Evaluation with Spoilers for The Final One On the Marriage ceremony

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My Evaluation With Spoilers for The Final One on the Marriage ceremony by Jason Rekulak consists of Spoilers and the Ending Defined. All of us beloved Hidden Footage. The Final One on the Marriage ceremony is the creator’s follow-up, which has a VERY completely different vibe. Barnes and Noble put it on their Better of 2024 checklist. Do I agree? Let’s Talk about!

Graphic for a review of The Last One At the Wedding by Jason Rekulak. The book's cover, which shows a giant estate lit up at night, on an olive green background

The Final One on the Marriage ceremony: Jen’s Fast Take

Photo of a copy of The Last One at the Wedding next to other blue and green books on a shelf
  • NOT a magical like Hidden Footage, Rekulak’s debut ebook
  • Felt like a cross between a Harlan Coben and the creepy marriage ceremony vibe of this ebook by Peter Swanson
  • Whereas some readers beloved The Final One on the Marriage ceremony, others HATED the “bro” vitality of the ebook (and primary character) and located him and the opposite characters flat and underdeveloped
  • The villain was VERY apparent as a result of the creator left clues, however I choose that to over (or beneath) rationalization of a shock ending
  • I purchased this and skim it in October 2024
  • Printed October 8, 2024 by Flatiron Books; 335 pages

Evaluation of The Final One on the Marriage ceremony With Spoilers

Although I’m not a giant paranormal reader, I loved Hidden Footage (the creator’s debut ebook).

However I wasn’t fairly certain what to anticipate from this one.

The Final One on the Marriage ceremony is NOT a magical!

The general vibe jogged my memory numerous a Harlan Coben ebook.

  • Fundamental character Frank Szatowski is a UPS driver. He’s only a common working class man from Stroudsburg Pennsylvania drawn right into a CRAZY scenario, similar to a lot of Harlan Coben’s characters.

What’s the loopy scenario?

Photo of a couple holding hands. One person is wearing a white lacy dress and the other is wearing a gray suit.

The marriage of his solely baby, Maggie. This must be a joyous event, however a) Frank is a widower and b) his relationship with Maggie appears a bit …sophisticated.

There’s one thing Frank isn’t telling us.

I’ll reveal ALL my unfiltered ideas within the protected spoiler part, however listed below are my unspoilery ideas:

  • The villain was apparent
  • BUT I choose when an creator drops clues that I can chew over slightly than doing the same old shock ending that wants numerous rationalization to make sense
  • I felt the ebook had a “bro” vitality that felt just like books by Harlan Coben and Peter Swanson
  • Some readers reacted REALLY strongly to the “bro” pricel, calling the primary character an annoying mansplainer. I see what they imply, nevertheless it didn’t hassle me that a lot.
  • The Final One on the Marriage ceremony additionally had a film script/cinematic really feel with some apparent crops and payoffs. That’s when particular particulars or components are launched early in a story (the ‘plant’) that later turn into vital or impactful within the story (the ‘payoff’). As soon as you realize about them, you’ll be able to’t unsee them!!!

Spoilers for The Final One on the Marriage ceremony

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Let’s go over the primary mysteries in The Final One on the Marriage ceremony:

What occurred to Daybreak Taggart in Final One on the Marriage ceremony?

Moving into, Rekulak tries to make us consider that Frank’s future son-in-law Aidan is the villain and that Maggie is his unwitting sufferer.

If there’s a lacking girl who was linked to Aidan, then Aiden is a harmful assassin. Proper?

Perhaps…

Hands holding a missing persons flyer

First, let’s talk about what occurred to lacking native girl Daybreak Taggart:

  • Daybreak slept with Aidan’s rich father, Errol Gardner.
  • Daybreak got here to Osprey Cove, the Gardner’s elite summer time retreat, to speak to Errol’s spouse Catherine.
  • When Daybreak revealed she was pregnant, Errol’s livid spouse Catherine hit her over the top. Daybreak fell down the steps and died.
  • Errol’s henchmen, authorized advisor Gerry and head of safety Hugo, assist get rid of Daybreak’s boy on the backside of Lake Wyndham.

Aren’t Gerry and Hugo characters in Succession? YES

What Was the Deal With Maggie and Aidan’s Relationship?

It was a fraud, a sham, a fauxmance.

  • Maggie and Errol, who have been secretly lovers, wished to be collectively with out alerting anybody. Errol was a infamous womanizer and Maggie was his worker.
  • After Daybreak’s dying, Maggie and Errol blackmailed Aidan right into a sham marriage with Maggie. If he refused, they might inform the police that his mom Catherine killed Daybreak Taggart.

What Was the Ending of The Final One on the Marriage ceremony?

  • Frank finds Maggie in mattress with Errol Gardner (the outline of that is as dangerous because the nest of spiders)
  • Ultimately, Aidan can’t undergo with the sham marriage. He leaves Maggie on the altar.
  • Frank tracks Aidan to a bomb shelter within the Osprey Cove advanced and tries to cause with him. He affords to depart the island with Aidan.
  • However when Errol and Hugo present up, Aidan takes his personal life.
  • Errol tells a horrified Frank that Aidan wasn’t his organic son anyway. Okay, then.

Frank is able to head house to Pennsylvania together with his sister Tammy and plucky savant foster baby Abigail (who had ALL the vibes of Eleven in Stranger Issues)

As he’s packing, Frank discovers the current Aidan promised to depart him: an envelope with $1000.

Frank hits all-time low

  • Frank, who prided himself on his good UPS driving document, has an accident and is forcibly retired.
  • He turns into depressed, however babysitting foster baby Abigail helps him really feel higher.
  • Abigail reveals that Aidan left her a gift too: a map!
  • Frank realizes that he and Abigail switched rooms (due to the spiders). The map was for him. It’s the placement of Daybreak’s physique! Thanks, Aiden!
Hand of a person in a plaid jacket inside a car, holding a map

What Does Frank Do?

  • He calls Maggie and tells her in regards to the map
  • She asks him to carry it to her house in Boston
  • Frank arrives to see Maggie internet hosting a giant social gathering. Frank provides the map to Maggie. Errol Gardner and henchmen Gerry and Hugo throw the map within the fireplace pit.
  • Gerry and Hugo then ask after Abigail (Frank advised Maggie the place he acquired the map.)
  • Frank realizes Abigail’s a free finish and that they are going to kill her.
  • A horrified Frank hides in Maggie’s lavatory and warns Tammy to enter hiding with Abigail.
  • He remembers that unusual object he present in Maggie’s rest room tank the evening he first met Aiden (Frank’s an odd man).
  • There’s a madcap collection of occasions together with a dropped platter of roast duck and a hearth alarm, however Frank escapes together with his prize: a tough drive with Maggie’s “insurance coverage coverage” proof towards Errol.

After that, we get a flash ahead:

  • Frank tries to go to Maggie in jail, and he or she refuses to see him
  • Tammy adopts Abigail
  • Errol, Gerry and Hugo have been additionally arrested. Gerry and Errol are out on bail, whereas Hugo acquired extradited to Africa to reply for labor/human rights violations he dedicated there.
  • Daybreak’s physique was recovered (did Frank make a duplicate of the map? Did baby genius Abigail memorize the map? I can’t keep in mind so inform me in feedback)

My Ideas and Attainable Ebook Membership Questions for The Final One on the Marriage ceremony

It was fascinating.

I felt it was a quick paced motion ebook utilizing traditional suspense premises (the marriage, the “dangerous seed” baby….)

I assumed the mixture of the 2 didn’t all the time work.

Given Rekulak’s former ebook, which was paranormal psychological suspense, I used to be shocked on the means Maggie’s sociopathy was used as a plot machine with out a lot rationalization.

It was fascinating to me that Frank clearly knew Maggie was “off” however acquired sucked again into her manipulation.

Woman in library with chessboard

Seeing a male character on this scenario as a substitute of a feminine (normally in these books the genders are reversed and the girl is the sufferer of the sociopathic male) was surprising. Did you discover it efficient?

Some readers hated the “bro” vitality. Like HATED it.

I believe a “marriage ceremony” ebook comes with expectations and Frank is type of the poop within the punchbowl. Some readers discovered him an INSUFFERABLE mansplainer.

Then there’s the problem of the feminine characters, who have been both manipulative monsters (Maggie) or ditsy birdbrains (Tammy and Catherine).

However different readers discovered the Frank/Maggie relationship reasonable and touching

Sure, besides that Maggie is a compulsive liar and manipulator and Frank is her enabler.

“Dangerous Seed” books like Child Enamel or We Must Discuss About Kevin typically characteristic moms. Having Frank be a widower was an fascinating selection and I believe the ebook integrated as a lot of Maggie’s previous misdeeds as attainable with out slowing the ebook down.

This text means that feminine sociopaths and psychopaths are undercounted and under-detected on account of bias, and we’re seeing MANY extra books about girls like Maggie. Some are on my checklist of books on Harmful Ladies.

What did YOU assume? Is Frank an annoying and clueless mansplainer or a touchingly devoted dad? I believe he’s type of each. All ideas welcome!

I’d love to listen to your ideas and questions on The Final One on the Marriage ceremony so please depart them in feedback! Do you assume it’s a Better of 2024 contender?

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