if she really wanted the redemption arc then the husband could've been there helping out on the side and them having long conversations about trusting again and relearning communication) But I just... idk!
This could've been great, it wasn't bad, I have so many feelings about how this could've been developed that presented a more 21st-century approach.
(Also this was so low-key [b:The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo|32620332|The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo|Taylor Jenkins Reid|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498169036l/32620332._SY75_.jpg|46885151]Evelyn Hugo vibes, Abby & Monique = dealing with divorce, interviewing an older famous woman on her lover... Like Evelyn Hugo without the best most meaningful beautiful parts of Evelyn Hugo lol)