Review--Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall

 

A supernatural thriller about one girl's hunt for the truth about her mother's disappearance.

Sophia's first memory is of drowning. She remembers the darkness of the water and the briny taste as it fills her throat. She remembers the cold shock of going under. She remembers her mother pulling her to safety before disappearing forever. But Sophia has never been in the ocean. And her mother died years ago in a hospital. Or so she has been told her whole life.

A series of clues have led Sophia to the island of Bitter Rock, Alaska, where she talked her way into a summer internship at the Landon Avian Research Center, the same center her mother worked at right before she died. There, she meets the disarmingly clever Liam, whose own mother runs the LARC, as well as Abby, who's following a mystery of her own: a series of unexplained disappearances. People have been vanishing from Bitter Rock for decades, leaving only their ghostly echoes behind. When it looks like their two mysteries might be one and the same, Sophia vows to dig up the truth, no matter how many lies she has to tell along the way. Even if it leads her to a truth she may not want to face.

 

After reading Kate Alice Marshall's last book, I was pretty much hooked for her books! Our Last Echoes proves that Marshall will continue to delight and terrify me with her words. This book was definitely more mysterious and bizarre than the previous Marshall book I read. It was still eerie for sure, but it did present more questions to.

Sophia is now eighteen and free to leave her foster parents' house and set out on her own. The one thing she wants to do more than anything is find out what happened to her mother. She was told she died when she was young, and thus the reason she entered the system, but when Sophia gets a message that tells her her mother could still be alive, she's eager for answers. Sophia finds herself going to Bitter Rock, Alaska to act as an intern with the Landon Avian Research Center in order to find the answers that she needs.

Bitter Rock is definitely a small town of mystery. There's not many residents here, the LARC group takes up the majority of the population. Strange things happen here, things that people don't talk about. Sophia will do whatever it takes to get her answers though. Joining her in her quest is Liam, the son of Dr. Kapoor, and her "boss." There's also Abby, the stranger who told her her mother was still alive. These three teenagers are set to discover the impossible and hopefully find Sophia's mother along the way.

This book was weird you guys, straight up weird! I loved it! I also want to say that this book was told through the mixed media way. While we get the standard storytelling of a first person point of view, we also get transcripts of video feeds or other recordings that help to tell the story from the past. We learn what was going on Bitter Rock where Sophia's mother was working years ago. You won't be prepared for these answers though.

I will admit to a bit of confusion at times, mainly when it came to the "weird" stuff. I know! Out of all the times to find myself a little lost, it happens at my favorite parts! I think it had to do with what was really going on here. It's also something I'm still struggling to comprehend. I mean, I have an idea of what it all was and meant, but if that's what Marshall intended, I have no idea. When you read things about the strange and bizarre you have to suspend your beliefs on what is normal and natural, you have to expect the unexpected and live with the unexplained. Sometimes things really are what they seem to be.

I will say there was just a dash of romance. Not much, but the story didn't really have time for romance itself, so it wasn't really missed. Sophia and Liam grow closer, and there are bonds forming with Abby. They were a pretty tight trio for being together such a short time and enduring what they did.

The ending is wild! It's completely and totally wild! It really leaves you thinking on everything that happened in the climax and you're wondering just what happened as well! Lol. It's definitely a book that will throw you through a loop and leaving you hanging upside down. It's totally bizarre and twisted and it was everything I could've hoped for! I perhaps might have wanted just a tad more explanations spread throughout when it came to the weird and strange, there was also something at the very end that kind of tripped me up. I mean, I think I get it, but then again...lol! So very puzzling indeed! 

If you're looking for a book that will give you all the frights and totally twist your mind inside out, then Our Last Echoes is the read for you!

 

Overall Rating 4/5 stars