Title: Last Seen Leaving
Author: Caleb Roehrig
Pages: 336
Genre: YA, Mystery, Contemporary
Source: Free ARC from Feiwel and Friends
Rating: A+
Note: As stated under the Source (above), I received this book for free from Feiwel and Friends via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review (and trust me, honest is always what you’ll get).
Summary: While looking into his girlfriend’s disappearance, Flynn begins to realize that maybe he didn’t know her that well after all. And that things are rarely as they seem.
Review: What’s not to love about this book? I can’t think of a single thing. Ok, well, maybe I didn’t love the missing girlfriend January so much, though I fully sympathized with her situation. But that’s fine because I don’t think it mattered whether I liked her or not. I really loved Flynn. And I loved his relationship with (fill in the blank because spoilers). His journey to finding out what happened to January turns out to be a journey to finding himself as well, and it was a treat to get to know him along the way.
As to the mystery itself, I had strong suspicions about what ultimately happened to January, just not the how’s or the why’s. The how was pretty damn creative. I never, ever would have guessed. The story was compelling and entertaining and well written. One of the better YA mysteries I’ve read this year.
And I really loved that the main character was male because I have to say, nearly all of what I’ve read this year has been written by women (gasp!) and had female main characters (egad!). No idea why, just how it’s gone this year. Regardless, it was refreshing to get a male perspective. And I truly, truly loved the LGBTQA subplot. Definitely want to see more of that, and for some reason, it is particularly compelling in YA. One of the best parts about reading is the opportunity to walk in someone else’s shoes for a while, someone whose reality is, in some way, very different from your own. It builds empathy and increases understanding. This is a pair of shoes that more of us should be trying on, and much more frequently. The world is a diverse place, let’s see more of that reflected in mainstream books, please and thank you.
Definitely, definitely recommend.