The Last Room on the Left by Leah Konen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
**2.5-stars rounded up**
Recently, Kerry’s life has been falling apart. She’s completely lost control. Her marriage, career and friendships are in shambles, but her drinking is stronger than ever.
With a deadline looming, Kerry knows she needs a change if she’s ever going to finish her book. Thus, she ends up accepting the position as an off-season Caretaker at a refurbished motel in a remote area of the Catskills.
Arriving at the motel, wholly-unprepared, I might add, for her assignment, Kerry immediately feels something is off. The motel is supposed to be abandoned, but someone’s stuff is littered throughout her room.
Feeling unsettled, but not quite sure what to do about it, Kerry tries to ignore the red flags blowing all around her. With a blizzard bearing down on the motel as well, she’s essentially trapped at the motel.
Circumstances go from bad to disastrous once Kerry notices a lifeless hand poking out of a snowbank. She thinks she may have found the owner of all those belongings, but who is it, and how did they end up dead and buried?
The Last Room on the Left had its moments. At times, it had me intrigued enough to think that it could turn out to be a 4-star read. By the end though, it just felt lackluster, predictable, and don’t even get me started on Kerry.
Additionally, I wish that it hadn’t been the comp to The Shining that sold this one to me, because it’s absolutely NOTHING like The Shining.
It’s funny, the more I think about this one, the less enthused I feel about it. I wanted so much more of an atmosphere and eerie/claustrophobic vibe, of which I got none.
Additionally, it left me with unanswered questions. Were there plot holes, or does my brain just not want to think about this one anymore?
From the very start I was annoyed by Kerry. Stupid mistake, after stupid mistake, had me feeling like, whatever happens to this woman, she deserves it.
I know that sounds awful. It’s a terrible thought, but you have to understand, I was compelled to feel that way because of the ridiculous stream of choices. Nevertheless, Kerry wasn’t the only character, LUCKILY, and I did end up enjoying the others.
As mentioned above, this did have moments and when I was in it, I was in it. I also felt it entertaining to try to figure out what the heck was actually going on. While certain portions felt quite predictable, others def took me by surprise.
I think perhaps the downfall of this was that I felt it was pitched to me a certain way, so my expectations were high, and focused in a particular direction, and when I didn’t get that, I was disappointed.
I don’t believe the comp phrase, a feminist take on The Shining, is being used anymore, at least I’m not seeing it in the current synopsis, and for that I’m grateful. I wouldn’t want others to go down the same route that I did with this one.
With all this being said, and with apologies for my grumpiness, I do believe I’m a minority opinion on this one, so if it sounds intriguing to you, please do pick it up.
There’s a book for every Reader and a Reader for every book. Sadly, this just wasn’t the best fit for me. In spite of that, I do very much want to thank the publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
I have enjoyed Leah Konen’s work in the past, and look forward to picking up future releases. This slight disappointment certainly isn’t enough to stop me!