A thoroughly enjoyable read

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joworgan Avatar

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The Last House Guest is a submersive,
enthralling read about small town secrets and the desire to forge long lasting friendships and that need for belonging. I loved the old fashioned feel to this book and the characters who lived in this world.

Set in present day Maine, we meet Avery as she attends a house party. She is waiting for her friend, Sadie, to arrive, but she never does. Later that night she is found dead . The police say her death was suicide, but Avery does not believe this and begins to dig deep into this community she has belonged to for many years in order to try and unearth the truth.

What unfolds is a compelling and slow burner of a story that investigates what it's really like to live in a small town when you are born into privilege. Class and the portrayal of class is a huge theme within this book. We have Avery's world, where she has had to be independent and work to get where she is, and then in contrast we have the world of the Loman family. Avery is different, not a local, and she is judged to be different.

Predominantly though we read this book to find out exactly what happened to Sadie that fateful night. Was it suicide? Was it murder, and if so who murdered her? It's a riveting and intoxicating read.

The Last House Guest explores the best and worst of humanity, what it's like to be an outsider and what it means to trust. I thoroughly enjoyed it.