The Last Time I Saw You by Eleanor Moran

When Olivia Berrington gets the call to tell her that her best friend from university 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. 

 I’d been looking forward to the release of this book, so I was very excited when I had the opportunity to sit down and read it – Wow.

The Last Time I Saw You begins with Olivia (or Livvy, to all of her friends) deciding whether or not to go out on a date (she’s trying online dating). Deciding to have a night in with her flatmate James, she’s half-way to the off licence when James calls and tells her to come home urgently. Sally, her best friend from uni, has been tragically killed in a car crash in New York. Olivia and Sally were best friends until a shocking betrayal ended their friendship. As questions begin to appear about what exactly happened to Sally, Olivia is forced to relive her memories of her time spent with Sally…

I thoroughly enjoyed this story! From the first pages I was gripped to the story, and when I wasn’t reading the book, I couldn’t stop thinking about it as lots of questions were whizzing around my mind.

Many readers out there will be able to relate to the initial story: A great friendship that ended all too soon or went wrong in some way.As readers out there will be able to relate to this, it makes for an emotional read. But what is so compelling and addictive about this story is the intensity of the friendship between Olivia and Sally. As Olivia re-lives her university years and her time spent with Sally, we as the reader gain an insight into the complex and at times full on relationship that Olivia had with Sally. Eleanor Moran cleverly portrays the depth of Olivia and Sally’s relationship in many ways, sometimes comparing it with an infatuation.

The characters are really what makes this story as brilliant as it is. As a reader, we live through Olivia and her memories of Sally, and their characters are the strongest of all. Even though we learn from the start that Sally has died, her presence is strongly felt throughout and so for me she was a major piece of the puzzle and was always at the forefront of my mind. The secondary characters were also very well written, from Lola, the girl who was also at university with Olivia and Sally, to Olivia’s flatmate James. William and Madeline were also perfectly written.

The Last Time I Saw You is an engaging, compelling and complex story. It deals not only with how people deal with grief, but explores love, friendship, infatuation and betrayal. From the start it is gripping and there were many surprises in store. This is a must read!

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