The Last Charm - Ella Allbright #OMCREADALONG #THELASTCHARM

 

Description

Leila’s charm bracelet tells a story of love, a story of loss, a story of hope.

This is the story of her… and the story of Jake.

When Leila Jones loses her precious charm bracelet and a stranger finds it, she has to tell the story of how she got the charms to prove she’s the owner. Each and every one is a precious memory of her life with Jake.

So Leila starts at the beginning, recounting the charms and experiences that have led her to the present. A present she never could have expected when she met Jake nearly twenty years ago…

Review

The book begins with Leila having lost her charm bracelet, she is emailing Caitlin who has found it. What follows is Leila's explanation of how she got each charm, so as to prove to Caitlin that she is the true owner of the bracelet.

We are then transported back to when Leila and Jake first met when they were children. Leila's Mum has left the family home and she and her Dad are moving out now. Jake and his parents are moving into the house, and this is how they meet. 

Living just a few doors down is Leila's grandfather and when Jake's Dad proves not to be all he should be Jake finds a father figure in him and a friendship for years to come. It's through this connection he always knows what Leila is doing in her life over the years. 

Jake has several meetings with Leila through the book and there is obviously a connection but nothing ever comes of it. It was through these meetings over the years and Leila's over the top dramatic and bitchy attitude to Jake that really wound me up. I felt she really didn't treat him very well.  Each time it would seem that they were getting on and then boom, she couldn't deal with it. Leila does have some good points though, as an artist she often describes scenes in Windsor and Newton artist colours which I loved.

I listened to this on audio and at times it did feel like this "will they, won't they" would never end as each new charm was discussed and a story retold. The narrators voice was great and really added to the story. I know if I had been reading this my eye would have been jumping ahead, but on audio I had to wait and let it all unfold. 

Then the book became unbelievably sad beyond belief and I found myself just saying no, no, no over and over it was so powerful.

I'm giving this book four out of five stars. My thanks to netgalley for the audio to review and to the One More Chapter Blogger community for the #OMCREADALONG. It was so good I finished it before the readalong!