This was different to other thrillers in that it was much slower paced in places and the financial fraud initial plotline isn't what you'd usually expect from a thriller.
I enjoyed this book overall but in places some of the dialogue was a bit cheesy, especially Hannah and some of the conversations didn't always seem believable. A good read though and a bit different.

I was gifted this book by @netgalley in return for a honest review.

Brief description of plot: (I’m terrible at writing these sorry!!)
Hannah wakes up one morning to find her husband gone & left with one simple message ‘Protect her’. Hannah knows the message refers to her 16 year old stepdaughter Bailey. The story follows Hannah as she navigates a new world of unanswered questions where things with her husband were not as expected...

Genre: Fiction, Mystery & Family drama
TW: Spousal death, abandonment, grief.

Things I loved about this book:
💛The growing relationship between step mother & step daughter. Not a theme I’ve read much on previously so it made a great change!
💛The storyline & initial mystery
💛The flashbacks - great way to give you more info about Owen, his past & his relationship with Hannah. Also great for reminding you how far Hannah & Bailey’s relationship has come along
💛There are a lot of questions that you get answers to & they weren’t all predictable!
💛I found the ending satisfying & again not something I expected. It felt bittersweet & definitely wouldn’t have been the easy ending some writers would be tempted to pick!

Things I struggled with or felt could be better:
💛The pace of the book. I’m not really sure what kept me reading but it wasn’t the pace!
💛It would have been good to give a tiny bit more away earlier in the book. I reached 70%, knew very little & it worried me the ending would be rushed.
💛It’s marketed as thriller book but I honestly don’t think it was. It felt more like family fiction/drama
💛Totally random side note & not one that stopped me reading or dislike the book at all...but it makes me uncomfortable how similar the title & cover of the book is to Everything I never told you by Celeste Ng. I’ve not read that book yet but I kept getting muddled due to how similar the title & cover were. I also kept forgetting the title of the book!

I would recommend this book if you are looking for a fairly low key mystery, it’s more about knowledge than an action packed thriller book. I’ll definitely be looking up other books by Laura Dave in future. 💛

AH my heart! You want to read this book! AND OMG I just found out that JULIA ROBERTS is starring in the movie adaptation! There couldn’t be anyone more perfect for who I visualized in my head.

If you’re one of those girls like me, who’s friends turn to when they need help digging background information about a new guys they’re seeing, this book is for you. And while the actual plot has a 1 in a million chance of happening in real life, Dave’s writing style makes it oddly relatable.

Read this book!

The Last Thing He Told Me is a great thriller and I loved the concept. It is definitely a page turner. I loved the plot and the characters were very believable. The author drops us straight into the action from chapter one and relentlessly keeps this up until the very end. I didn't guess the twists along the way or the ending, which is great because I have read so much in this genre, it was a nice surprise to be surprised!
This is the first book I have read from this writer, but I will definitely be looking for her other titles.
Would highly recommend.

Thanks to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book.

When Hannah's husband Owen disappears he leaves a message asking her to protect someone - her resentful 16 year old stepdaughter Bailey. But why does she need protection and who from? Where is Owen and why has he left them?

The Last Thing He Told Me is an excellent psychological thriller, with secrets galore. It is also a moving read as Hannah unravels her husband's past while developing a strong relationship with Bailey.

Enjoyable and recommended for readers who enjoy realistic characters. Many thanks to NetGalley and Serpents Tale/Viper for the opportunity to read and review The Last Thing He Told Me.

After her husband, Owen, goes missing, Hannah and his daughter try to track him down. However, they learn he was not quite the man they thought he was.
I found the second half of this book interesting, learning about Owen’s past, but I found the first half to be quite slow. Nonetheless, a decent read, hence the three stars.

Wow. What a fantastic yet heart rendering read. This story is fast paced yet detailed. The characters are well developed, the storyline itself is simply amazing. Well done Laura Dave.

This book was just not my 'cup of tea'. Slow burner. .I thought the premise sounded ok but in reality a slog to get to the end as a lot of it was mundane and rushed ending. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

This book is amazing! And I nearly missed out on it... thank you to my lovely friend Debbie who knows my reading habits so well, for putting it on my radar. I am excited to hear that Reese Witherspoon’s company Hello Sunshine is making a series out of it starring Julia Roberts. I for one will be tuning in.

The Last Thing He Told Me is an intense page turner that you won’t want to stop reading. It is a wild ride following Hannah and her step daughter Bailey after Owen, the husband and father of these women, ups and disappears. The company that he has been working for is raided by the FBI and he is nowhere to be found. As they put the pieces of the puzzle together , Hannah and Bailey realise that they didn’t know Owen at all.

Thanks to Serpents Tail, Viper Books and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. Add it to your TBR now

American woman spends several pages telling us how she was rude to her daughter and then wonders why the girl doesn't like her, Followed on by how she can't cook pasta with a knob of butter. New husband does a runner because he was involved in fraud. Step mother and step daughter become unconvincing partners in trying to find him. Not much happens. The end. The author is not even sure of the time period at the end- is it 5 years? 8? 10? The copy I had (appreciate it's an uncorrected proof) had the authors name and the title scattered randomly through the text and broken sentences which made for an uneven flow. I just didn't believe the characters or the plot and the pace was so slow I rapidly lost interest. Sorry, it was boring and I only finished it because I had promised to give a review

I loved this read which holds you in its grip till the end. A gripping and twisty drama involving US intelligence etc. The author is definitely on a winner with this one.

The Last Thing He Told Me is the first book I’ve read by Laura Dave and I have to say normally I would have thought this kind of storyline was ok but the writing grabbed me from the first page and I was totally invested in the characters.
Hannah is married to Owen and is living a near perfect life along with Owens daughter, Bailey. It comes as a total shock to Hannah and Bailey when Owen disappears into thin air, luckily before he vanished he managed to leave a note for Hannah just saying “protect her”. It soon becomes very apparent that the man Hannah married was hiding a massive secret and he wasn’t the man she thought he was but she still loves him and will do anything to protect Bailey even if the girl doesn’t see eye to eye with her and is lucky to get a sentence out of her. We follow their journey into trying to find out who Owen really was.
I enjoyed this, I liked the main characters, I even liked Owen so that says something about the way the book is written and drags you in.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Viper for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

"Protect her" were the last words Owen Michaels ever told his wife Hannah. Written on a scrap of paper delivered to her door by a young school girl on the day he disappeared. Hannah doesn't know why he's run away, but the boss of the software company he works at has just been arrested for fraud, so could Owen be mixed up in corporate crime as well?

Married to Owen for only a year, Hannah knows exactly who Owen means in his note - his sixteen year old daughter Bailey, Hannah's moody teenage step-daughter. Bailey's mother, Owen's first wife, died when she was young and he has always tried to put her first and be the best father he can. Hannah wants to find him desperately, as do the FBI and a US Marshal from Texas, which Hannah finds strange since they live in Sausilito. And then her lawyer calls to tell her that Owen might not be the man she thought he was.

The mystery unravels gradually as Hannah and Bailey set out on a quest to discover who Owen really is and what he's been hiding from them, setting in motion revelations that will change all their lives. Hannah is a strong and resourceful character with a resilience that Bailey comes to admire, gradually drawing the two of them together into a closer family unit. The well written, interesting plot with a light touch of suspense keeps the reader guessing making for a fast, addictive read.

Loved it! Hannah seeks to find the truth behind her husband's sudden disappearance whilst protecting his daughter - the step daughter who resents her - as asked of her in his last secretive message. Who was he really and what is the truth of what happened in his past. I wanted it all to end well for them - you will have to decide for yourself if it did.

A compelling read. A missing husband. Is Owen guilty of crime? How can Hannah protect his daughter? What a page turner! Really enjoyed. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

I really loved this book, I loved the style in which it was written, I loved the characters and how their relationships evolves.
It's an intelligent, thought provoking book that doesn't revolve only around the mistery of the husband disappearance, but also dwells on themes like love, loss, parenting and the length one would go to protect their own child.
Hannah is a strong, willfull, authentic character and I found myself rooting for her all the way to the end, I particularly liked her love for her husband's daughter and how she respects and nurse their relationship.
I know someone hasn't liked the end, but I was on the verge of tears reading it, so it's a big yes for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A suspenseful, addictive and surprisingly emotional mystery about family and love

Hannah Hall receives a note from her husband Owen, saying only 'protect her' before he disappears, leaving Hannah to take care of his 16 year old daughter Bailey. What is going on? Where is Owen? Who can Hannah trust? And does she really know her husband?

I really enjoyed The Last Thing He Told Me, and flew through the pages, needing to know what would happen to Hannah, Bailey and Owen! I always know I'm enjoying a book when I tell my husband about it, and when I think about it when I'm not reading, which was definitely the case here!

I hadn't heard of Laura Dave before, but decided to request it, and now I want to read more of this author's work because this hooked me in from the start, and kept me entertained until the end! I loved the writing style, it was really engaging, pulling me in fast, and keeping me on my toes, as I discovered all was not what it seemed.

The story was told from Hannah's first person POV in the present tense. Present tense doesn't always work for me, but this one did, perhaps because it also had flashbacks into Hannah's past. It was a character driven story, and really focussed on their relationships. I loved Hannah, she was strong, independent, resourceful and real. I felt for her as she tried to muddle through such a stressful and worrying time, whilst still trying to win over her stepdaughter. Bailey was very well written as a teenager! Their relationship was so well written, and I enjoyed seeing the bond between them blossom. Motherhood comes in many forms, and you could feel Hannah's love for Bailey throughout the story.
Owen had disappeared right from the start of the book, but I still felt like I knew him, due to the flashbacks, and from Hannah and Bailey's love for him.
I also liked hearing about Hannah's grandfather, and his effect on her life.

I've seen that some reviewers didn't like the bittersweet ending, but I cannot see how it could've ended any other way. I was satisfied with it, even though I couldn't see the writing at points because my tears blurred the words!

I saw earlier that this is being adapted, which I am pleased about because this would transfer so well to the screen I think!

This would be a great book to read to get you out of a slump, or if you want a quick, gripping, character driven story!

The Last Thing He Told Me is a mystery full of suspense that will have you zooming through the pages.
Hannah has been married to Owen for 14 months at the time he disappears. She is handed a note saying “protect her” she knows immediately that this is referring to his 16 year old daughter Bailey, but Hannah has no idea why she needs protecting and from who? Hannah is determined to find out why Owen has left them and what the note is referring to.
The chapters are short and to the point which helps when you are desperate for answers like I was. That being said the author was able to right so well that there was nothing lacking in the storyline and the characters were so well developed. It is written in the first person POV of Hannah and she goes back to parts of her past and to memories of her life with Owen. This give us a clear picture of who Hannah is and what has shaped her as a person which Really adds to her character and gives us a sense of who she is and the reasons she makes the decisions she does. Hannah’s selflessness and her ability to see other points of view make her very likeable. I really enjoyed this book and read through it very quickly!

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.

When Hannah married Owen she knew she would have her work cut out to win over his 16 year old daughter Bailey. What she didn't know was within a year she would be trying to do so without her husband. Before Owen dissapeared he sent her a note saying only 'Protect Her' obviously referring to Bailey - but Hannah has no idea what she is protecting Bailey from, or how she should do this.  All she knows is to find out what happened to Owen, she and Bailey need to work together.

I hadn't heard of the author, but liked the sound of the storyline, and I wasn't dissapointed. I read this book in a day, as I had to find out what happened to Owen, and why. It's a fast paced mystery, very well told, with likeable characters who are very realistic even if the story line is less so. A great, fast read.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3947154916

Hannah is surprised by a knock at the door and a message from her husband that just says, ‘Protect her’. It transpires that the firm her husband, Owen, works for has committed fraud and he doesn’t come home. Hannah is left looking after his daughter Bailey who doesn’t much like her. As they try to find out what has happened and whether Owen is guilty, they uncover a lot about him that either of them knew. The first two thirds are really good and then I found the choice that Hannah makes at the end very odd given everything you know about the three of them from different flashbacks. I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.