The Last Thing You Said

January 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-When the pain is too much, sometimes you have to give it away. So it is for Ben and Lucy, who were on the verge of something special when Ben's sister, Trixie, who was also Lucy's best friend, died unexpectedly. The day of Trixie's funeral, Ben lashed out at Lucy, and the two of them have been finding ways to hurt each other in the months since. They can neither avoid each other in their small resort town nor ignore the lingering feelings they have for each other despite dating other people. As both begin to move beyond their own grief, they are drawn back together. Fans of Sarah Dessen and Huntley Fitzpatrick's books will find much to love in this emotional romance. The inclusion of Ben's point of view is effective and sets the novel apart in a sea of stories with one-sided pining. The setting, a small Minnesota town, is fully realized and gives added depth to the characterizations as well. However, the appropriation of an Inuit cultural practice, inuksuk, as a symbol for the two white teens' relationship is a poor choice. VERDICT Cultural appropriation mars an otherwise promising debut that's recommended for libraries with a high demand for romance.-Elizabeth Saxton, Tiffin, OH

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Starred review from February 1, 2017
The first summer after Trixie's death is a hard one for all the families who knew her, especially for her best friend, Lucy, and Trixie's brother, Ben.Though they were close when Trixie was alive, now that she's gone they can't seem to find a way to be together that doesn't hurt. So the two white teens try to stay away from each other. But that's not easy in their small Minnesota town, especially when they both work for the same family at a lakeside resort. Will they ever be able to find their way back to the comfort and love that existed between them before a bad case of survivors' guilt made everything inescapably sad? Lucy's cute new neighbor and Ben's habit of using girls to distract him from his feelings make the situation even more complicated. Biren's debut novel offers a tender look at a particular moment in the lives of two teens, a moment that feels real and uncontrived. Her book begins after the tragedy, and Biren proves deft at filling in the back story without overshadowing the problems of the present. New friends and young cousins provide some levity and comic relief that work well against the backdrop of raw emotion. The best kind of tragic love story. (Fiction. 15-18)

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July 1, 2017
After the death of Trixie--Ben's sister and Lucy's best friend--the budding romance between the two fell apart, and they stopped speaking. Now, a year later, Ben and Lucy find themselves drawn to each other again, though grief, anger, and pain continue to complicate their relationship. Ben and Lucy have authentic chemistry in this character-driven and appropriately solemn romance, Biren's debut.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)