The last thing Ben said to Lucy after the death of his sister, and her best friend was cruel and untrue. It hangs over both of their heads for most of the novel, and while the book is a strong depiction of grief and guilt, there are elements that could have been stronger.

We get both Ben and Lucy’s points of view. Ben is drinking himself to numbness, taking advantage of other girls’ sympathy for him, and trying to deny his feelings for Lucy. We see his thoughts oscillate between wanting to move on from Trixie’s terrible death to blaming himself entirely that he wasn’t able to save her. When Lucy starts to date Simon the Renter, Ben’s jealousy and anger force him to confront some cold hard facts: about himself, his family, and his future.

Lucy hasn’t been able to move on either. But her memories of Trixie are happy, and full of Trixie urging her ‘to be brave’ (especially in regards to taking a risk with Ben). Lucy has made a new friend, Hannah, whose support and compassion help. Her family is also suffering and it’s good to see both Ben’s parents and Lucy’s parents grapple with how to deal with their traumatised children.

I was disappointed that every conversation between Lucy and Ben (up to the final moments, of course) is poisoned and hurtful. It’s hard to like today’s Ben, but Lucy remembers a kind boy, a protective boy, and her loyalty to him is commendable. That does fit with his behaviour today, as he believes he doesn’t deserve Lucy, but I wasn’t convinced he needed to be so awful to her. We do observe him treat other people well, so he shows positive traits too. As well, Ben is fascinated by rocks, and the author uses the idea of inuksuk – a Native American traditional tower of rocks perfectly balanced to create a natural sculpture – as a metaphor for Ben finding the right path. It’s poetic and hopeful.

There is a lot of reference to drinking, smoking and sex, but in context, it works within the confines of grief-addled hearts. Fortunately, Ben’s father realises his actions affect his son, and Lucy’s parents start to listen to their daughter, when she opens up to them. Guthrie, Ben’s best friend, and five year old Emily whom Lucy babysits, add depth to a slow moving story that is reliant on readers’ sympathies and desire to see this pair find their way back to each other.

Thanks to Amulet Books and Netgalley for approval of this advanced copy. The Last Thing You Said is released (in the US on April 4, 2017.

Recommended to readers who like their contemporary sad, but with a happy and hopeful resolution. The romance is halted and there is a lot of communication, but friends are around to make the two be honest. The setting is a small lakeside town, with much discussion around fishing and restaurants which make up Ben and Lucy’s summer jobs.

What a painful book. I mean this in the best way possible. It's an emotional roller coaster of angsty love, and I am definitely down with that. The main characters, Lulu and Ben, are grieving the loss of their BFF/sister) in what feels like very genuine ways. They cycle through the pains of loss and guilt, and it all comes across as 100% sincere. I got choked up multiple times.

It took a leap of faith on my part to continue reading in the first third of the book. I'm not going to lie, things move pretty slowly. But it ramps up a few chapters before the midpoint. From there, I couldn't put it down. Lulu's heartbreak is so sad--I wanted her to find happiness. And Ben's destructive anger over losing his sister felt all too real.

The ending was lovely, but I wanted more of it. The final scene came, and the payoff ended so quickly. Even so, it was sweet and soothing after all the emotional ups and downs. I had a (teary) smile on my face when I finished.

This book by debut author Sarah Biren is about loss of a loved one, the grief that follows and the toll it takes on relationships. It is narrated in alternate point of views - Lucy and Ben's. The author adds a note to readers at the beginning of the book, that it is meant for anyone who has suffered loss. :(
Trixie and Lucy are best friends right from their kindergarten days and are glued to each other. At the age of 12, Lucy realizes that she has a crush on Ben, Trixie's brother and when she blurts it out to her best friend, she is surprised by the fact that Trixie is overjoyed that one day they will be married and the two of them will become sisters. For the next three years, she silently yearns for Ben while he shifts from one girl to another. The summer which changes her life, the summer where Trixie decides to bid goodbye to them forerver, is the summer Ben starts falling for Lucy. Minutes before his sister's death, he is about to ask Lulu to be his girlfriend when Lucy's brother Clayton cries for help and interrupts his question. While both Lucy and Ben grieve for Trixie, Ben kisses her just after the funeral, which turns Lucy into a fireball of emotions and pushes him off. Ben is ashamed of what he did and guilt takes over him that makes him react in the stupidest way possible. He blames Lucy for Trixie's death. That he couldn't save his sister, because he was distracted by Lucy.. Total douche bag move!

Fast forward to the present, its been one year since Trixie's funeral and Ben and Lucy are not talking to each other, let alone be in a relationship. Both the families are trying to recover from the loss of the loved one - Trixie's mom takes up gardening and keeping herself busy, her dad ends up drinking while Ben turns cold, insensitive, alcoholic and angry, round the year. The summer after her death, Lucy is still trying to get over her first love and her neighbor's summer renter Simon turns to be a distraction. Only when something is lost we do realize its worth and Ben soon finds himself jealous of Simon and though he wants Lulu back he is not helping it because of his dumb moves. He couldnt save Trixie, but could he save himself from getting deep into trouble and winning back Lucy's love?

This book is a totally an emotional journey through loss and broken relationships. I have lost my best friend too, not to death but to circumstances and I can imagine how much it would hurt when he/she is no more. But I did not like that their lives are still stuck with the past summer and that 80% of the book is about grieving. I mean, i think that okay, this is the point he is going to make up for his behavior, but no ! again he goes  and breaks her heart.

Though the book is about how Lucy is unable to get over Trixie's death,  she is atleast trying to live. She tries to be a rebel, sneaks out and goes to the rodeo with Hannah and Simon. For this, she turns out to be my favorite character in the book. You mourn with her, you ache along with her, you feel her...

The book reminded me a little of Twenty Boy Summer, by Sarah Ockler. Sea glasses in that book, while it was agates in here. Both books are about the grief caused by the death of an important character.

Sadly, i do not have a quote that i like from this book, even though there's so much stress on the Book of Quotes that Trixie and Lulu have. I'm not sure whether I will re-read it because its little sad, tragic and emotional, but definitely recommend anyone going through the final stages of mourning a lost love to read this. My rating is 4/5.

When I got the chance to read The Last Thing You Said by Sara Biren I was so excited! I have heard nothing but wonderful things about this book and author. I will admit that this is a tear jerker but there are laughs along the way. The story follows Lucy (Lulu) whose best friend (Trixie) dies without warning. This leaves Lucy and Trixie’s brother Ben in shock and having a hard time excepting the fact that she is gone. The story takes places in a Minnesota resort town where Ben’s family owns a resort where they both work during their summers. It has been almost a year after the accident and they still are not talking. Lucy makes a friend with Hannah, a new girl at their school. While Ben spirals out of control drinking and going from girl to girl. However this summer takes a different turn from last summer. They find that they can’t stop thinking and worrying about each other bring them together at the end. While I could not put this book down, I found that it is really an emotional read with a happy ending, Biren  does an amazing job a creating a story that really pulls at your heart strings

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Like many books I choose, this cover and title spoke to me, and because of the description I knew it was a book for me. Having lost my best friend in my 20s, I was anxious to see how teenagers would be portrayed dealing with a lot of the same emotions I had. 

Though Trixie's tragic death occurs well before the book begins, her absence remains an obvious hole in the lives of alternating narrators Lucy and Ben - and of the friends and family that try to help them deal with their grief while also dealing with their own. 

I was compelled to watch Ben and Lucy as they orbited each other in their small, lakeside town. Though seeing the other brought raw feelings to the surface, Ben and Lucy are inexplicably drawn to each other through their shared loss, former friendship, and hope for the relationship they may have had. 

This book is not just about grief over losing a person so integral in one's life. It is about struggling to move on, to remember, and to deal with guilt and everyday reminders of her absence.

Last Summer both Lucy and Ben suffered a great loss.  The loss of Trixie who was Lucy's best friend and Bens sister. This story revolves around the emotions and loss that Lucy and Ben are going through. It is a about loss, love and finding yourself. This was a great read and I can't recommend it enough.

This book caught my eye for personal reasons. Having lost my best friend at a young age, I immediately connected to the characters before I read anything about them. Due to this, I also think I found this book sadder than I would have if I didn’t have this connection. I don’t think that it is written to intentionally be sad, but definitely dredged up old memories and feelings, thus making it quite sad for me.  So, if you’re afraid of sad books, I don’t think you need to be worried about this one. Now, onto the story! 

THE SETTING. Settings are so important, and set the scene for everything. Yes, okay that is such an obvious statement, I apologize. Let me try to clarify more. What I love about settings is that they dictate what can happen in a story. If you aren’t on a lake and are instead in the middle of the dessert, you certainly can’t have summer nights laying on a raft staring up at the stars. Get it? Make sense? Settings are such a subtle glimpse into what is possible for a story. You can also get a good sense of the type of life that the characters have. If a story is taking place in New York City, the whole feel of the story is immediately more high energy and hectic versus a story taking place in a lake town, where things will be slower, quieter, and more intimate. MORAL OF THIS PARAGRAPH IS – I love the setting of this book. It immediately reminded me of my family’s camp, where I spent a lot of time in the summer, and Lake Placid, New York, where I have vacationed many times. Another connection to this story! 

THE CHARACTERS. This takes place mostly after the death of Trixie, however we do get flashbacks and details sprinkled throughout to help build the story. I wish that we had more about each of the characters from before Trixie passed away. I think that would have built the characters out more for me, and helped me to understand why they were the way that they were after. I’m not sure that the flashbacks did the characters justice, and they could have been developed a bit better. 

FIRST LOVE. This book is definitely nostalgic of first love, the endless possibilities that it brings, and the hold that it can have on you even after it has ended. I enjoyed it, because although I am happily married, trips down memory lane are fun. It is a nice reminder of how people in your past have impacted you and left their mark. 
Greif and loss. This book is also very much about grief, loss, and coping. It explores a variety of different ways that characters are “dealing with” the loss of Trixie, and all of them are accurate. There is no one right way to cope and mourn, and the author offers a glimpse into a variety of the approaches. I think it’s a good thing to expose readers to, because unfortunately loss is inevitable, and I just think that it is good to understand that nothing is normal during that time. 

Overall, I did enjoy the book quite a bit. I don’t think it’s something that I would re-read, but I would recommend it to someone who was looking for something not too serious but not too lovey.

ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I struggled a little with my rating here. BUT I think I figured it all out! I tore through this book in one day! I was super invested in the story and the characters. Losing friends young is very hard. I lost family and friends young. One of my long time friends when I was just a senior in high school. So this book called to me right away.
We are dealing with two people at different stages in their grief. Lucy lost Trixie her best friend as if that isn't painful enough she loses Ben as well. The love of her life and Trixies brother. He is alive but is unable to be around her now. Lucy is at the point where she is sad and missing her best friend every day but she knows that she needs to get moving. That living is what Trixie would have wanted. She meets a boy Simon and that's really where everything changes for her. 
Ben goes bat shit crazy in the wake of his sister's death. He is harboring guilt because he thinks if he had been paying attention to his sister and not Lucy she would be alive. He hates the world and everything in it. He attacks Lucy with that hate every chance he gets. Bens grief is the kind I understand. I loved that he was angry and reckless. I loved that he cursed like a sailor and acted out sexually. It felt very real to me. Don't get me wrong I was yelling at the book, begging him to get his shit together! That is the point though he invoked a real feeling within me.
Lucy was also a beautiful character. She has made a new friend named Hannah who is trying to help her deal with the grief. I loved their friendship so much. I loved that Hannah wanted to know Trixie. That she treated her with respect even though she was gone. I loved all the female friendships in this book! 
" Be really brave. BRB - our code."  
That sums up how amazing Trixie and these relationships are. Now on to my issues. Simon the boy Lucy begins dating to try and move on from Ben. He seems extremely sweet and it's so clear at times he loves her in a way. I also felt some off things about him. Maybe he capitalized on grief a little. I don't know if that was intentional because it wasn't addressed. He also throws something very personal in Bens face and that sat very very wrong with me. Simon at the end also faces a grief of his own and I didn't think that was needed. SPOLIERISH? I hated the kind of stress that added to Lucy. Simon and all his flaws was there for her during her grief and she just left him. It did not sit well with me. BUT my conflicting feelings on Simon the ones that think he was using her grief make me think that is why she left him in his time of need. (I don't mean she should have stayed with him by any means. Just been a friend) SO this was my only issue with the story. If you can even call it that.
I really liked this book. I think everyone should read! It dealt with grief in ways we don't often see in the YA world. It also gave us different manifestations of grief helping show that not everyone grieves the same. It was wonderful. FOUR STAR.

Favorite Quote
"It's a good day to have a good day." She leans in close to me and whispers, "BRB, Lucy. Promise me."

This book made me cry which is a great rarity these days! I really enjoyed the absolute rollercoaster of emotions!

lucy and ben had always been connected by trixie. she was lucy's best friend. she was ben's little sister. they'd all grown up together in their small resort town on minnesota's halcyon lake. so when trixie's heart gave out on a routine swim they had no idea how to process that kind of grief. 

lucy had loved ben forever. but since trixie died it was as if he only knew how to cause her pain. she didn't understand his anger or his need to hurt her. in the year since her death there had been a thousand small cuts. starting with what he said to her on the day of her funeral. 

what he said was actually pretty unforgivable. and ben would take it back if he knew how. he hated hurting lucy. except that every time he saw her he'd think how she was here and trixie wasn't. and he'd think if he hadn't been thinking of lucy. of how her skin felt when it brushed against his. of how he wanted to run his fingers through her hair and caress the freckles dusting her cheek. of how he loved her and wanted to kiss her and be with her. and maybe, just maybe, if he hadn't been so focused on thoughts like that, maybe his sister would still be here. and maybe everything was his fault. but it's easier to blame someone else, and lucy is the only other person he can blame. 

and the thing is, she is the only person he can blame who is strong enough to take it. she is the only person he can treat so badly that will still forgive him and love him in the end. and now that the anniversary of trixie's death is approaching, maybe it's time that he stop hating lucy and stop hating himself and stop hating the fact that his sister is dead. maybe if he accepts her death. accepts that it was something that could not have been avoided. she had a heart condition and it would have given out at some point, whether or not ben was there to stop it. 

the last thing you said is a story about loss and heartbreak and grief. about how even when things are broken beyond measure they can be put back together again, you just have to accept the differences. lucy and ben's story is beautiful and sad. they both make a lot of stupid choices. they're doing their best to survive, because the only way forward is to take it one day at a time. and maybe they're done with all the hurting and are ready to start healing. sara biren's debut is a powerful exploration of grief and how the experience of loss at such a young age can be devastating and raw and painful.

This was heartbreaking. I know I've been giving it to too many but this too deserved a 3.5.

Lucy has lost Trixie her best friend, and her brother Ben has been treating her like trash, making her lose even more than a friend. Especially considering her long-lasting feelings for him. When a new boy comes to town, she wonders if it is time to move on.

I wasn't expecting the tone in this book. I just thought it would either focus on some drama about Ben and Lucy not being able to get together, or maybe on memories of Lucy's good times with Trixie. Of course, the book had both but they were exceedingly used. The actual tone was closer to paying homage to Trixie and all she was able to accomplish before her death.

This book centered a lot on grieving, too. Maybe it is because I have been going through some very dark weeks myself but some passages spoke to me in a way that I cried not really from being sad but from something deeper. It's hard to explain. Still, this isn't really a book written to make you cry. The author just wrote in very well how mourning someone feels. I don't think I had any moment of punch-in-the-gut, either. I feel that is an accomplishment, being able to take such a theme and resisting the urge to turn it into a tearjerker. It's much harder to reach your reader without that punch, in my opinion. And both Lucy's and Ben's grieving processes seemed real enough they brought me some comfort.

While I say that I don't mean I really liked Ben that much. In fact, if I cheered for him to finally get together with Lucy it was because she really seemed to love him. To be honest, he was unbearable too many times for me to forgive if this were me. Not that his rival was any better—he was so much worse I pitied Lucy. Yes, it was a good thing this book wasn't heavy on the romance. It focused more on friendship and bonds, including the one uniting Lucy and Ben, which happened to have the romantic aspect. I wouldn't have been as satisfied had this story really been a romance, considering what a terrible book boyfriend Ben turned out to be. I do understand he was hurting... it doesn't mean I'd want to have to deal with it.

So why didn't I rate it higher? Even though the story spoke so much to me, I felt it was still bland. Somethings also happened mostly because the author wanted, and others never received the proper attention, like Lucy's brother lacked a more complete ending besides being the big excuse for her parents to have her work extra hours at the family restaurant. Many of the characters lacked dimension, and I wasn't too into the interchangeability between Hannah, Lucy's new friend, and Trixie. Except for the accent, which you obviously can't hear, they just seemed the same person to me.

So this book had a lot of points to be improved but this was still a work that touched me a lot. It was the sort of book I really needed to read. In addition to having good themes to debate on if you want to do a buddy read, this was a very quick read. I never finish books in a day, and yet this one I did.

Absolutely beautifully written! I ate this book up in just 2 days!

The Last Thing You Said is a coming of novel about two young people dealing with the grief of losing someone close to them. Lucy's life changed the moment she lost her best friend, Trixie. She no longer has the brave best friend by her side to give her courage. Not only did she lose Trixie, though. She also lost Trixie's brother, Ben.

Ben can't forgive himself for what he couldn't do the day Trixie died. His grief has caused him to push away the people he loved the most. One of those people is his sister's best friend, Lucy. He can't stop thinking about Lucy, but he knows there's nothing he can do to make up for the way he's acted.

After a year of carefully avoiding each other, Ben and Trixie are forced to see each other at their summer jobs. Despite the pain of the past year, neither can stop thinking about what could have been.

The Last Thing You Said broke my heart over and over again. It did it slowly, throughout the entire book. The pain each character felt crushed me and made me yearn for better times for Lucy and Ben. Their pain was so raw. I wanted to lock them in a room and force them to talk to each other.

Ben was a tough character to like. I wanted to give him a good shake! The way he treated Lucy and everyone around him was frustrating. I hated how he became dependent on alcohol to numb his pain. His way of coping hurt more than it helped, and it was painful to read. I wanted him to dig himself out of the hole he was creating.

I loved Lucy, but she made me so sad. I remember what it was like to have my heart-broken and I empathized with her pain. She knew the way he treated her was horrible and she shouldn't want to be with him anymore, but she couldn't stop her feelings for him. It was painful to feel her discomfort every time she saw Ben. I liked that Lucy tried hard to move on, even if the way she did it wasn't the best. 

No matter how painful The Last Thing You Said was to read at times, I still loved it. Ben frustrated the heck out of me and Lucy made me want to cry, but I couldn’t put the book down. I loved it. It was so beautifully written and filled with emotion. Even when I hated something a character was doing, I loved them. I wanted to see them overcome their problems and be happy. 

I can’t believe this is Sara Biren’s debut novel. Reading The Last Thing You Said felt like reading a book from a seasoned author. It felt so real and raw. I’m incredibly excited to see what comes next from her.

The Last Thing You Said was a purely emotional and gut-wrenching story of grief and loss.  Lucy's best friend and Ben's sister, Trixie, died nearly a year ago.  Lucy and Ben, who were dancing around the beginnings of a relationship when Trixie died while they were all swimming at the lake.  After Trixie's death, both Lucy and Ben struggle with grief and guilt, and can't even maintain their friendship.  Current events of their summer throw them together, and they have to face their feelings for one another once and for all, and find a way to heal the hurts that have caused them to grow apart.  The narration switches between Lucy's and Ben's voices, so you have a front-row seat to all their pain and angst.  Though this book is not one I'd be totally comfortable with recommending to my middle school students on my book blog, because of alcohol use and sexual situations, I would definitely recommend it to former students who are in high school are older.

Sara Biren's debut novel 'The Last Thing You Said' is that summer love between teenagers, but ripped apart by tragedy. The careful balance of teenage emotion and trying to be strong that Biren balances is the perfect combination to bring out a story that will put on all heart strings. 

The story focuses around Lucy and Ben as they cope almost a year later with the death of someone very close to them. A death that ended up ripping their own friendship apart. Living in a small lake town, you are bound to run into each other, and these encounters cause awkwardness, old pent up emotions to flow out, and angry disputes. While these teens try and juggle their normal summer lives of working and hanging out with old and new friends, we watch as they learn about heart ache, resentment, forgiveness, and teenage angst. 

Biren's writing is simplistic and has a great flow about it. The story transitions from one viewpoint to the other and you end up reading a chunk of the book without even realizing how long you have been sitting there. I love that about this novel. It's an easy read that draws you in. Lucy is average teenager. Juggling family, work, and trying to be a little normal. She regrets some of her decisions and realizes the mistakes she has made based on her emotions. This story is good for anyone, of any age. It's a fantastic spring read on a nice day sitting outside on the porch, or for those in snowy states, curled up on the couch with a good book. Being from Michigan, I could practically close my eyes and picture the small lake town, tourists milling about, taking boats out on the water, town parades, and all the other summer lake stories you hear about. They are all real and Biren nailed them in this novel. It's like a fresh blast of air from back home. I highly recommend this book for anyone to check out and read. Five out of five stars.

Thank your for the chance to read this book, however, it's a DNF for me and I won't be reviewing it at this time.

I really loved this story- it was a perfect and honest representation of grief and how everybody deals with it differently. It was summery, and cute but at times so devastating and makes you feel very grateful for what you have. I loved the characters in it, aside from Simon who I kind of hated for no reason. The dual POV was super important for me because I can't imagine having the story from only Ben or only Lucy's view, it was good to see how both characters were feeling and dealing with the tragedy. This was such a good summer contemporary that I would definitely recommend picking up if you want a story with a bit of depth too it as well as the cuteness!

This is a great book of loss, survival, love, and what happens when you lose someone you love.  What happens to relationships and the people you leave behind.  The author put a lot of thought into how people react to the loss of a loved one and how the closed relationships can deteriorate when it happens.  A great heartfelt, heartwarming, real story.

The last thing she said --
"It's a good day to have a good day." She leans in close to me and whispers, "BRB, Lucy. Promise me."

I knew this books would elicit tears, when a few escaped as I read the author's introductory note. 

This is a sad story of what happens when a life is cut short. It's about those who are left behind, and how they are supposed to survive without that person. I lost several friends too soon, and therefore was able to relate to this story. Biren deftly portrayed people in the throes of grief. The primary focus of the story was Ben and Lucy, but she also included Trixie's parents and other family members. I appreciated that Biren did this, because she showed that grief and how one deals with this grief is not a one-size-fits-all situation. 

"Her life was short, but she did - she lived it."

This story really hit home for me on so many levels, as I lost several friends way too soon. It made me reflect on how I dealt with those losses. The coincidence that I finished reading this story on THIS day, which is always a little sad for me as I remember my good friend who I lost in a plane crash, was uncanny. It was many years ago, but I still hold a little piece of him in my heart and a little bit of the pain is still there too. So, yeah, I could relate to this story, and found that the pain and ache permeated this story was so real. 

"'Tell me a Trixie.' I smile. This has become one of our favorite activities, a way I can keep Trixie alive."

The parts where memories of Trixie were shared were among my favorite parts of this book. I swear! Every one of them brought a smile to my face, and made my eyes shiny. These vignettes were so beautifully crafted, and radiated with love for their cherished friend and sister. They were just perfect. The picture of Trixie painted for us, was one of a girl who loved recklessly and lived her life out loud. She brought joy to those who she loved and who loved her back, but she had flaws, and I liked that Biren included those too. 

"Be really brave. BRB - our code."

The broken relationship between Ben and Lucy was so painful! There were times when I thought my heart just could not take any more. These two were so deep in their hole of anguish, that they were missing out on their best means for survival. It is here that I will thank Biren for giving both Ben and Lucy such wonderful support systems in the form of Guthrie and Hannah. Guthrie was this fabulous strong but silent type, who has this zen-mystical quality. And Hannah! Hannah was loud and showy and sometimes crass, but she was thoughtful, understanding, persistent when necessary, and perceptive. She knew exactly what Lucy needed and when. It was really touching the way she shared in Lucy's pain and wanted to help her remember Trixie, even though she never met her. #FriendshipGoals. 

I really loved the way Biren worked the inuksuit into the story. The whole purpose of the inuksuit as a form of communication to say you were here or to tell someone they are on the right path. Ben used these structures as a way to find his way back: back to Lucy and back to himself. It was very poetic and beautiful . 

"I stack the rocks and they fall and I stack them again until I find balance. "

"Ben was so careful and methodical about it, so intent on achieving balance where there should be none."

And the ending image featuring the inuksuit just made my heart leap with joy.

Overall: A lovely and poignant story of love and loss which hit me right in the feels, and is leaving me wanting more from Sara Biren.