Lauren Eckhardt’s The Last Look is an in-depth look at the lives and loves we settle for; and of the journeys we find along the way. Eckhardt shows us our lives don’t always have to be picture-perfect and all our choices don’t necessarily have to be “the right ones” to experience happiness and to receive wonderful gifts on the road of life.
We’ve all dated or known of a friend dating a Josh Claystone at some point in our lives, and I think that’s what initially both drew me in, and what I found difficult. I felt like I was repeating “no, no, no” to myself at Haleigh and Josh’s interactions for the first few chapters. Finding myself wishing and waiting for Haleigh to be honest to herself and what was happening sooner rather than later. In life, we settle for what we think we deserve, and Eckhardt’s development of Haleigh as a character is one of a woman who reminds me of a lot of young women her age; women who compress their ambitions and dreams, who fear breaking the moulds before them and who sometimes settle for Mr. Wrong just because he seems like the best option at the time.
The Last Look drew me in a lot faster than I was expecting when I first picked it up, by 25% I was invested in Haleigh and her family. The chapters felt a lot like vignettes in time, with Eckhardt illustrating scenes of lives we’ve seen played out before, but in intricate depth and detail, and I feel like that’s where the beauty of this book lies. As I said, we’ve all known a Josh Claystone somewhere, and we know what he’s capable of. As a reader, I wanted to be there with Haleigh, I had a feeling of some of what was coming and you could sense it in Haleigh’s interactions with Josh, and I needed to experience this with her.
In terms of style and writing, at times I found the dialogue stilted and not as natural sounding as it could have been with a lot of telling rather than showing to get the plot moving, especially in the early chapters, and would have preferred these to develop more slowly. However, the characters and the plot began to take shape by 1/3 of the way through with the middle sections of the book probably being the strongest in character and plot development.
Overall, I found this book to be quite an enjoyable read, as well as unexpectedly emotional as certain events took place. I even wished the entire plot could’ve been taken at a slower pace so I could experience Haleigh and Josh’s lives at an even more detailed insight. I firmly believe being desirous of more rather than less is always a sign of a good book.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
