Kalie Holford

The Last Love Song

Krys C.

A story of reconciliation, The Last Love Song follows Mia as she figures out what she truly wants for herself. After she is left a scavenger hunt by her late mother as a graduation gift, Mia and Britt, her best friend, follows the trail of clues to uncover Mia’s past and family history.

Mia’s POV captures the same drama and whimsy of Mamma Mia while Tori Rose’s POV gives off Daisy Jones and the Six vibes. I loved the dual timelines and how it paralleled Mia and Tori’s dilemmas and decisions. We witness Mia reconcile with her mother (albeit through the scavenger hunt) and her past, as well as her relationship with Britt and her love for music and songwriting.

I do feel like this would have been fleshed out more if it was just a bit longer, but I’m quite satisfied with the way things turned out. So heartfelt and (literally) lyrical.

Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC! :>

THE LAST LOVE SONG is a sapphic YA story about mia, the daughter of a late country music singer, who receives letters from her mother that lead her on a journey through her mom's hidden past. i really wanted to love this book and there were a lot of aspects that i really enjoyed, like mia's grandmas or the town of sunset cove or the cast of characters in mia's story. unfortunately, a lot of the book is weighed down by mia's baggage—she wants to leave her town, but she's scared that she'll suffer the same fate as her mother. for a lot of the story, the way mia's mom passed away is a mystery, fueling mia's fears. but then you find out she died because she was sick and it just felt so unrealistic that her grandmothers wouldn't have told her that at any point throughout her life? not to mention that mia wanted to know her mom so bad, but apparently her grandmas withheld all that information from her as well. 

there was a lot of going back and forth between mia wanting to leave, wanting to stay, deciding to leave, changing her mind, etc., that by the end of the book i just wanted to shake the girl and tell her to please go to therapy. i know part of the YA reading experience is dealing with characters who still have a lot of growing to do, but in this case, her stunted growth just felt excessive, like the grownups in her life should've been helping her deal with her grief in most productive ways. 

along with all of that, the back and forth with mia and her best friend/love interest britt felt excessive, especially because of the way it was built up. we meet britt as mia's best friend but then mentions of their "slip ups" start being peppered in. and i get that mia didn't want to start a relationship while knowing britt would be leaving eventually and she felt obligated to stay in her hometown forever, scared that if she were to leave she would follow in her mother's footsteps (like getting sick and dying i guess? this is why the grandmas should've told mia how her mom died!!), but also, it's 2024, technology has come pretty far and it's not difficult to get on a flight to go see your best friend/girlfriend in nashville (not to mention that britt's parents live in sunset cove so i'd imagine she would be coming back to see them anyway). 

there were parts of the book that i really enjoyed, like the whole concept of mia following the clues her mom left her, how she found her mom's iconic pink guitar, or how the trail led her to a voice mail where her mom left her a message with a song she had written for her. the concept of the book had a lot of potential and the writing was good (if at times excessively wordy, but nothing that a good editor can't help with), but overall, i was disappointed because the book did not meet my expectations. thank you to netgalley and blackstone publishing for the advanced copy.

valentina

THE LAST LOVE SONG is a sapphic YA story about mia, the daughter of a late country music singer, who receives letters from her mother that lead her on a journey through her mom's hidden past. i really wanted to love this book and there were a lot of aspects that i really enjoyed, like mia's grandmas or the town of sunset cove or the cast of characters in mia's story. unfortunately, a lot of the book is weighed down by mia's baggage—she wants to leave her town, but she's scared that she'll suffer the same fate as her mother. for a lot of the story, the way mia's mom passed away is a mystery, fueling mia's fears. but then you find out she died because she was sick and it just felt so unrealistic that her grandmothers wouldn't have told her that at any point throughout her life? not to mention that mia wanted to know her mom so bad, but apparently her grandmas withheld all that information from her as well. 

there was a lot of going back and forth between mia wanting to leave, wanting to stay, deciding to leave, changing her mind, etc., that by the end of the book i just wanted to shake the girl and tell her to please go to therapy. i know part of the YA reading experience is dealing with characters who still have a lot of growing to do, but in this case, her stunted growth just felt excessive, like the grownups in her life should've been helping her deal with her grief in most productive ways. 

along with all of that, the back and forth with mia and her best friend/love interest britt felt excessive, especially because of the way it was built up. we meet britt as mia's best friend but then mentions of their "slip ups" start being peppered in. and i get that mia didn't want to start a relationship while knowing britt would be leaving eventually and she felt obligated to stay in her hometown forever, scared that if she were to leave she would follow in her mother's footsteps (like getting sick and dying i guess? this is why the grandmas should've told mia how her mom died!!), but also, it's 2024, technology has come pretty far and it's not difficult to get on a flight to go see your best friend/girlfriend in nashville (not to mention that britt's parents live in sunset cove so i'd imagine she would be coming back to see them anyway). 

there were parts of the book that i really enjoyed, like the whole concept of mia following the clues her mom left her, how she found her mom's iconic pink guitar, or how the trail led her to a voice mail where her mom left her a message with a song she had written for her. the concept of the book had a lot of potential and the writing was good (if at times excessively wordy, but nothing that a good editor can't help with), but overall, i was disappointed because the book did not meet my expectations. thank you to netgalley and blackstone publishing for the advanced copy.

❓ #QOTD What's your favorite love song?❓

🦇 After graduating, Mia Peters is given a letter from her late mother, country music star Tori Rose — the woman who left the small town of Sunset Cove to pursue her dream. That first letter sends her on a scavenger hunt across town to find more, each one like a puzzle piece, adding to the hazy image Mia has of the woman behind hit albums and fame. Each letter brings Mia closer to her mother, but further away from her best friend and sort-of-girlfriend Britt, who is leaving in a few days to pursue the same dream. Can Mia unravel her mother's past, face her present, and decide on a future outside of Sunset Cove? Or will the truth leave her disappointed and trapped in the small town her mother left behind? 

💜 Kalie Holford does a stunning job at sparking vivacious life into Tori Rose through letters and journal entries. You experience the magnetism everyone in Sunset Cove once did, and understand why the entire town reveres her. Readers are bound to connect and empathize with both Tori and her daughter Mia in this dual POV/dual timeline story. Reading it, I was instantly tugged back to 2005, at the memory of reading Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes. There's such exquisite balance between the past and present in this story, Tori's puzzle-pieced past simultaneously soothing Mia's concerns about leaving Sunset Cove while adding to them — a reminder that your choices and mistakes MUST be your own. 

 💜 That beautiful balance creates parallels between Mia's story and her mother's. We even see parallels between Mia and her unknown father. Both run away, fear being brave or taking a risk, and it holds them back from their true potential. Mia is so eager NOT to repeat her mother's history that she second-guesses herself constantly, afraid to make her own mistakes. Mia not only learns from her mother's journal entries, but also the lives she touched — proving the domino effect we can have on another person's lives. At the end, though...it's also a story about regret. We aren't our mistakes, but what we learn from them. It's a story about growth after the fact.

💜 "I will never regret chasing my dream. I regret the people I hurt. I regret the bridges I burned. I regret losing who I was in an attempt to find someone else in everyone else and within me."

💜 The lyrics from Mia's music AND her mothers add an extra layer to this story. For the record, I did cry (reading the story's literal Last Long Song), so if you're sappy like me, have tissues at the ready. 

💙 Holford beautifully encapsulates that pivitol "coming-of-age" moment that empowers any YA story. The best friends to lovers aspect is messy, realistic, and pure; a series of stolen, secret kisses, failed relationships with others in between, the fear of either ruining or losing an unspoken love story. You'll root for Mia and Britt, cry at Mia's side, and feel full of hope by the end of it all. Also, Mia's grandmothers? They are everything.

🦇 This is a powerful, atmospheric debut that's bursting with heart and soul. Recommended for fans of Sadie, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and Mama Mia. And, beyond a doubt, all you Swifties.

🎶 Sapphic Romance / Best Friends to Lovers

🦇 Major thanks to the author @kalieholford and publisher @blackstonepublishing for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #OneLastWord

❝ All my life I’ve collected pieces of Tori Rose like breadcrumbs, lyrics like talismans, stories like safety nets. ❞

❝ "Really think about it without the fear and the lies and the telling yourself you can’t have it.” ❞

❝ “You’re going to be a star, you know that, right?” She shakes her head. “Stars burn out. I want to be my own goddamn galaxy.” ❞

❝ She’s the personification of a love song, and I can’t get her out of my head. ❞

❝ The world raises girls to be competitors not constellations. ❞

❝ We burst and we break. We are dichotomies and paradoxes and lies and happily never afters. We are an ending that wants to be a beginning and a beginning that never got to start quite right. We are everything and she is everything and only I know that I truly wish I could go with her. ❞

Jazelle H

🦇 The Last Love Song Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

❓ #QOTD What's your favorite love song?❓
 
🦇 After graduating, Mia Peters is given a letter from her late mother, country music star Tori Rose — the woman who left the small town of Sunset Cove to pursue her dream. That first letter sends her on a scavenger hunt across town to find more, each one like a puzzle piece, adding to the hazy image Mia has of the woman behind hit albums and fame. Each letter brings Mia closer to her mother, but further away from her best friend and sort-of-girlfriend Britt, who is leaving in a few days to pursue the same dream. Can Mia unravel her mother's past, face her present, and decide on a future outside of Sunset Cove? Or will the truth leave her disappointed and trapped in the small town her mother left behind? 

💜 Kalie Holford does a stunning job at sparking vivacious life into Tori Rose through letters and journal entries. You experience the magnetism everyone in Sunset Cove once did, and understand why the entire town reveres her. Readers are bound to connect and empathize with both Tori and her daughter Mia in this dual POV/dual timeline story. Reading it, I was instantly tugged back to 2005, at the memory of reading Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes. There's such exquisite balance between the past and present in this story, Tori's puzzle-pieced past simultaneously soothing Mia's concerns about leaving Sunset Cove while adding to them — a reminder that your choices and mistakes MUST be your own. 

 💜 That beautiful balance creates parallels between Mia's story and her mother's. We even see parallels between Mia and her unknown father. Both run away, fear being brave or taking a risk, and it holds them back from their true potential. Mia is so eager NOT to repeat her mother's history that she second-guesses herself constantly, afraid to make her own mistakes. Mia not only learns from her mother's journal entries, but also the lives she touched — proving the domino effect we can have on another person's lives. At the end, though...it's also a story about regret. We aren't our mistakes, but what we learn from them. It's a story about growth after the fact.

💜 "I will never regret chasing my dream. I regret the people I hurt. I regret the bridges I burned. I regret losing who I was in an attempt to find someone else in everyone else and within me."

💜 The lyrics from Mia's music AND her mothers add an extra layer to this story. For the record, I did cry (reading the story's literal Last Long Song), so if you're sappy like me, have tissues at the ready. 

💙 Holford beautifully encapsulates that pivitol "coming-of-age" moment that empowers any YA story. The best friends to lovers aspect is messy, realistic, and pure; a series of stolen, secret kisses, failed relationships with others in between, the fear of either ruining or losing an unspoken love story. You'll root for Mia and Britt, cry at Mia's side, and feel full of hope by the end of it all. Also, Mia's grandmothers? They are everything.

🦇 This is a powerful, atmospheric debut that's bursting with heart and soul. Recommended for fans of Sadie, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and Mama Mia. And, beyond a doubt, all you Swifties.

✨ The Vibes ✨
🎵 Bisexual FMC
🎶 Sapphic Romance / Best Friends to Lovers
🎵 Lyrics
🎶 Mother/Daughter
🎵 Dual POV
🎶 Dual Timeline
🎵 Grief & Self-Discovery
🎶 Contemporary YA
🎵 Debut

🦇 Major thanks to the author @kalieholford and publisher @blackstonepublishing for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #OneLastWord

💬 Quotes 
❝ All my life I’ve collected pieces of Tori Rose like breadcrumbs, lyrics like talismans, stories like safety nets. ❞
❝ "Really think about it without the fear and the lies and the telling yourself you can’t have it.” ❞
❝ “You’re going to be a star, you know that, right?” She shakes her head. “Stars burn out. I want to be my own goddamn galaxy.” ❞
❝ She’s the personification of a love song, and I can’t get her out of my head. ❞
❝ The world raises girls to be competitors not constellations. ❞
❝ We burst and we break. We are dichotomies and paradoxes and lies and happily never afters. We are an ending that wants to be a beginning and a beginning that never got to start quite right. We are everything and she is everything and only I know that I truly wish I could go with her. ❞

The Last Love Song

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