Search This Blog









2023 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama (2)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (12)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (3)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (1)
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (1)
- Illinois
- Indiana (1)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (3)
- Maryland (2)
- Massachusetts (3)
- Michigan (2)
- Minnesota
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (11)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (3)
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania (1)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (1)
- Vermont (3)
- Virginia
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (2)
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.* (1)
International:
- Australia (3)
- Canada (7)
- Chile (1)
- England (19)
- France (2)
- Ireland (2)
-Italy (1)
- Scotland (2)
- South Korea (1)
- Sweden (1)
- The Netherlands (2)
-Vietnam (1)





2023 Build Your Library Reading Challenge







Thursday, January 12, 2017
Cape Cod Family Drama Satisfying, But Not Super Memorable
7:27 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Brett has been entranced with Charlie Moss ever since she met him as an 18-year-old college student. Even now, after marriage and the birth of their first child, she's still swayed by his magnetic charm. His blasé attitude and perpetual joblessness, however, are becoming a bit of a problem. Struggling to hold their little family together, Brett is at the end of her rope. She doesn't want to hurt Charlie, but it might be time to call it quits. For her sake and for that of 15 month-old Sarah.
Then, the unthinkable happens. Charlie is murdered, his throat gruesomely slit on the back deck of the Moss' seaside Cape Cod cottage. Wracked with grief, Brett struggles to understand what has happened. Who could have done such a heinous deed? The most obvious suspect is Charlie's mentally unstable brother, Eli, who had shown up unexpectedly the day before. But he's not the only one with motive, opportunity. Was Charlie killed by a passing stranger? Or someone he knew? His own brother, perhaps? As the investigation wears on, Brett will have to face some shocking truths—about her marriage, her family, and herself.
Although The Last September by Nina de Gramont is a murder mystery, it's really more of a family drama than anything else. Its focus remains on the characters and their relationships, not the crime. Brett, Charlie, Eli, and the rest are complex story people. All realistically flawed, only Eli is truly sympathetic. Neither Brett nor Charlie are super likable, both being fickle and selfish. Overall, the novel is depressing, but it's also compelling enough that I wanted to know what really happened to Charlie. The Last September is a satisfying read, in the end, just not a super memorable one.
(Readalikes: Hm, I can't think of anything. Can you?)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for language, violence, and sexual content
To the FTC, with love: I bought a copy of The Last September with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger. Ha ha.
1 comment:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)




Reading
Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig

Listening
Hooked: A Memoir in Crafts by Sutton Foster



Followin' with Bloglovin'



-
-
-
-
-
An Elegant Facade16 hours ago
-
-
A Review of Ravine of Death18 hours ago
-
Short Take Reviews: Camden | Coming Home18 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Crook Manifesto - Colson Whitehead1 day ago
-
-
Down the Hill by Susan Hendricks2 days ago
-
Top Ten Tuesday2 days ago
-
-
TTT – Books On My Fall 2023 TBR2 days ago
-
The Sorrowful Girl by Keenan Powell2 days ago
-
-
-
Westover, Tara "Educated"3 days ago
-
The Sands of Time Ch 503 days ago
-
Self-Care by Leigh Stein4 days ago
-
Clean reads for Fall 20235 days ago
-
-
-
-
I have been reading...1 week ago
-
Reading Recap August 20232 weeks ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra2 months ago
-
-
Weekly Update - What I'm Reading3 months ago
-
-
Dotty Beanie with Ears4 months ago
-
-
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?11 months ago
-
-
-
-
-

Grab my Button!



Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ▼ 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
I find way too many books are like this. Good but not memorable. I wonder if we read less than we did if we'd remember more of the stories.
ReplyDelete