The Last Cuckoo

When Ghosts Live on in Stepfamilies

By: Maria Frankland

Narrated by: Chris Nuttall

Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

When she was alive, no one would listen. Now she is dead, they are forced to.

After escaping an unhappy marriage, Anna had the rest of her life to look forward to. However, she soon swapped one toxic family situation for another. When she plunged to her death from the bannister to the foot of her staircase whilst painting, initial grief swiftly became speculation.

Jamie has minimal support as he mourns his mother. Struggling with his estranged father’s indifference and demands from the stepfamily Anna has thrust on him, he initially turns his loss and anger inward.

Then, the Twitter notifications begin.

Anna Hardaker is following you....

There were no shortage of jealous motives that surrounded Anna prior to her death. And for those left behind, the questions, blame, and toxicity persist as everyone strives to uncover the truth.

Meanwhile, as the tweets increase in number and intensity, Jamie’s world becomes darker and lonelier. Until he finally unleashes his rage on those who remain.

©2020 Maria Frankland (P)2020 Maria Frankland

Emotional and Suspenseful

When Jamie’s mother dies, he’s not entirely sure how he’ll go on. Wrapped in grief, he does what he can to try and move on with his life. Then he gets a notification from his mother’s Twitter. He brushes it off, thinking it to be an old notification. That is, until he starts to see his mother again.

I liked Jamie’s character. He was well-rounded and easy to sympathize with. His reactions were real and easy to understand. For anyone who’s ever lost someone they’re close to, they’ll find the portrayal of grief to be very real.

This story is full of emotions and suspenseful. Plenty of twists and turns to keep you listening.

I’ve never heard a narrator with an Irish accent before so it was an interesting listen. The narrator really brought the characters and story to life.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Good

This is a story of a boy who lost his mother. It’s basically a conversation of the boy with his dead mother. It goes into too many unnecessary details before getting to the climax. It’s not a bad story, just too slow.

I received this book free for an honest review.

Great Listen

Interesting book.This book had a lot of suspense. The narrator did a fine job as well. I will probably listen to it again in the future.

I Did not expect that ending!

I went back and forth in my head about this audiobook pretty much the entire time I listened. I didn't really like it much at first. It took me a little while to get used to the narration. And the entire book was written as if Jamie was talking to his dead mother and that took some getting used to I think. But once I got about halfway through, I really started getting more into it. The characters drove me nuts. The way Jamie just handed over the money to his deadbeat father was frustrating. And the way Jamie just couldn't get over it just seemed a little off. But then, in the end, it all made sense. And I am definitely glad I kept going with this book. And I would love to read more of Maria Frankland.

This book was given to me at my request. I am providing a voluntary and honest review.

It was ok

It took a while to get into this book as it is narrated by Jamie, who just lost his mother. It turns out Jamie is 25, but he sounds more like a mentally challenged teenager and he is extremely whiney and unlikable. All the characters in this book are very unlikable, so much so that I could not even muster enough sympathy for the victim, assuming she must've been just as crap if these are the kinds of people in her life.
In the beginning this was quite a guessing game trying to figure out what was going on but then you sort of guess the ending.
This book was interesting if you like dysfunctional families though, so viewed from that perspective, it is worth a read.