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A review by dtaylorbooks
Last Stop by Peter Lerangis
5.0
I just wanna hug Open Road for re-releasing all of this epically awesome cheese. I'm loving it. And LAST STOP is at the top of the cheese pile in a good way.
It's a quick read in more of a middle grade way than in an old school YA way but aside from the age of the MC (13, I think) it could definitely pass for one of your Diane Hoh's or insert your favorite old school YA horror writer's name here. It's got a creepy element to it that'll have you thinking one way but end up on a completely different path by the end of it. I really liked the twist, the explanation as to why David was seeing what he was seeing and it definitely made me want to keep reading in the series. It had me asking, "where is this going, exactly?"
Like a lot of the other old school YA cheese I've been reading the characters aren't immensely likable, especially David's female friend, whose name escapes me at the moment. But they end up having this rapid growth spurt once the story really picks up that kind of washes away their childishness from the beginning and hands them this wisdom that's required to make it all the way to the end.
The whole psychic element that the blurb talks about I felt ended up being really contrived but I was easily able to overlook that for the greatness that is the rest of the premise. I like how it ended up not going where I thought it was going to go. I liked how it opened up these crazy new doors because of that derailment (no pun intended) and now it has me jonsing for the next installment. Thankfully this series is an older one so the titles are available now. But that doesn't erase the giddy of Open Road re-releasing them. It's like having a Christmas present that you already know about but you're still genuinely surprised to see it anyway.
LAST STOP is one of the few cheese books that I think the majority of people will genuinely like for something other than its cheese factor. The ending is the real beginning and it's such an effective hook that I'm mentioning how I want to keep reading the series for what, the third time now in this review? That's something.
It's a quick read in more of a middle grade way than in an old school YA way but aside from the age of the MC (13, I think) it could definitely pass for one of your Diane Hoh's or insert your favorite old school YA horror writer's name here. It's got a creepy element to it that'll have you thinking one way but end up on a completely different path by the end of it. I really liked the twist, the explanation as to why David was seeing what he was seeing and it definitely made me want to keep reading in the series. It had me asking, "where is this going, exactly?"
Like a lot of the other old school YA cheese I've been reading the characters aren't immensely likable, especially David's female friend, whose name escapes me at the moment. But they end up having this rapid growth spurt once the story really picks up that kind of washes away their childishness from the beginning and hands them this wisdom that's required to make it all the way to the end.
The whole psychic element that the blurb talks about I felt ended up being really contrived but I was easily able to overlook that for the greatness that is the rest of the premise. I like how it ended up not going where I thought it was going to go. I liked how it opened up these crazy new doors because of that derailment (no pun intended) and now it has me jonsing for the next installment. Thankfully this series is an older one so the titles are available now. But that doesn't erase the giddy of Open Road re-releasing them. It's like having a Christmas present that you already know about but you're still genuinely surprised to see it anyway.
LAST STOP is one of the few cheese books that I think the majority of people will genuinely like for something other than its cheese factor. The ending is the real beginning and it's such an effective hook that I'm mentioning how I want to keep reading the series for what, the third time now in this review? That's something.