The Last of August audiobook

Okay, I did not expect to like this even more than the first book. These characters have grown on me immensely. I love that both Jamie and Charlotte are both complex and dynamic characters. Their relationship is interesting and I'm enjoying the slow development. I also really liked that Charlotte narrated a portion of this book - it was great to read from her more clinical perspective. I absolutely never say this, but I would be so down for this series to be like 6 books.

“maybe this is what happened when you built a friendship on a foundation of mutual disaster. it collapsed the second things righted themselves, left you desperate for the next earthquake.” after having enjoyed the first book so much, my expectations for this one were through the roof. the characters were developed so nicely and, finally, didn’t feel like such a copy of the original holmes and sherlock, but had their own colors and identity, which was really refreshing. i loved how we got to explore more about them and their respective families. charlotte’s uncle, especially, is such a nice addition to the story!the plot about art forgery was absolutely fascinating, nonetheless i found it to be not developed enough at times. another thing i noticed was that the last of august was much more serious than the first book, which had been much more lighthearted and easy to read and that had been something i really liked about that one, but i guess we gotta get to business!furthermore, i loved that almost the entirety of this book was set in berlin. but being german myself, i noticed a few errors here and there concerning culture and history that seem to not have been researched well enough. for the average non-german reader, i’m sure this is all absolutely lovely to read about and you get to learn a few things about berlin and germany in general, but they really annoyed me (probably more than they should’ve) so that even might be the biggest negative aspect for me personally.but… that ending though? i IMMEDIATELY picked up the next book to continue which was already the case after a study in charlotte (and i might’ve mentioned that in my review for that one as well?) but, honestly, that happens so incredibly rarely that i could probably count the amount of times on one hand. → 4 stars

“Happy New Year, Jamie.” I got the chills because of how perfect that last sentence was, considering this was my first read of 2019! 🌟 I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I have grown so close to Jamie and Charlotte. The writing was so wonderfully done; I truly felt Jamie’s frustration towards Charlotte. The plot was a little slow at one point, but it picked back up when the POV switched. I always love knowing the thoughts of both main characters! I’m so excited to read the next book!

;_;;_;;_;This was like ....the Skyfall of this series. Which is fine. And who knows, maybe book 3 will be even darker. The humor is also still there and still wonderful. Wait til you get to Elmira Davenport. *cackles*Also, my Jamie and Charlotte feels are absolutely out of control.Full review later.

I am thoroughly enjoying this series. I found this one to be more of a mystery and less predictable than the first book of the series. The progression between Charlotte & Jamie is moving at a good speed and I am interested to see what the next book entails for them.

Actual rating 4.5 starsWhat the heck was that ending?!This review was originally posted at https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/I received an e-ARC of this book from Harper Collins Children’s via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!Trigger warning for mentions of rape, drugs and violence.CriticallyPlot – 4 out of 5 starsI always feel like these books are over saturated because there is so much going on with the plot at all times. There’s mystery and suspense. It’s really dark and intense and sometimes very confusing as well. There are always a lot of twists and turns and I didn’t see anything coming which is both good and really bad. The ending was really abrupt and kind of cliffhanging and that’s probably my biggest complaint. It left me with a giant question mark.Writing Style – 4 out of 5 starsI really like the author’s writing style. It’s very vivid as well as detailed and descriptive. It’s so fast paced but at the same time very confusing. The main character, Jamie, is left out of a lot of information and so that affects the overall narrative of the story, the reader tends to be just as lost and confused and angry as him throughout the story which is both good and band. When we get a bit of a switch up in the POV, I like how both voices are very distinct and unique.Characters – 4 out of 5 starsI’m becoming a huge fan of this cast of characters. However, they are all extremely flawed and extremely complex and maybe not the best people. I don’t think I’d be their friends in real life though I love reading about their craziness. Jamie is getting a lot more reckless and brave in this book. He tagged along and was kind of like the sidekick in the first book but now he’s kind of tired of that role and wants to be a lot more involved in solving the mysteries that are going on though he sometimes pushes it way too far for his safety. He’s a lot angrier and desperate than he was in the first book but he’s also just as loyal and open and kind. I liked seeing how he’s developing as a character though I want more from him as well. Charlotte kind of drives me crazy. She’s reckless and destructive to herself but also really smart and cunning. She opens up a lot more in this books so I feel like the reader gets to know her more in this one but I also feel like there’s still more to learn! I want to know every nook and cranny of her personality because she’s such a complex character but we’re not there yet. The actual relationships between the characters (including the side characters) are my biggest issues with this series. The relationship between the two main characters is problematic and sometimes even toxic in a way that puts me off sometimes. There are also no great familial relationships or relationships between parent and kid that are really healthy. All of them are kind of wrong and weird and uncomfortable and though it makes a lot of sense for the plot and the kind of characters they are, I don’t think its the best theme to explore.Emotionally(view spoiler)[I think I loved this book just as much as the first one but everything is getting so much more complicated and I didn’t really think that was possible.The plot is intense. We follow Jamie and Charlotte after the events of the first book as they are in England for the winter holidays. However, their vacation turns into a search across Europe to find Charlotte’s beloved uncle. While and after I read these books, I know that I’ve enjoyed them but at the same time, they are so dang confusing! So many things are happening all the time and it’s like you’re being bombarded with different pieces of plot at the same time. The main character and narrator is lost and/or excluded from a lot of information so the reader is left confused and just as clueless and he is. I always feel like I’m missing something and it’s both a good thing and a bad thing. Good because it keeps me engaged and interested in the story, because I want to get to the bottom of what’s going on but bad because it can get tiring very quickly and it’s also very confusing which is not fun at all haha. What I really enjoy about this series is that there are always a lot of twists and turns to the plot and you never really know where the story will go for sure or how it will develop and that has been something really hard to accomplish in the books I’ve read recently. There’s a reason that I compared the first book to the Robert Downy Jr. Sherlock movies and this second book also holds up to that comparison. If you haven’t read it, the movie tends to show a specific scene one way and then towards the end you see the details and what really happened and how everything’s come together to be a happy ending once it’s over and these books are just like that. There was a lot of action and mystery and drama. I wish things would’ve been explained throughout a little more because in this one in particular, the ending is still very confusing. That feeling of finally understanding what was going on never came and things wrapped up way too fast. I still don’t really know for sure what happened and how everything really went down and considering the ending leaves off on a very dire situation, I’m both scared and excited to see how the trilogy will conclude.I was really surprised to see Jamie become kind of volatile in this one. He was much more quiet and earnest in the first book but in this one, he got tired of being the sidekick and the underdog. He wants to be more involved in the investigating, in being undercover, honestly just more involved in helping Charlotte solve the mysteries instead of just being the collateral damage or baggage that she has to take care of. I liked that attitude because it showed so much more growth to his character but he would definitely take it too far sometimes. He’d become reckless and didn’t think things through the way he should have and that was dangerous for his well being. However, he’s also really loyal to Charlotte still though their relationship made me a bit uncomfortable at times in this book. It’s really complicated, sometimes even unhealthy and toxic and I don’t know how I feel about those kinds of things being seen as acceptable to teens. It’s such a fine line between having complicated feelings toward one another and not really knowing how to be around and good to each other because of that and being destructive and unhealthy towards each other in a way that makes them more of antagonists than partners. I really hope the author manages to shift their relationships more positively for the last book.I’m gonna talk a bit about the side character though not all of them. Charlotte breaks my heart quite honestly. I’m always freaking out and worried about her well being and health. She’s so smart, so determined, so cunning and I love the attitude she has. She never backs down from the things she knows are true and she’s always there to protect her family (some of it). However, some of her behavior and coping mechanisms are really unhealthy and toxic. She has issues with drugs and her mental health is in a really vulnerable place. No one is really trying to help her besides Jamie and he can’t really do much since they are both teens dealing with a lot of crappy shit together. I just wish she had more of a support system than she actually does. In this book, as the title says, we meet August. He was mentioned a lot in the first book because of his past relationship with Charlotte and all the trauma that caused and I was really looking forward to seeing how he would be but I was really disappointed. He was actually kind of wimpy and spineless. He talked a lot about being above all the drama and hatred between the families in this book but it was more something he was trying to convince himself of than something that was actually true. He was rude and mean and created distance between Jamie and Charlotte on purpose. I just didn’t like how automatically he was involved in things and I knew he was gonna make things worse than necessary. Lastly, I just want to say that I’m really disappointed by the lack of supportive and positive adults in this series. Considering the kinds of families Charlotte, August and even Jamie come from, it’s understandable that they all be a bit dysfunctional but I don’t think it was necessary to make all the familial relationships strained or downright unhealthy. Even the adults that seem to have compassion and that seem to look out for the teens aren’t really as invested as I would like them to be.Overall, I really enjoyed this book but the plot is really intricate and complicated which can be very confusing for the reader. I liked some of the characters’ development but I think that the relationships in this book can be very unhealthy and toxic and I hope that improves in the last book. (hide spoiler)]

I remembered much less of this one this time around, but I still really enjoyed it! I loved seeing Holmes and Watson out in the wider world, but I think I'm going to like seeing the school setting back again in the next one.

I really wanted to give this book a 5 star rating but I was really confused when reading the ending (I need to go back and reread the last 30 or 40 pages at some point) and so for that reason, I had to take off a star.The Last of August starts shortly after the events of A Study in Charlotte and Jamie and Charlotte are on winter break back in England. After spending some time with Jamie's mom and sister, they go to visit Charlotte's family. After a couple of days, Charlotte's uncle goes missing and Jamie and Charlotte head to Germany to try to find him.There was so much that I liked about this book. I liked the growing connection between Holmes and Watson and I loved them teaming up together to solve the case. I loved how Watson would get annoyed at Holmes leaving him out of key parts of the investigation and so he would try to work things himself. I also loved seeing more of the Moriarty's (especially August - it was really great seeing his interactions with Charlotte after everything that she did to him). The writing and the story were on track for this being even better than the first book for me. And then the ending happened.I don't want to say too much because of spoilers, but I just didn't really understand what was happening. Except for the one thing that happened that I am very upset about, I get that (although I think it was stupid that it happened but that goes back to me not understanding what was going on). Maybe rereading will help and I can reassess my rating then, but for now, I'm just going to stay confused.I am still very excited to read the next book in the series, and I do still love the series. I just wish that the ending was a little clearer for me. -----I'm reeling over that ending. Wow.Full RTC when I figure out how to write it coherently.

It makes me so sad somehow, that this book got such a "low" average rating here. And of course, I don't want to attack any of your opinions but I try to explain, why I love this series so much. James Watson and Charlotte Holmes. Yes, I do like these two lost humans. And they are, in fact, human. But the thing is, they are always fighting to be better. They don't just give up and try the best friend thing with somebody new. I really can't describe it, because it's so perfectly realistic. I actually liked the crime stuff in this book, too. And even in book 1, crime wasn't the main topic at all. It was a reason for them to meet. I'm still not sure about August though, and I don't know if we are supposed to like/not like him. Quotes: "Be dimplomatic", Holmes had said, then paused. "By that I mean, plan out what you want to say, and then don't say it.""I don't need to be a hero." -"I know", he said. "Sometimes, though, it's easier to be one, than to be a person."

This series is GOLD on so many levels and criminally underrated. Also Brittany Cavallaro might be trying to kill me cause I definitely had several heart attacks while reading this.Trigger warnings for attempted suicide(I'm not sure if that's the right term for that situation EXACTLY but better safe than sorry), self-harm, violence, murder, drug addiction. And I know there's more, this series is honestly much darker than you'd expect. If you have any triggers you wanna know about, feel free to message me!

The late of August 4 starsCharlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson are back with a new mystery and they must solve it. They will have challenges like detective stuff and even just relationship problems.CHARACTERS-Charlotte was a bit weird in this book. She felt different and almost distant and she said some things that were questionable.Jamie is a great choice of a narrator and it was great to see the story from him.ROMANCE-I ship Charlotte and Jamie so much. They are just destined to be and we all knew they were gonna be a thing as soon at they meet.PLOT-The plot was still interesting and unique. Love the whole retelling of Sherlock concept.ENDING-The ending was satisfying and really complete for me.Characters-8/10Romance-8/10Plot-9/10Ending-8/10Speed-8/10 (medium paced)

3.5 starsI like this book for most of it. I like the characters of Jaime and Charolette and I am excited to see them develop more in the future. Th setting was good I liked the aesthetic of art in Berlin and how they travelled. I really really didn’t like the miscommunication though. If these characters like talked, a lot of things could’ve gone differently. I understand that Charlotte was working through a trauma, but it wasn’t even about that, Jamie was just being jealous over nothing and he wasn’t talking.The ending really confused me. I’m not sure what happened.Overall I did like it and I want to read the next one.

I enjoyed this book just as much as the first one. Jamie is just as lovable, Charlotte is just as eccentric, and there's new characters that just add to the story. I enjoyed the investigation in this book, there was a lot going on but not in a bad way. Solid second installment in this series and I'm looking forward to the next book!

4/5 stars. What a pleasure to go back to these characters! Charlotte & Jamie are so so so endearing, cute and funny. I loved getting to know their respective families better, as well as the Moriarty's.(view spoiler)[August, Milo and Leander are gold. (hide spoiler)] In my opinion, the second book was better than the first ; but I still found the ending quite complicated. I hope to understand the situation better in the next book. I fully recommend this series!

Full review coming soon, but suffice it to say this more than lives up to the excitement and promise of A Study in Charlotte. I love this series.