Ten years ago, a group of teenage American summer campers came to São Miguel in Portugal’s remote Azores archipelago for a rugged hiking trip that devolved into a frenzied treasure hunt and ended with the disappearance of “it girl” camper Sydney Azulay. Now, a decade later, Sydney’s closest circle returns to the island for a memorial service and to participate in a documentary probing what really happened. But when eerie sightings of a woman who looks just like Sydney surface and the documentary filming reveals explosive new truths, old feuds reignite and then one of them turns up dead.
I wanted to like this one more than I actually did. The premise drew me right in and I was genuinely captivated by the first few chapters: a remote Portuguese island, a decade-old disappearance, buried treasure, and a documentary bringing everyone back together? That’s a setup I’m absolutely here for. But after the initial 25% things fizzled out and it ended up not being the edge-of-your-seat page turner I was expecting.
Goldis did a great job with the setting and atmosphere. The Azores came alive on the page and I loved the vibes: the crater lakes, the cobblestone streets, the thermal hot springs. She nailed the location. But the story itself felt flat. There are quite a few characters and none of them particularly stood out to me. They all felt much younger than they actually were, which made it hard to connect with them as adults dealing with something this serious.
My biggest frustration was the secrets. Secrets in a thriller can be great when they’re building toward something explosive, but in this case they just gave me a lot of frustration. I kept wanting to scream “just TALK to each other.” The miscommunication trope is my least favorite in romances and I felt the same energy here. So much of the tension relied on people just not saying things and it wore on me. The narration jumps between all our characters including back in time to before the disappearance, and it also mixes in documentary recording segments which could have been an amazing addition but the characters’ responses felt forced rather than natural.
The pacing was slow, the book felt long, and I didn’t love the way it all played out. There were just too many plot devices and too many threads that didn’t end up flowing together the way I wanted them to. By the end I felt like the story was trying to do too much without doing any one thing really well.
I’d say this is still an interesting read if the premise appeals to you and you’re looking for something atmospheric with a unique setting. But if you read a lot of thrillers this one probably won’t blow you away. The bones of a great story were there, I just wish the execution had matched the promise of that incredible setup.
Other Jaclyn Goldis Reviews
AMAZON | GOODREADS | BOOKSHOP | ★★★
The Last Time We Saw Her is out now . Huge thank you to Atria Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.
