Book Review – Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall

This one has been compared a lot to shows like Twin Peaks & The X-Files, both of which I love, so I knew going into it that I’d either be very, very happy or very, very disappointed. First and foremost, I absolutely freaking LOVED this book & I am 100% going to buy and read everything else Kate Alice Marshall writes.

I read the first book in the Ashford Files series last year, RULES FOR VANISHING, and it was probably my favorite book of the year – I was shocked at how much I loved it, how uniquely it was told, and how difficult it was to explain to other people in an easy synopsis (which I love in a book!). So when I heard that the author wrote another YA book, I knew I had to read it – and wow, 2 FOR 2, I’M OBSESSED!

OUR LAST ECHOES is more mystery than horror, but there are definitely some creepy bits, so it’s a solid pick for anyone looking in either of those genres. I’ve said it before & will say it again – I love spooky YA stuff lately, it’s SO good! I’m jealous of teens today and how great the books aimed at them are – I wish stuff like this had been out 15 years ago! But better late than never, so I’m gobbling them up anyway, lol.

This book is steeped in a misty, eerie atmosphere thanks to the small Alaskan island of Bitter Rock, which ended up feeling like a character all on its own. The island is so well described – both in its physical appearance and in the weird stuff that happens there – that I felt like I was ON the island myself, like it’s a real place that people can visit. The characters in this were great, as were they in RULES, but honestly, I feel like the Road in that book & the island in this one seem to really have a mind of their own – like they’re thinking, breathing parts of the story that respond and react to the characters themselves.

Although you don’t have to read RULES to enjoy this one at all, if you did read that one first, there are some small nods to it here, and that was really fun. I’m very much looking forward to more books in the Ashford Files line, and hope I love them as much as I’ve loved these two!