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A review by jscarpa14
Last Stop by Peter Lerangis
3.0
RECEIVED FROM: Net Galley For Review
***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***
David’s father has been missing for six months. After a nationwide search he is presumed dead. But during a ride on the subway David suffers what he thinks is a hallucination. He sees what he knows to be an abandoned subway station lit and teeming with people. Among those people is his Dad. But was it a hallucination or was it something else? Now David must discover if he’s losing his mind or if something unexplainable really did happen to his Dad. The question is which truth would David rather believe?
So this was one of the weirdest stories I’ve ever read. It’s also the first time I’ve read a Lerangis novel I considered giving four stars. My first encounter with Lerangis’s work was while reading The 39 Clues series. He’s always been my least favorite writer in that franchise, mostly because of discrepancies between other his and other series books. I wanted to read this series because I want to know if in a series where he’s calling all the shots his work was better. It most definitely was. My biggest issue with the book is I felt like it was just beginning when it ended. The story is entirely too short. The book is odd even in the way it’s written. For the most part it’s told in a first person, except that there are case files notes on David in some chapters not written by David, but someone else. Additionally at the end of each chapter is a conversation outside of David’s monologue of the story. You don’t know who’s talking or really completely what they’re talking about. You know it’s related to David, like he’s being monitored somehow, but it’s never fully explained for what or why. As the story progresses you learn that the mystery is not where David’s Dad has gone, it’s where David is. It’s not completely noticeable at first, his life is very similar to many thirteen year olds, and you think maybe he’s using nicknames or terms from another country. The further you get into the story, the more it becomes clear that everything is not what it seems. But as you start finding some answers you’re left with a lot more questions. Though a full story arc is included the arc is so short, leaving so many unanswered questions that it would fit more logically as a part of a larger novel. The book is well written and engaging, there’s just not enough of it.
I don’t think the book is long enough to consider the characters fully developed, but they’re semi-fully developed. You feel like you know them, but they’re gone so fast you don’t really get the opportunity to connect with them. Lerangis gives you just enough about each character to leave you wanting more.
Overall I’d definitely recommend the book to middle grade science fiction readers, but I might recommend buying the entire series at one time just because of the amount of questions left at this story’s end.
***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***
David’s father has been missing for six months. After a nationwide search he is presumed dead. But during a ride on the subway David suffers what he thinks is a hallucination. He sees what he knows to be an abandoned subway station lit and teeming with people. Among those people is his Dad. But was it a hallucination or was it something else? Now David must discover if he’s losing his mind or if something unexplainable really did happen to his Dad. The question is which truth would David rather believe?
So this was one of the weirdest stories I’ve ever read. It’s also the first time I’ve read a Lerangis novel I considered giving four stars. My first encounter with Lerangis’s work was while reading The 39 Clues series. He’s always been my least favorite writer in that franchise, mostly because of discrepancies between other his and other series books. I wanted to read this series because I want to know if in a series where he’s calling all the shots his work was better. It most definitely was. My biggest issue with the book is I felt like it was just beginning when it ended. The story is entirely too short. The book is odd even in the way it’s written. For the most part it’s told in a first person, except that there are case files notes on David in some chapters not written by David, but someone else. Additionally at the end of each chapter is a conversation outside of David’s monologue of the story. You don’t know who’s talking or really completely what they’re talking about. You know it’s related to David, like he’s being monitored somehow, but it’s never fully explained for what or why. As the story progresses you learn that the mystery is not where David’s Dad has gone, it’s where David is. It’s not completely noticeable at first, his life is very similar to many thirteen year olds, and you think maybe he’s using nicknames or terms from another country. The further you get into the story, the more it becomes clear that everything is not what it seems. But as you start finding some answers you’re left with a lot more questions. Though a full story arc is included the arc is so short, leaving so many unanswered questions that it would fit more logically as a part of a larger novel. The book is well written and engaging, there’s just not enough of it.
I don’t think the book is long enough to consider the characters fully developed, but they’re semi-fully developed. You feel like you know them, but they’re gone so fast you don’t really get the opportunity to connect with them. Lerangis gives you just enough about each character to leave you wanting more.
Overall I’d definitely recommend the book to middle grade science fiction readers, but I might recommend buying the entire series at one time just because of the amount of questions left at this story’s end.