“The Last Good Day of the Year” - SSR Book Review

The Last Good Day of the Year

SSR Book Review 

Out of all the books I read during the first semester, one of my favorites was “The Last Good Day of the Year” by Jessica Warman. The story focuses on a young girl named Samantha, switching between the night and year of the event, and years later. When Samantha was young, she was sleeping downstairs with her best friend, Remy, and her younger sister, Turtle. Their parents were upstairs having a New Years Eve party, not knowing that downstairs, Samantha and Remy had just witnessed Turtle being grabbed and carried off into the night by a man dressed as Santa Claus. Samantha and Remy identify the man and he is then put in jail, Turtle’s body never being discovered. After leaving town and then returning years later, Samantha starts to question whether or not she was right about who they accused of kidnapping her sister. 

This story stood out to me over others I have read because it is very unique and keeps you guessing who could have really committed the crime. Throughout the story, I had many guesses but hadn’t been right in the end. There are many plot twists in this story and the author is very good about tying everything together at the end. One of my favorite things about this book was that the author used the last chapter to pick out key points in the story and restate them to where you connected the dots of things that didn’t make sense until you found out the ending. The book was 289 pages, and does not have a sequel, which is upsetting considering it ends on a major cliffhanger. I would give this book a 10/10 and definitely recommend to those who love mysteries and constant shocking plot twists.