Last Seen Leaving

by Caleb Roehrig

Flynn's girlfriend, January, is missing. All eyes are on Flynn. He must know something. After all, he was is her boyfriend. They were together the night before she disappeared. But Flynn has a secret of his own. As he struggles to uncover the truth about January's disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.

• ISBN10: 1250085632
• ISBN13: 9781250085634
• Publish Date: 4 October 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 7 April 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[lessthelonely]

While very predictable (I think I'm way too used to being aware of thrillers trying to get foreshadowing past me), I am going to agree with what I read in some reviews about the coming-of-age part and dealing with sexuality being way more interesting than the mystery itself.

However, this book does induce quite a lot of tension and even anxiety in me. I enjoyed the little side-romance, though I would've expected it to be a little more present, but still, I found it effective.

The final twist - which was considered a possibility by the book itself at least 3 times in its duration -, felt lazy. Incredibly lazy, in fact. But I did enjoy the writing a little, but I feel like the premise needed a little bit more work into it: I didn't really care for January, and as "girl gone missing" books tend to go, she's not painted in the most positive light for a good chunk of the book.

[Stephanie]

This was an enjoyable, quick read. There were a couple of weird spots that took me out (and some $5 and $10 SAT words that came out of no where) but it kept me guessing.

[readingwithwrin]

4.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc.

"Sometimes it's just hard to deal when your life changes so much overnight. Even if it seems like it's changing for the better."
SPOILER AND TRIGGER WARNING
The main character is gay and has to come out before he is truly ready to. Also, mention of rape and an older male who preys on teenage girls all while making himself look like the victim.

Flynn's whole world changes when he gets home from school one day and finds the police waiting for him. His girlfriend is missing, and no one knows where she is and he is a suspect. Except his girlfriend hadn't been telling people the truth about them or really much of any truth to anyone about anything. But no one knew this until she was missing until it was too late for her.
You see Flynn is just a fairly normal teenager before his girlfriend goes missing. He goes to school, spends time with his best friend and hangs out with parents on the weekend all while seeing his girlfriend when she's not too busy. Not something that makes for a great alibi when it comes to being a suspect in a missing person case. Especially when said missing girlfriend had been lying to her new friends about how awful a boyfriend Flynn was. Now I'm not saying that they were a great couple or anything like that, but they had been okay for the most part until things suddenly changed and January started acting different and wouldn't tell anyone why. That left pretty much everyone in the dark once again when it comes to why she is missing and why she went missing.
In fact, the police don't really seem to have much interest in figuring it out, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't even have tried at all if January's step-dad hadn't been running for a public office. This leaves Flynn with trying to figure it out on his own, with the little information he has from January's coworker and the nicknames she would call people from her new school.


Overall I enjoyed this story. Flynn was a likable character, who wanted to find his girlfriend even though he was confused about his own feelings. He still truly cared for her and felt bad about using her until he felt comfortable enough to come out. In his own unromantic way he really did love her and wanted her in his life, it just took him a little while to realize that. As for January, I don't agree with all the lies she told, I also get why she did it. What happened to her was awful and she knew no matter what happened, because of her new stepdad's career choices it wouldn't be her decision like it should have been. I felt for both of the characters and I hope someday maybe they'll see each other again.


"It was crazy to think how much had occurred in such a short span of time, how drastically my life had changed- how little would ever be the same about Now that had been about Then."

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Last Seen Leaving blew my freaking mind! It hooked me from the very first chapter with Flynn thinking his parents discovered his weed. Instead, the cops are waiting to ask him about his girlfriend, January. She never came home from school and no one has heard from her. Flynn hasn't seen her in a few days, which seems suspicious, but Flynn does have an alibi even if the cops don't quite buy it. Flynn and January's relationship wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, but he's genuinely worried and won't stop until he finds out what happened to her.

I just absolutely loved Last Seen Leaving. This is a frightening situation and I had to know what happened! Flynn has his secrets which may have an effect on January's case, but the more he digs, the more he discovers that she had a ton of secrets herself. How well do you ever really know those closest to you? That's something that's really explored here as Flynn puts together clues and evidence, and as he comes out.

Flynn's coming out was really interesting. I wouldn't say Last Seen Leaving is a coming out story, since the focus is definitely on the mystery. But Flynn is forced to come out as part of the investigation. He's struggled with the fact that he's gay for awhile, and it's part of his and January's final meeting, so of course he has to tell the police to clear his name. That is absolutely not the ideal way to come out to your parents, but after that Flynn starts to accept who he is. He comes out to his friends, and their reactions vary. But he won't go back to lying to himself and that's wonderful. Not to mention there's an adorable blossoming romance as Flynn enlists the help of a guy to help him figure out what happened to his girlfriend.

The ending of Last Seen Leaving was intense! Everything was leading up to that moment! It seems like no one really knew January at all, or what was going on with her before she disappeared. Then the truth comes out and I couldn't stop reading! OMG OMG OMG! What is even happening right now?! How can this be?! Woah.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[chymerra]

Before I start this review, I want to thank NetGalley, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and Feiwel & Friends for allowing me to review Last Seen Leaving.

**All opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone. I received Last Seen Leaving from NetGalley/Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group/Feiwel & Friends as an ARC for my honest and unbiased review**

Now, onto my review:

Format read in: Kindle

Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends

Expected date of publication: October 4th 2016

Where the book can be found: Amazon (Kindle, Hardcover, Audible). Please remember that A) this book is on preorder until October 4th 2016 and that the prices can and will change.

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Teen, Young Adult

How many pages: 336 pages

Book synopsis:

Flynn’s girlfriend has disappeared. How can he uncover her secrets without revealing his own?

Flynn’s girlfriend, January, is missing. The cops are asking questions he can’t answer, and her friends are telling stories that don’t add up. All eyes are on Flynn—as January’s boyfriend, he must know something.

But Flynn has a secret of his own. And as he struggles to uncover the truth about January’s disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.

My review:

All I have to say about this book is (and I am stealing this from the great George Takei)… “Oh My”. I read this book within 1 day. From the first chapter, where we meet Flynn and January, it gets its hooks into you and doesn’t let go. I mean, I stayed up late to finish this book….and I never do that.

I was kinda irritated with Flynn during the first half of the book, though. He wasn’t exactly forthcoming with the police about January’s state of mind (and what happened) the last time he saw her. He acted like, and wait for this, your typical teenager….gasp. But he started to grow on me by the 3rd chapter and by the middle of the book, I was gasping in surprise (and sadness) over what was being revealed about him and January.

While we are on the subject of January, I felt bad for her and then really, really irritated with her. She lives in a highly dysfunctional household. Her mother, who used to be her best friend, is no longer emotionally available. Her stepfather is an uptight prick only concerned with how her disappearance will look on his campaign run. And her step brother was a spoiled creep who gave me the creeps in his scenes. No wonder she lied about everything to everyone…including Flynn. Lets just say that she made him out to be a bad guy to everyone. I really felt bad for him.

Now, I thought I had this book figured out (seriously I did) and then there was a huge twist that came up and stirred everything up. Settled back down and bam, you were hit with another twist….just as big. I didn’t see either of these coming and they both took the breath out of me (love it when a book does that).

3 Things I liked about Last Seen Leaving:

1) Plot

2) Flynn

3) The plot twists

3 Things I disliked about Last Seen Leaving:

1) The cops

2) January (see above)

3) January’s family

How many stars will I give Last Seen Leaving? 4

Why? It was a gripping whodunit interwoven with a touching coming of age story. The characters were very believable and they jumped off the page and into your mind with every page read. There was almost no lag in the plot and the twists in the plot made the story.

Would I reread it? Yes

Would I recommend to family and friends? Yes

Age range? Teen on up

Why? There are some mild sexual situations, some strong language and some mild violence. Oh and a teacher that just exudes bad vibes and a stepbrother who is super creepy.

[Sam@WLABB]

This was a great whodunit, and this was also a great coming of age/coming out story.

This book is packed with mystery, secrets, and lots and lots of crazy twists. Every time I thought I knew who did what, my theory would be refuted. I love when a story can pull me in, and just will not let go. Last Seen Leaving was very intriguing, but I kept tagging in for one more chapter, because Roehrig did such a masterful job of presenting one of the "dun dun dun da" moments right at the end of each chapter. I never wanted to put it down.

I totally fell in love with Flynn (and Kaz too). Flynn was so well developed, and Roehig deftly let us into his head. I really felt his struggle and all his other emotions as he attempted to discover what happened to his girlfriend. I channeled his emotions as he slowly uncovered his girlfriend January's secrets, tearing away layer after layer of lies and half truths. As Flynn uncovered more and more about January, he also uncovered and came to terms with his sexuality.

I also felt like I knew January. This girl, who was missing for the entire book, was presented in second hand accounts, and a few flashbacks. She came across so fierce, that it was quite shocking to think anything could have happened to her.

I was actually quite impressed with the way Roehrig addressed the mystery of January's disappearance, and Flynn's sexuality. At first I was skeptical. I thought it would be awkward, but it wasn't. It was quite seamless the way Roehrig blended these two parts of the story.

I was really impressed with Roehrig's debut, and am excited to read more of his work.