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As she digs more about the past, she gets more tangle into web of lies. ( did I tell you there were so many spooky supporting characters in this book act like innocent but keeping their own secret agendas to themselves?) The story is told in a 'past' timeline from the viewpoint of Gemma, and a 'present' timeline from Fran. Several characters feature in both timelines. Tom, the guru behind the retreat and his controlling wife, Kate, in addition to 3 guests who have attended both retreats. Which, if any, of these characters is behind Gemma missing, presumed dead, status?! If you are like me, and prefer a well crafted mystery with clues to follow, and revelations that you can buy into, then this may NOT be the book for you. C. L. TAYLOR delivers an engaging, suspenseful, unpredictable, and slower paced mystery here that is told from three different perspectives and two timeframes. I do love unreliable and unlikeable characters, but for some reason I didn’t particularly enjoy any of these characters or felt a connection towards any of them. So that definitely had an impact on why this one was just an okay read for me. Both of the characters keep secrets and as they discover more lies of each other’s, they never hesitate to use them as leverage. It was a truly entertaining to be witnessed of their power game as if watching a challenging tennis game !
Told in two lines, that of the Gozo retreat and of the current retreat from the point of view of the three women involved, Jenna, Kate and Fran, I kept getting confused about who was narrating and which retreat we were at and who all the other characters were, since some of them changed their names during the Gozo retreat. Fran's time at the retreat in Wales really dragged and felt repetitious with the story becoming a really slow burn to get to the point where we find out what happened to Jenna. Two other accidents took place on that retreat leaving Tom in prison for manslaughter. However, he will be released soon. I really love restaurants in Tbilisi. We tried Italian, Japan, French and Georgian cosine. The food in Georgia is cheap and amazing!DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Avon Books UK via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Her Last Holiday by C.L. Taylor for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. I particularly enjoyed this book as an audiobook as it made me feel more engaged with the storyline and really bought the characters to life.
Write clear and simple sentences and organise your ideas in short paragraphs. Give each paragraph a different topic. Fran’s sister Jenna disappeared two years ago on a wellness retreat in Gozo that went terribly wrong. The man behind the retreats, Tom Wade was recently released from prison after serving his sentence for the deaths of two people. But he has never let on what happened to the third victim, Jenna. I've also become a fan of LL Cool J who plays Sean Matthews , Georgia's co-worker who is destined to become her love interest.
So, what does Fran’s mother do, when she learns that Tom Wade has been released after serving his two year prison sentence, and that he will be running another retreat? She books a spot for Fran, so she can go investigate her sister’s presumed death. Juliet is a former journalist for the Guardian newspaper, now the founding director of Bright Star Content Marketing.
Told in alternating timelines, then and now, from both Jenna's and Fran's point of view, plus one of the wellness guru's perspective, this is a fast paced thriller. I always love alternate timelines and different perspectives.I liked Fran and found her to be a realistic character- she was trying to investigate what happened to Jenna but is not a detective, thus she makes a lot of mistakes. There is also personal growth throughout the book, as she explores her relationship with Jenna and the rest of her family, as well as reflects on her current lifestyle. Some reviewers said there were plot lines left unresolved, but I actually think that was done purposely, allowing the reader to make their own decisions about the true motivations of some of the characters. The ending was tied up maybe a bit too cleanly, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
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