The premise of this book instantly grabbed my attention and I thought what a cool concept however this was not it for me. It took me 18 days to finish this book as I had 0 interest in picking it up once I read the first 30-40%

This book reads like an action movie, which is great. If you like that sort of thing. Basically the whole book is a cat and mouse game with little to 0 character development.

I think most people will love this book and I will be in the select few however I prefer a little more plot/suspense rather than two people running round a house for the whole book.

First of all I would just like to thank, NetGalley, Taylor Adams and Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC of “The Last Word” in exchange for an honest review.

This tense, thriller/slasher novel pays homage to many horror films, whilst also ridiculing them- in the best way.

When Emma rates her new read a one star review, little does she know she’s inadvertently signed her own death warrant, as she soon finds herself being stalked by the book’s vengeful author.

Quite frankly I found the concept for this book terrifying (for obvious reasons). I really liked Emma as a protagonist. I resonated with her a lot and found it really easy to like her. She put stereotypical victims in the horror genre to shame. I also admired how she’s still a strong female lead, whilst also battling social anxiety and depression; the representation was amazing to see.

I found the home invasion plot beyond terrifying and there were hundreds of stomach-dropping moments littered throughout.

The contrasting POV’s and storytelling between the author and Emma were brilliantly tense and somewhat amusing at times.

However, I did struggle towards the end a bit. It was starting to feel a little drawn-out for my liking. You’d think that would be the end of the book but then something else would occur, which is great because it means we get more stomach-churning twists, however, it then started to feel a bit repetitive to me.

But as I mentioned, there are no shortage of ingenious twists, all of which are executed brilliantly, add to the palpable tension of the book nicely and are impossible to see coming.

After all, “Coincidences are fine in real life. But in fiction, they’re just bad writing.”

I also absolutely loved Laika, Emma’s trusty golden retriever. She was hands down my favourite character😊

This is the most terrifying psychological thriller. The book has jaw dropping twist and it’s disturbing. Emma read one of the book recommended to her written by Author H.G. Kane. And it disappoints her so she leave the one star review. After that she receives a message from author to take it down. Emma declines. The unthinkable and unexpected happens. She begin to see ghost, dark figure outside her home and her life turns upside down. She is not able to fathom what’s happening with her. She lives alone with her dog. She didn’t see this coming. The ending was so twisted, horrifying and unpredictable. This book literally scared me. It’s the most terrifying book I have ever read. The ending will shook you and the truth is more twisted than it appears to be.

Do I have this book to thank for my sleep deprived state today? Oh yes I do. Was it absolutely and totally worth it? Heck yes! There was no way I was going to get any sleep anyway - not without finding out what happened to Emma. In a market in which many books get mislabelled as thrillers (intentionally or accidentally I don't know), it was refreshing to finally read a really tense and suspenseful psychological thriller.

Desperately seeking solitude, Emma Carpenter finds herself house-sitting at an isolated and remote beach house. Her only company her dog Laika, remotely played Hangman with a nearby neighbour and a constant stream of ebooks on her kindle. When on impulse she decides to leave a 1 star review for her last (serial killer) read, the last thing she expects is the author to respond - in a quite aggressive manner at that. Then odd things start to happen in and around her home and Emma starts to wonder if someone is actually out to get her.

What a wonderfully paced game of cat and mouse. And what a trail of red herrings. I loved that despite being able to guess some of the twists (though I feel Taylor Adams intended it that way), the story kept twisting and turning so often that I absolutely loved all the "oh no!" moments. I especially loved the storytelling format (book within a book) although this led to me mistakenly believing that I reached the end when I saw Acknowledgements. Let me tell you, I was so MAD! Only to realize there's more (and breath a sigh of relief). Both Hairpin Bridge and The Last Word left me feel fully satisfied as a reader.

If you are looking for truly engrossing and thrilling page-turner, look no further - this book is IT! Especially if you are primarily a thriller reader - you will not want to miss The Last Word. And if you tend to read and review books, I promise you, you'll also be unexpectedly chuckling at times!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! This truly was such a treat!

After loving No Exit by this author, I had high expectations for this one. However, unfortunately I was disappointed. There were many points where I feel like the storyline could have, and should have, stopped. I think the author was aiming to create suspense and tension, but the storyline just felt dragged out. I also really didn’t like the main character. With a storyline like this one, feeling sympathy for the main character is important - but that just didn’t happen. The main thing I liked about this book was the storyline idea as it sounded really interesting. I will still read future books from Taylor Adams because of how much I loved No Exit, but unfortunately I was disappointed by this one. I’m sure a lot of people will enjoy it, but it just wasn’t for me.

I love thrillers and enjoyed No Exit, the author's previous book, so was quite excited about the arrival of The Last Word. And the synopsis sounded super promising: a woman housesitting alone in a remote area, she reads a book on her e-reader, gives it a one-star rating and is stalked by the furious author. I liked the writing style and the set-up but it didn't really get to a memorable level for me. Yes, there's lots of action but sadly I didn't finish it thinking that was an amazing read as I did No Exit. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

Likes:
❤️ Fast-paced slasher thriller, that had my heart beating at 120 bpm!
❤️ Has about a 10000 twists!
❤️ Features a very cute doggo 🐶
❤️ Loved the premise!

Dislikes:
🥴 umm, that I lost sleep because I couldn't put it down? 🙃

𝕱𝖎𝖓𝖆𝖑 𝖁𝖊𝖗𝖉𝖎𝖈𝖙: LOVED IT ❤️ Very scary very good!

Taylor Adams delivers another realistic, fear-inducing, violent thriller.
Some epic twists and turns interspersed with non-stop action and suspense.

Not much more to say, other than this was a very enjoyable read.
Not sure if anyone will be reviewing it with a single star considering the premise of this novel, but to be fair, I don’t think anyone should be reviewing it anywhere near 1 star.

Thanks NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a Review Copy

Wow! Hold on to your cotton candy, because this rollercoaster is going to get crazy!

Holy moly, I love the wild, mad ride with this book!

I do not want to spoil too much in this review, but I truly had fun reading it and just couldn't believe the many twists, turns and misleading neds poking out. Just my kinda book.

Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley!

The premise of »The Last Word« sounded so good, I just needed to pick it up and give Taylor Adams another chance because I wasn’t the biggest fan of »No Exit« - it’s one of those books were I prefered the movie because it just worked better for me with that kind of story.

And I’m acutally really glad I picked up his newest release because oh boy was this book a rollercoaster - in the best way possible.

I was hooked from the first page. As I said, the premise just sounded so fun. I mean, horrible but still really fun to read about. The main character writes a 1 star review and has a not so nice interaction with the author about that review and soon after someone tries to break into the house she’s housesitting/tries to attack/kill her. It’s a wild story really but one I thoroughly enjoyed reading. As I said, hooked from page 1 and couldn’t/didn’t want to put the book down. The story is super fast paced and I thought I had it all figured out at 30% but I was so wrong. There were so many twists and turns, the book is changing direction what feels like every chapter and you just don’t trust anyone - which is what I loved about »The Last Word«. All the twists and turns did get a bit exhausting somewhen to be honest but still, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

If you’re looking for a super fast paced book full of plot twists that is a little wild the more you think about it and where the dog survives - little spoiler I know but because I read in a review that the dog would survive before I picked this book up and knowing that definitely made me a little less anxious while reading so I wanted to share this too - »The Last Word« is the book you should be reading. Was it the best book I’ve ever read? No. Is it one I still think about two month after finishing because it was just such a wild ride? Yes, yes it is. It’s definitely a memorable read and as I said, I’m just really glad I gave this author another chance.

This book was really good that I was hooked from the beginning to the end!

This book relates to us all book reviewers. So you read a book that you feel do not deserve a five star. You try to be nice about it but then you are bluntly honest about the book you just read. That was the most horrible book you have ever read and then you give a one star review on Amazon. I am sure many of us reviewers would have given a one star reading or DNF at some point.
But the twist in the story is when the author of that book contacts you and demanding you to give a five star rating and changing the review on Amazon--that's where the story starts getting tricky and that's what happened to Emma Carpenter, the protagonist of the story.

Emma Carpenter lives alone with her dog Laika in a secluded house. She plays hangman with her neighbor. So after giving a negative review to a book, Emma comes face to face with the author, who is determined to get rid of Emma.

I enjoyed reading the author's debut book No Exit which was really good, this book was equally thrilling as well. I feel like I was watching a horror movie scene while reading this book. I do like how there were excerpts from that book and how those excerpts were reacted in the overall story as well. It was slightly disturbing but abovel all, throughout the time I was reading the book, I was kept on the edge of the seat, waiting to see what the ending was going to be like. Wasn't disappointed with the ending but overall, this was a unputdownable, fast paced thriller that will keep you up all night--worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Whooaaa I'm actually scared to write a review luckily for me I'm rating this 5 stars!
Taylor Adams never fails with the suspense read this in one day with my heart in my mouth for most of it !
Thank you so much to the publisher for an early copy for an honest review.

I don’t read thrillers. When I see The Thriller Font™ and a high contrast gloomy cover, my vision blurs and I retain no information about it. The sheer quantity of them out there intimidates me and I don’t know where to start.

But when a blurb says I might die if I give this book 1 star, you got my full and undivided attention. Being in online book spaces, I saw authors upon authors take it upon themselves to scold their reviewers, or go as far as dox them, stalk them, or hit them with wine bottles over the head at their place of work. Horrifying reality that I think of when I leave a negative review; but one hell of a book premise.

This was pure, unadulterated fun. I couldn’t put it down. I was unloading the dishwasher with one hand and holding my kindle with the other.

It had me cracking up, cringing and crying. The double narration was absolutely hilarious. A perfect blend of ridiculous, over the top but still intense and unnerving. I don’t want to go into too much detail because I need everyone to experience it for themselves, but the back and forth, especially in the first part, was genius and so much fun.

I love Emma. So much depth, so many layers, so witty. Backstory that had me crying by the end. Her conversations with Laika were adorable and this finally broke my streak of underwhelming books that coincidentally all have a dog in them.

I can’t recommend this enough. It’s so meta, so fun, keeps you on your toes from start to finish, surprises you with depth and twists and turns and the eerily realistic but hilarious reaction of an author coming into reviewer spaces. Literally.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

To have this book start off with such a bang where it feels like the reader is being dropped into the heart of the story right from the beginning to having it drag on and on and on did have a bit of a whiplash effect on me. Were lessons not learnt from the previous book because boy oh boy, that fight scene went on for ages.

The book is too long and although it was interesting enough, the slow pacing annoyed me to no end.

Just like No Exit, The Last Word is claustrophobic, jam picked with twists and gripping. I enjoyed the different forms that it was written in which really helped me get swept away with the story.

It started so so well. I was ripped immediately from page 1, Emma giving a 1 star review to a book and the author not being too delighted about,asking her to take the review down. The answer was no and things unfolded at an amazing pace. Somewhere between the 70% and 75% Mark, I lost my patience a bit. Things got a bit odd and my interest wanded.
The book began as a solid 5star. Unfortunately, it lost me at some point, I'm sad to say.

Trying to navigate grief while someone tries to murder you over a bad book review - nightmare.

The Last Word is a fast-paced thriller that blends horrifying and campy moments seamlessly. I loved the tense build-up, the way the author peeled back Emma's layers and the genuine edge-of-your-seat moments that had me flipping pages. I also found Emma’s bad reading experiences relatable and entertaining. I did predict one of the twists early on (which I never mind), but there were some reveals that genuinely took me by surprise and added to the thrill.

With fantastic writing, an entertaining plot, a likeable lead, swords, and a dog, what more do you need? The perfect book for your next binge.

Fave character: obviously, the dog Laika.

Okay wow the twists in this kept me guessing until the very last page! Some of them I guessed but most of them had me shook! I loved Emma’s character and how she overcame every obstacle, especially for her Laika! The ending was just perfect too! I did find the beginning a little slow hence the 4 stars.

this book was exactly what I needed- an interesting, suspenseful and twisty thriller that held my attention throughout.

the story follows Emma, who recently suffered a tragedy and is now house sitting at a remote beach house for the winter. she leaves a 1 star review for a horror book online and then everything goes a little crazy from there!

the characters had depth, the twists were great and unpredictable (to me anyway) and the remote setting and tension was wonderfully crafted. overall I’d say this is my perfect thriller, with the right mix of nail-biting suspense and interesting plot.

also if you love books that centre around authors/books then you should definitely pick this up!

I was so excited to see a new book by the atuhor of my favourite thriller, No Exit.
I love the premise of the book, enjoyed the twists, but overall I thought this was a bit messy. It could do with some tidying up.