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By: Eleanor Moran
Release Date: April 22, 2014
By: Quercus Publishing
Source: Publisher
GR's Summary:
When Olivia Berrington gets the call to tell her that her best friend from college has been killed in a car crash in New York, her life is turned upside down. Her relationship with Sally was an exhilarating roller coaster, until a shocking betrayal drove them apart. But if Sally really had turned her back, why is her little girl named after Olivia?
As questions mount about the fatal accident, Olivia is forced to go back and unravel their tangled history. But as Sally’s secrets start to spill out, Olivia’s left asking herself if the past is best kept buried.
My Take on this Journey:
The Last Time I Saw You, by Eleanor Moran, was a very sad and at times, confusing story of intense proportions. When the story opens, Livvy (Olivia) is just walking through life. She isn't exactly satisfied with her job and her love life sucks. She lives with her best friend, James, since her relationship ended with her best friend Sally. James was once Livvy's boyfriend, but he decided that Livvy was sister material, (though Livvy is in love with him.) James has a colorful life, with women in and out of his life in no time flat. He is a player, loyal to Livvy, and a stand up guy, but is completely honest with women about how he feels about relationships. One day, while Livvy is at work, James calls to tell her to get home. Her best friend from College, Sally, has had a fatal car accident. The entire story is told with flashback scenes, from this point forward, as Livvy goes back to all the things that her and her best girlfriend said and did, till the time their relationship abruptly ended from a major betrayal.
Livvy is devastated and harbors a lot of guilt for things that could have been different and tries to relive where everything went wrong. She wonders, what if she would have done things differently, maybe there would have been a better outcome. As Livvy gets to know William, Sally's husband, and they begin to share their stories about Sally from the past, they both start to realize that maybe they didn't know her at all. Thrown into the mix is Sally's daughter, a namesake that Livvy never knew about. There are a lot of secrets that come to light, and Livvy's guilt, misplaced blame for her very vulnerable wounds are apparent, because they never really got closure or healed.
Ms. Moran's writing is very thought provoking, intense, emotional, captivating, and heart wrenching at times. It took a while to get into the swing of things with the British lingo and figures of speech. Ms. Moran hits on very sensitive subjects such as, betrayal, death, bipolar disorder, and the lack of boundaries. Livvy looks back with retrospection on downfalls, happy moments, and realization hits hard on things that weren't so good in there relationship. Soon she starts to think that the relationship she shared and held most sacred, may not have meant the same to her dear friend Sally. There are a lot of surprises that come to light for both Livvy and William, and feelings that can not be met for the time being, though they are shared.
There is an abundance of character growth, especially for Livvy, who at the beginning was very insecure and unsure of herself and her capabilities. She eventually becomes more sure and begins to make decisions for herself that she can live with. The turbulent relationship and love shared by Livvy and Sally were a roller coaster ride to say the least. Sally was a different kind of person. One that, I think, both William and Livvy never realized was so complicated. I felt that Sally was incapable of a real honest relationship, and the fallout from the secrets could have been prevented in most cases. There is a twist to the story that the readers may be surprised by.
I give, The Last Time I Saw You, by Eleanor Moran, 4 Devastating, Heartbreaking, Turbulent, Second Chance Stars!!!
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About Eleanor Moran:
Eleanor Moran is the author of three previous novels: Stick or Twist, Mr Almost Right and Breakfast in Bed, which is currently being developed for television.
Eleanor also works as a television drama executive and her TV credits include Spooks, Being Human and a biopic of Enid Blyton, Enid, starring Helena Bonham Carter. Eleanor grew up in North London, where she still lives.
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The cover is strange. I'm not sure I like it. Stories that use flashbacks have to be done right for me to enjoy them. It sounds like this one was confusing. I wonder too about living with a guy you love and once had a relationship but is a player. Doesn't sound like that's a very happy place. I do like the idea of the character growth. I'm so character driven that if they don't grow I'm usually frustrated with them. Great review.
ReplyDeleteI like the books that take on some serious issues, bipolar disorder is one I don't see a lot of. Wonderful review. I'll be keeping an eye out for this one.
ReplyDeleteWow, this actually sounds really good. I've read a couple of books that involve bipolar, but they weren't always done that well. So I'm curious about this one.
ReplyDelete