Name: Frank's review of Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig
Item: Last Seen Leaving
Rating: 4
Author: Frank

Caleb Roehrig

In this young adult debut, a teen must try to uncover his missing girlfriend's secrets without revealing his own. Flynn's girlfriend, January, is missing. The cops are asking questions he can't answer, and her friends are telling stories that don't add up. All eyes are on Flynn—as January's boyfriend, he must know something. But Flynn is harboring a secret of his own. As he struggles to find out what happened to January, he must also come to terms with his own truth. Caleb Roehrig's debut is a complex and winding tale of tragedy, discovery, and self-acceptance. Praise for Last Seen Leaving: A Buzzfeed Best YA Novel of 2016 Best YA Novel of 2016 - Paste Magazine A Kirkus Best of 2016 Book - Teen "Flynn Doherty's competing desires to uncover the secrets behind his ex-girlfriend's disappearance and keep his own secrets hidden propel debut author Roehrig's powerful thriller. . . . A compelling mystery and characters with fully developed strengths and flaws make Roehrig's novel an important addition in the world of queer young adult fiction." —Publishers Weekly, starred review "Debut novelist Roehrig peoples his sensationalistic, twisty mystery with credible characters, especially narrator Flynn, whose struggles with coming out will resonate with young gay teens in more mundane circumstances. Witty, realistically foulmouthed dialogue and the suspenseful, well-laid mystery will keep pages turning . . . Readers won't be able to put it down." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review "This truly hair-raising, stand-out mystery thriller from debut author Roehrig will keep readers guessing, even until the end." —Booklist, starred review "The characters are believable, the mystery is interesting, and the action is often fast-paced. Flynn’s internal struggle to open up about his sexuality carries weight, and readers will be drawn into his emotional journey and his adventures in amateur sleuthing . . . A fun mystery with a credible emotional pull." —School Library Journal

Last Seen Leaving

Frank

Flynn's girlfriend, January, is missing. All eyes are on Flynn—he must know something. After all, he was—is—her boyfriend. They were together the night before she disappeared. But Flynn has a secret of his own. As he struggles to uncover the truth about January's disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.

Lauren Attaway

I had a very hard time getting into/finishing this book. And while I did like the main character, some of the supporting ones didn't work as well for me. 

The mystery itself didn't hook me right away, but I liked Flynn enough to want to know what happened. The book definitely kept my attention in parts, if not overall.

María Belén

Waaayyy too predictable and bordering on unbelievable.

Amanda Wells

Well wasn't that enjoyable? 
An LGBTQIA+ lead, a cast that contains ethnically diverse characters without making that their main 'personality trait', and a mystery that was a little predictable, but still thrilling. 

Definitely YA, but I really enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed this book! It was gnarly and engaging and so easy to slip into. 

I thought the ending was not that fantastic (not good, not bad) but then then the ENDING ending - what a twist. I actually loved the way Roehrig rounded it all out.

Jolie

Before I start this review, I want to thank NetGalley, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and Feiwel & Friends for allowing me to review Last Seen Leaving.

**All opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone. I received Last Seen Leaving from NetGalley/Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group/Feiwel & Friends as an ARC for my honest and unbiased review**

Now, onto my review:

Format read in: Kindle

Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends

Expected date of publication: October 4th 2016

Where the book can be found: Amazon (Kindle, Hardcover, Audible). Please remember that A) this book is on preorder until October 4th 2016 and that the prices can and will change.

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Teen, Young Adult

How many pages: 336 pages

Book synopsis:

Flynn’s girlfriend has disappeared. How can he uncover her secrets without revealing his own?

Flynn’s girlfriend, January, is missing. The cops are asking questions he can’t answer, and her friends are telling stories that don’t add up. All eyes are on Flynn—as January’s boyfriend, he must know something.

But Flynn has a secret of his own. And as he struggles to uncover the truth about January’s disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.

My review:

All I have to say about this book is (and I am stealing this from the great George Takei)… “Oh My”. I read this book within 1 day. From the first chapter, where we meet Flynn and January, it gets its hooks into you and doesn’t let go. I mean, I stayed up late to finish this book….and I never do that.

I was kinda irritated with Flynn during the first half of the book, though. He wasn’t exactly forthcoming with the police about January’s state of mind (and what happened) the last time he saw her. He acted like, and wait for this, your typical teenager….gasp. But he started to grow on me by the 3rd chapter and by the middle of the book, I was gasping in surprise (and sadness) over what was being revealed about him and January.

While we are on the subject of January, I felt bad for her and then really, really irritated with her. She lives in a highly dysfunctional household. Her mother, who used to be her best friend, is no longer emotionally available. Her stepfather is an uptight prick only concerned with how her disappearance will look on his campaign run. And her step brother was a spoiled creep who gave me the creeps in his scenes. No wonder she lied about everything to everyone…including Flynn. Lets just say that she made him out to be a bad guy to everyone. I really felt bad for him.

Now, I thought I had this book figured out (seriously I did) and then there was a huge twist that came up and stirred everything up. Settled back down and bam, you were hit with another twist….just as big. I didn’t see either of these coming and they both took the breath out of me (love it when a book does that).

3 Things I liked about Last Seen Leaving:

1) Plot

2) Flynn

3) The plot twists

3 Things I disliked about Last Seen Leaving:

1) The cops

2) January (see above)

3) January’s family

How many stars will I give Last Seen Leaving? 4

Why? It was a gripping whodunit interwoven with a touching coming of age story. The characters were very believable and they jumped off the page and into your mind with every page read. There was almost no lag in the plot and the twists in the plot made the story.

Would I reread it? Yes

Would I recommend to family and friends? Yes

Age range? Teen on up

Why? There are some mild sexual situations, some strong language and some mild violence. Oh and a teacher that just exudes bad vibes and a stepbrother who is super creepy.

Christina Hufford

This was a solid page-turner, and I appreciated the LGBT lead! The dialogue was a little stilted and corny, though, and the twist could be seen from a mile away. Still, it was a fun read!

Jessica 

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Readers who appreciate a good old fashioned mystery/thriller will flock to one of the latest YA offerings in the genre above. Last Seen Leaving, out October 4th, is the perfect read for autumn. Told in a format that is thoughtful, breezing and thrilling, the main themes all will resonate with younger and older readers alike. It's more than a mystery--it's a tale of growing up and out, the ups and downs of relationships and so much more.

There's quite a lot happening in it and while Last Seen Leaving isn't exactly the most original mystery (it isn't meant to be), it's still an ultimately satisfying read that will leave its audience feeling something. It's the kind of mystery that leaves a long list of suspects and motives; tying into a bigger picture of the missing girl, January, and what could have happened to her.

Our mystery unfolds in a chilling find: January, the girl who has a backstory you would expect from such a novel, has gone missing and the biggest clue we've got is her bloodied clothing. I like that we get to see the layers to her and the flashbacks we've witnessed when it boils down to her relationships with our narrator, Flynn. We see his attempts to find out what happened to her and a budding relationship in the meantime--all the while, secrets and more questions unravel.

Continued: BOOKEDJ

kelsey

Mitz

Martha F.

Melissa Railey

corinna

Flynn's girlfriend is missing, and people are suspecting him of knowing something, so he struggles to uncover her secrets as he must also face the truth about himself.

Frank &
Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig

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