Description:
SOMEONE IS ALWAYS WATCHING
Anders Thorson is about to get everything he's ever wanted. His band is on the cusp of making it big. His guitar technique has gone from great to world-class. Songs come to him fully formed, in an exhilarating rush. And Frankie, the most popular girl in their small Minnesota town, is interested in him. He's worked hard for it all. He's earned it. It has nothing to do with that night in the woods.
That's what he tells himself.
Thea Malcolm likes the edges. She hides at the edge of Anders's adoring crowds, where she can see him without being seen. She waits outside his bedroom window, at the edge of the light. She has to keep him safe. Because of that night in the woods.
That's what she tells herself.
But it won't be long before the woods close in around them both.
Brief description:
Jacqueline West is the author of the New York Times-bestselling middle grade series The Books of Elsewhere, the Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book The Collectors, and several other novels for young readers and teens. An award-winning poet and occasional actress, she lives with her family in Red Wing, Minnesota.
Review Quotes:
"I devoured this book in a day. Told in evocative, spare prose through the eyes of two complex teens who ache and yearn and are jaw-droppingly brave, Last Things is the kind of taut, atmospheric thriller that gets your heart racing and sets your imagination on fire. Sensational." - Claire Legrand, New York Times-bestselling author of Furyborn
"West has an eerie way with words, an uncanny ability to conjure the perfect image. Last Things is at once poetic and urgent, evocative and authentic, everything I love in a book." - Victoria Schwab, author of #1 New York Times bestseller This Savage Song
"West goes for a slow build while framing her two narrators as one music-smitten teen approaching a realistic stay-or-go crossroads in his life and another who could well be just an oddball....Come the wild, scary climax, Thea turns out to be much more than she appears.... A suspenseful tale wrought from power chords, creeping darkness, and disquieting twists." - Kirkus Reviews
"West uses evocative language, including song lyrics, to enhance the ominous atmosphere in this updated Faustian thriller; her pitch-perfect depiction of music conjures pulse-pounding concerts and Anders's passion for metal. A dark and lovely saga, ideal for fans of Brenna Yovanoff and Holly Black." - ALA Booklist
"The action escalates like the fast-paced chords of a heavy metal bassline. . .What survives in a contest between fame and freedom might be the last choice for the protagonist. Hand this. . .to fans of mystery, music, and horror." - School Library Journal